William Lyon Mackenzie :: essays research papers

William Lyon MackenzieWilliam Lyon Mackenzies life can best be understood if macrocosm and legend are separated. William was born on March 12, 1795 in Scotland. Three weeks after his birth, his father, Daniel, supposedly died, but no record of his death has ever been found. William and his beat were said to gone through great hardship, having to move off of Daniels land.After moving to Dundee, William, who went by the names Willie or Lyon, entered the Dundee Parish School at the age of five, with the avail of a bursary. At fifteen, he was the youngest member of thecommercial newsroom of the local newspaper. He also belonged to a scientific society, where he met Edward Lesslie, and his son, James. These two would be Williams patrons throughout to the highest degree of his life.In 1820, William sailed to Canada with John, another son of Edward Lesslie. Mackenzie was immediately impressed with Upper Canada. Before the end of the year, Mackenzie was writing for the York Observer und er the name of MercatorIn 1824, Mackenzie started his most noteworthy newspaper, the Colonial Advocate. The first edition appeared on May 18, 1824. The sole purpose of this paper was to sway the opinions of the voters in the next election.On June 8, 1826, a group of fifteen, young, salubrious connected Tories disguised themselves as Indians, and broke into Mackenzies York office in broad daylight. They smashed his printing press, then threw it into the bay. The Tories did nothing to compensate him, so it was clear that they were involved. Mackenzie ntook them to court, and eyesight that their disguise had been seen through, they offered Mackenzie 200. He refused, and after a bitter trial, the court awarded him 625.In March of 1829, Mackenzie went to the United States to buy books for resale, and to study the actions of the newly appointed Andrew Jackson. He compared the simplicity and the personify of American government to Canadas, and saw that their spoils system might be a wa y of doing away with some Family Compact members.When an assembly met in January of 1831, Mackenzie fully immersed himself into its proceedings. He demanded inquiries into abuse, and insisted on a review of representation in the province. He appointedpeople on the council to fight for what he, himself wanted, while what he personally did angered and loaded the Tory members of parliament.On December 12, 1831, Mackenzie was voted out of parliament on a vote of 24 to 15.