Alexander Mackenzie

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Alexander Mackenzie

(born Jan. 28, 1822, Logierait, Perth, Scot. — died April 17, 1892, Toronto, Ont., Can.) Scottish-born Canadian politician, first Liberal prime minister of Canada (1873 – 78). He emigrated to Canada West (now Ontario) in 1842. In 1852 he became editor of a local Liberal newspaper and befriended George Brown, leader of the Reform Party. When the Dominion of Canada was created in 1867, Mackenzie was elected to the House of Commons, where he led the Liberal opposition. As prime minister, his efforts at renewed reciprocity with the U.S. failed to address economic concerns, and his government was defeated in 1878. He resigned as leader of the opposition but held a seat in Parliament until his death.

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US Military Dictionary: Alexander Slidell Mackenzie

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Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell (1803-48) naval officer and author, born in New York City. Mackenzie was at the center of a mid-19th-century incident resulting from his actions while in command of a training vessel. Apprised of a possible mutiny among the crew, Mackenzie hanged at the yardarm and buried at sea the three alleged ringleaders, one of whom, only eighteen years old, was the son of the secretary of war. The ensuing furor attracted a number of leading notables of the day, with Richard Henry Dana coming to Mackenzie's defense, and James Fenimore Cooper and Thomas Hart Benton coming down on the opposite side. Though a court-martial returned a verdict of not proven (1843), Mackenzie's navy career was effectively at an end.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Biography: Alexander Mackenzie

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Alexander Mackenzie (1822-1892) was a Scottish-born Canadian political leader. He was head of the Liberal party and the first Liberal prime minister of Canada.

On Jan. 28, 1822, Alexander Mackenzie was born near Dunkeld. His parents were poor, and young Mackenzie left school to apprentice himself to a stone mason. At the age of 20 Mackenzie emigrated to Canada, where he soon found work in his trade at Kingston, Upper Canada. Prospering, Mackenzie moved to Sarnia, further west, as builder and contractor. He was also a concerned citizen, and in 1852 he became the editor of the Lambton Shield, a tiny newspaper that nonetheless served to give him access to the world of politics. In 1861 he ran successfully for the Assembly as a Reformer, and in 1867 he was elected to the first Parliament of Canada, where he became the leader of the opposition to the government of Sir John Alexander Macdonald. For a time in 1871/1872 he was treasurer of Ontario, but in 1872 he determined to devote his time to federal politics.

The Macdonald government was pressing ahead with plans for a transcontinental railroad but had unfortunately become too close in its relations with financiers and contractors. The resulting "Pacific scandal" drove the government from office in disgrace, and Mackenzie became prime minister on Nov. 7, 1873. The Mackenzie administration had some able men in it, but the Liberals had bad luck in taking power at the onset of a long business depression. Mackenzie's only remedy was to trim expenses to the bone and to halt the construction of the railway. The depression continued unabated.

There were some real successes, however. As a convinced democrat, Mackenzie extended the right to vote and introduced the secret ballot. A Supreme Court was established, the Royal Military College of Canada was founded, and the nation was pushed toward independence after Mackenzie and his attorney general, Edward Blake, trimmed the powers of the governor general to interfere in affairs of state.

For all these accomplishments, however, the nation was unhappy, and when the Conservatives began to advocate a protective tariff to encourage the development of Canadian industry, they found ready audiences. Mackenzie, as a free-trade Liberal, regarded the tariff as an abomination, but not enough of the electorate agreed with him and the Liberals were defeated in 1878. For 2 years more the dour Scot led the Liberals. He remained in Parliament until his death on April 17, 1892, in Toronto.

The Honourable Alexander Mackenzie

2nd Prime Minister of Canada
In office November 7, 1873 – October 9, 1878
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	John A. Macdonald
Succeeded by	John A. Macdonald
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Lambton
In office 1867 – 1882
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Member of the Canadian Parliament for York East
In office 1882 – 1892
Preceded by	Alfred Boultbee
Succeeded by	William Findlay Maclean

Born	January 28, 1822(1822-01-28) Logierait, Scotland
Died	April 17, 1892 (aged 70) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal Party of Canada
Spouse(s)	Helen Neil Mackenzie (1st) Jane Sym Mackenzie (2nd)
Children	Mary Mackenzie 2 others died
Alma mater	None
Profession	Building Contractor, Architect, Engineer, Writer
Religion	Presbyterian, then Baptist
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Canada
Service/branch	Ontario Militia
Years of service	1866-1874
Rank	Major
Commands	27th Lambton Infantry Regiment (St. Clair Borderers)

Biography

He was born in Logierait, Perthshire, Scotland^{[citation needed]} to Alexander Mackenzie, Sr. and Mary Stewart Fleming. He was the third of ten children. At the age of 13, Mackenzie's father died, and he was forced to end his formal education in order to help support his family. At the age of 16 he apprenticed as a stone mason and by the age of 20 he had reached journeyman status in this field. Mackenzie immigrated to Canada in 1842 in order to seek a better life as well as to follow his sweetheart, Helen Neil. Shortly thereafter, he converted from Presbyterianism to Baptist beliefs. Mackenzie's faith was to link him to the increasingly influential temperance cause, particularly strong in Ontario where he lived, a constituency of which he was to represent in the Parliament of Canada.

Mackenzie married Helen Neil (1826-1852) in 1845 and with her had three children, with only one girl surviving infancy. In 1853, he married Jane Sym (1825-1893).

1875 Canadian Illustrated News cartoon shows Mackenzie the Mason and Governor General Lord Dufferin the Overseer

In Canada, Mackenzie continued his career as a stone mason, building many structures that still stand today. He began working as a general contractor, earning a reputation for being a hard working, honest man as well as having a working man's view on fiscal policy.

Mackenzie involved himself in politics almost from the moment he arrived in Canada. He campaigned relentlessly for George Brown, owner of the Reformist paper The Globe in the 1851 election, helping him to win a seat in the assembly. In 1852 Mackenzie became editor of another reformist paper, the Lambton Shield (now the Sarnia Observer). As editor, Mackenzie was perhaps a little too vocal, leading the paper to a suit of law for libel against the local conservative candidate. The paper lost the suit and was forced to fold due to financial hardship. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly as a supporter of George Brown in 1861.

When the Macdonald government fell due to the Pacific scandal in 1873, the Governor General, Lord Dufferin, called upon Mackenzie, who had been chosen as the leader of the Liberal Party a few months earlier, to form a new government. Mackenzie formed a government and then asked the Governor General to call an election for January 1874. The Liberals won, and Mackenzie remained prime minister until the 1878 election when Macdonald's Conservatives returned to power with a majority government.

It was unusual for a man of Mackenzie's humble origins to attain such a position in an age which generally offered such opportunity only to the privileged. Lord Dufferin, the current Governor General, expressed early misgivings about a stonemason taking over government. But on meeting Mackenzie, Dufferin revised his opinions:

"However narrow and inexperienced Mackenzie may be, I imagine he is a thoroughly upright, well-principled, and well-meaning man."

Mackenzie also served as Minister of Public Works and oversaw the completion of the Parliament Buildings. While drawing up the plans, he included a circular staircase leading directly from his office to the outside of the building which allowed him to escape the patronage-seekers waiting for him in his ante-chamber. Proving Dufferin's reflections on his character to be true, Mackenzie disliked intensely the patronage inherent in politics. Nevertheless, he found it a necessary evil in order to maintain party unity and ensure the loyalty of his fellow Liberals.

Statue of Alexander Mackenzie on Parliament Hill, Canada.

In keeping with his democratic ideals, Mackenzie refused the offer of a knighthood three times, and was thus the only one of Canada's first eight Prime Ministers not to be knighted. His pride in his working-class origins never left him. Once, while touring Fort Henry as prime minister, he asked the soldier accompanying him if he knew the thickness of the wall beside them. The embarrassed escort confessed that he didn't and Mackenzie replied, "I do. It is five feet, ten inches. I know, because I built it myself!" ^[1]

As Prime Minister, Alexander Mackenzie strove to reform and simplify the machinery of government. He introduced the secret ballot; created the Supreme Court of Canada; established the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston in 1874; created the Office of the Auditor General in 1878; and struggled to continue progress on the national railway. After his government's defeat, Mackenzie remained Leader of the Opposition until 1880, when he relinquished the party leadership to Edward Blake. However, he remained as a Member of Parliament until his death in 1892 from a stroke that resulted from hitting his head during a fall. He died in Toronto and was buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Sarnia, Ontario.

In their 1999 study of the Prime Ministers of Canada, which included the results of a survey of Canadian historians, J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer found that Mackenzie was in the #11 place just after John Sparrow David Thompson.

Namesakes

Mackenzie Building at the Royal Military College of Canada

The following are named in honour of Alexander Mackenzie:

The Mackenzie Mountain Range in the Yukon & Northwest Territories.
The Mackenzie building at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario
Mackenzie Hall in Windsor, Ontario.
Alexander MacKenzie Park in Sarnia, Ontario.
Alexander Mackenzie High School in Sarnia, Ontario.
Alexander Mackenzie High School in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
Alexander MacKenzie Housing Co-Operative Inc. in Sarnia, Ontario.
A monument is dedicated to his tomb in Lakeview Cemetery, Sarnia, Ontario.

Supreme Court appointments

A painting of Mackenzie.

Mackenzie chose the following jurists to sit as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada:

Sir William Buell Richards (Chief Justice) – September 30, 1875
Télesphore Fournier – September 30, 1875
William Alexander Henry – September 30, 1875
Sir William Johnstone Ritchie – September 30, 1875
Sir Samuel Henry Strong – September 30, 1875
Jean-Thomas Taschereau – September 30, 1875
Sir Henri Elzear Taschereau – October 7, 1878

References

^ Canada's Prime Ministers, 1867 - 1994: Biographies and Anecdotes. [Ottawa]: National Archives of Canada, [1994]. 40 p.

Bibliography

J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders. Toronto: HarperCollinsPublishersLtd, A Phyllis Bruce Book, 1999. P. 29 - 36. ISBN 0-00-200027-X.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alexander Mackenzie

Party political offices
Preceded by George Brown (Canadian politician)	Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada 1873-1880	Succeeded by Edward Blake
Political offices
Preceded by vacant	Leader of the Opposition 1873	Succeeded by Sir John A. Macdonald
Preceded by Sir John A. Macdonald	Prime Minister of Canada 1873-1878	Succeeded by Sir John A. Macdonald
Preceded by Hector Louis Langevin	Minister of Public Works 1873 – 1878	Succeeded by Charles Tupper
Preceded by Sir John A. Macdonald	Leader of the Opposition 1878–1880	Succeeded by Edward Blake
Parliament of Canada
Preceded by district created	Member of Parliament for Lambton 1867 – 1882	Succeeded by district abolished
Preceded by Alfred Boultbee	Member of Parliament for York East 1882 – 1892	Succeeded by William Findlay Maclean

v • d • e Prime Ministers of Canada

Macdonald · Mackenzie · Macdonald · Abbott · Thompson · Bowell · Tupper · Laurier · Borden · Meighen · King · Meighen · King · Bennett · King · St. Laurent · Diefenbaker · Pearson · Trudeau · Clark · Trudeau · Turner · Mulroney · Campbell · Chrétien · Martin · Harper

Liberal Parties in Canada

Major national, provincial,
and territorial parties

Forming the government	New Brunswick · Prince Edward Island · Ontario · Québec · British Columbia

Forming the official opposition	Canada · Newfoundland and Labrador · Alberta · Yukon · Nova Scotia

As a third party represented in legislature	Manitoba

As a party not represented in legislature	Saskatchewan

Leaders

Leaders	Brown · Mackenzie · Blake · Laurier · King · St. Laurent · Pearson · Trudeau · Turner · Chrétien · Martin · Dion · Ignatieff

Deputy Leaders (until 2008)	Copps · Gray · Manley · McLellan · Robillard · Ignatieff

Leadership elections

1919 · 1948 · 1958 · 1968 · 1984 · 1990 · 2003 · 2006 · 2009

Parliamentary election
candidates

1867 · 1878 · 1887 · 1891 · 1896 · 1900 · 1904 · 1908 · 1911 · 1917 · 1921 · 1925 · 1926 · 1930 · 1935 · 1940 · 1945 · 1949 · 1957 · 1958 · 1962 · 1963 · 1965 · 1968 · 1972 · 1974 · 1979 · 1980 · 1984 · 1988 · 1993 · 1997 · 2000 · 2004 · 2006 · 2008

Persondata
NAME	Mackenzie, Alexander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	2nd Prime Minister of Canada (1873-1878)
DATE OF BIRTH	January 28, 1822(1822-01-28)
PLACE OF BIRTH	Logierait, Perthshire, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH	April 17, 1892
PLACE OF DEATH	Toronto

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		Architecture and Landscaping. A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Copyright © 1999, 2006 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
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