For more information on Sir Robert Laird Borden, visit Britannica.com.
Robert Borden
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Sir Robert Laird Borden |
| 5min Related Video: Robert Borden |
| Biography: Sir Robert Laird Borden |
Sir Robert Laird Borden (1854-1937) was a Canadian political leader and prime minister who guided his country through World War I and, through astute bargaining, achieved equal status for Canada with England within the Commonwealth.
Robert Borden was born at Grand Pré, Nova Scotia, on June 26, 1854, the descendant of prerevolutionary American émigrés. He was educated at the Acacia Villa Seminary in Horton, Nova Scotia, and as a youth he taught at the Glenwood Institute in Matawan, N.J. Returning to his native province in 1874, he began the study of law and was called to the bar in 1878. Borden practiced first in Halifax, then in Kentville, and then again in Halifax, where in 1889 he became head of his own law firm. He seemed headed for a successful career as a lawyer until he became interested in politics.
Party Leader
In 1896 Borden was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative member for Halifax. The party was beginning a 15-year period in opposition, and within a few years Borden made a respectable reputation for himself in Parliament. The party leader, Sir Charles Tupper, was a doughty fighter but old and somewhat discredited in certain quarters, and after his defeat in the general election of 1900 there was a general feeling that his career was over. Certainly Borden did not envisage that he would be Tupper's successor, and it was with great surprise that he saw the party caucus turn to him. His first reaction to the offer was negative, but he finally agreed to accept the post for a year. The year stretched into two and then three, and Borden was soon permanent leader of the Conservative party.
Borden's tenure was neither easy nor immediately successful. In 1904 and 1908 the Conservatives were decisively beaten by Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberals, and Borden was making little impact in the country. The issue that finally propelled Borden into power was that of reciprocity with the United States. The Laurier government had negotiated a treaty with the United States in 1911, an act that frightened Canadian businessmen and manufacturers, who had been sheltered so long behind the high tariff of the national policy. Borden had found his issue, and with it he attracted enormous support from the "interests," garnered thousands of disaffected Liberal voters, and won a clear victory in the general election of 1911.
Head of Government
Borden's government was not particularly strong. His Quebec representation was weak, and the financial affairs of many of the English-Canadian ministers were not conducted ethically. Borden himself was above reproach, but he apparently lacked the ruthlessness necessary to become a first-class prime minister. Still, legislation on railways and civil service reform began to appear on the statute books, and the militia was reorganized and made more efficient. Not even the downturn in business that began in 1911 was enough to completely dampen enthusiasm in Canada.
Crisis in World War I
The outbreak of war in 1914 did not change the mood either. Borden's government immediately offered a contingent, mobilized it with impressive speed, and shipped it to England in the largest convoy ever to cross the Atlantic to that time. No one expected a long war, but by the time the first casualty reports began pouring into Ottawa from France in the spring of 1915, few could have doubted that the struggle would be difficult. Borden's task was formidable. He had to organize the government for war, a task that was never really accomplished. He had to see to it that industry was geared up for maximum production, a task that was well done. Above all he had to galvanize the Canadian people, both French and English.
This task was not accomplished; in fact, the reverse took place in Quebec. Borden did not understand the Canadien, and he permitted recruiting in that province to be botched. Few French-Canadian officers received important commands, patronage was rampant, and ethnic prejudice swept the nation. The whole crisis came to a head in 1917 when Borden decided that conscription was necessary to reinforce Canada's troops at the front. Quebec was opposed to conscription, and after Borden's efforts to unite with Laurier in a coalition failed, he determined on a coalition without Quebec. By October 1917 he had his Union government and his conscription bill, and in December 1917, after a blatantly racist campaign conducted by his party, he had a renewed mandate. Canada was badly split, and the irony of the situation was that conscripts did not reach the front in sufficient numbers to have major impact before the end of the war.
Relations with Britain
Borden achieved more success in his relations with the British. He had been appalled to discover that Canada was being treated as a backwater colony, despite the nation's massive war effort. After hard bargaining he wrung recognition from the British that Canada was equal in status to the mother country. He also won a voice in the councils of empire, representation at the peace conference, and separate representation in the League of Nations for the Dominion. These were no mean achievements.
By the end of the war, Borden was exhausted by his labors, and soon he began to seek release. In 1920 he passed the mantle of prime minister to Arthur Meighen and entered what he hoped would be a quiet retirement. But the following year he was called back to be Canadian delegate at the Washington Conference of 1921-1922, and in 1930 he was Canada's representative at the League of Nations. Meanwhile he was writing about constitutional questions and serving as the director of numerous private companies. Sir Robert Borden - he had been knighted in June 1914 - died in Ottawa on June 10, 1937.
Further Reading
A source for information on Borden is Henry Borden, ed., Robert Laird Borden: His Memoirs (2 vols., 1938). Roger Graham, Arthur Meighen (3 vols., 1960-1966), also provides information on Borden.
Additional Sources
Brown, Robert Craig, Robert Laird Borden: a biography, Toronto :Macmillan of Canada, 1975-c1980.
English, John, Borden: his life and world, Toronto; New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1977.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Sir Robert Laird Borden |
Borden, Sir Robert Laird, 1854-1937, Canadian political leader, prime minister during World War I, b. Grand Pré, N.S. Called to the bar in 1878, he won a reputation as a constitutional lawyer. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1896 and in 1901 succeeded Sir Charles Tupper as leader of the Conservative party. He led the opposition until 1911, when Sir Wilfrid Laurier's Liberal government fell. During the election campaign Borden had opposed the creation of a separate Canadian navy and had criticized Laurier's reciprocity agreement with the United States. The agreement, which would have lowered tariffs between the two countries, was opposed by powerful economic interests in Canada. As prime minister, Borden headed a Conservative government until 1917 and a Union (coalition) government until his resignation in 1920. He is remembered for his leadership in carrying Canada through World War I and, subsequently, in defining the new status of the self-governing dominions in the British Empire. Largely through his efforts the dominions were given separate representation in the League of Nations, and the Canadian Parliament ratified the treaties that resulted from the peace conference of 1919. Borden later represented Canada at the naval armament conference in Washington (1921-22) and in the League of Nations. He was also chancellor of Queen's Univ. (1924-30). His Canadian Constitutional Studies (1922) and Canada in the Commonwealth (1929) are significant works.
Bibliography
See his memoirs, ed. by H. Borden (1938); H. A. Wilson, Imperial Policy of Sir Robert Borden (1966).
| Wikipedia: Robert Borden |
- Not to be confused with his cousin Frederick Borden, Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence from 1896 to 1911.
| The Right Honourable Sir Robert Laird Borden PC, GCMG, KC |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|
| In office October 10, 1911 – July 10, 1920 |
|
| Monarch | George V |
| Preceded by | Wilfrid Laurier |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Meighen |
|
|
|
| Born | June 26, 1854 Grand Pre, Nova Scotia |
| Died | June 10, 1937 (aged 82) Ottawa, Ontario |
| Political party | Conservative, Unionist |
| Spouse(s) | Laura Bond |
| Children | None |
| Alma mater | None - articled at law firm in Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Profession | Lawyer, Teacher, Businessman |
| Religion | Anglican |
| Signature |  |
Sir Robert Laird Borden PC GCMG KC (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the eighth Prime Minister of Canada from October 10, 1911, to July 10, 1920, and was the third Nova Scotian to hold this office. After retiring from public life, he served as the chancellor of Queen's University.
Contents |
Early life and career
Robert Laird Borden was born and educated in Grand Pre, Nova Scotia, a farming community at the eastern end of the Annapolis Valley, where his great-grandfather Perry Borden, Sr. of Tiverton, Rhode Island had taken up Acadian land in 1760. Perry had accompanied his father, Samuel Borden, the chief surveyor chosen by the government of Massachusetts to survey the former Acadian land and draw up new lots for the Planters in Nova Scotia. Robert Borden was the last Canadian Prime Minister born before Confederation. Borden's father Andrew Borden was judged by his son to be "a man of good ability and excellent judgement", of a "calm, contemplative and philosophical" turn of mind, but "He lacked energy and had no great aptitude for affairs". His mother Eunice Jane Laird was more driven, possessing "very strong character, remarkable energy, high ambition and unusual ability". Her ambition was transmitted to her first-born child who applied himself to his studies while assisting his parents with the farm work he found so disagreeable. His cousin was Sir Frederick Borden a prominent Liberal politician.
From 1868 to 1874, he worked as a teacher in Grand Pré and Matawan, New Jersey. Seeing no future in teaching, he returned to Nova Scotia in 1874 to article for four years at a Halifax law firm (without a formal university education) and was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in August 1878, placing first in the bar examinations. Borden went to Kentville, Nova Scotia as the junior partner of the Conservative lawyer John P. Chipman. In 1880 he was inducted into the Freemasons - (St Andrew's lodge #1)[1] and in 1882 he was asked by Wallace Graham to move to Halifax and join the Conservative law firm headed by Graham and Charles Hibbert Tupper. Borden became the senior partner in fall 1889 when he was only 35 following the departure of Graham and Tupper for the bench and politics. His financial future guaranteed, on September 25, 1889, he married Laura Bond (1863-1940), the daughter of a Halifax hardware merchant. They would have no children (Borden does have descendants, namely Jean Borden and her son Robert Borden II). In 1894 he bought a large property and home on the south side of Quinpool Road which the couple called "Pinehurst". In 1893 Borden successfully argued the first of two cases which he took to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. He represented many of the important Halifax businesses and sat on the boards of Nova Scotian companies including the Bank of Nova Scotia and the Crown Life Insurance Company. President of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society in 1896, he took the initiative in organizing the founding meetings of the Canadian Bar Association in 1896 in Montreal. By the time he was prevailed upon to enter politics, Borden had what some judged to be the largest legal practice in the Maritime Provinces, and had become a wealthy man.
Conservative Party in opposition
Borden was a Liberal until he broke with the party in 1891 over the issue of reciprocity.
He was elected to Parliament in the 1896 federal election as a Conservative and in 1901 was selected by the Conservative caucus to succeed Sir Charles Tupper as leader of the Conservative Party. Over the next decade he worked to rebuild the party and establish a reform policy, the Halifax Platform of 1907 which he described as "the most advanced and progressive policy ever put forward in Federal affairs". It called for reform of the Senate and the civil service, a more selective immigration policy, free rural mail delivery, and government regulation of telegraphs, telephones, and railways and eventually national ownership of telegraphs and telephones. Despite his efforts, his party lost the 1908 federal election to Wilfrid Laurier's Liberals.[2][3] His party's fortunes turned around in the 1911 federal election, however, when the Conservatives successfully campaigned against Laurier's proposals for a Reciprocity (free trade) agreement with the United States. Borden countered with a revised version of John A. Macdonald's National Policy and appeals of loyalty to the British Empire and ran on the slogan "Canadianism or Continentalism".[4] In British Columbia, the party ran on the slogan "A White Canada," playing to the racist fears of white British Columbians that resented the increasing presence of Asian immigrants.[5] In Quebec, concurrently, Henri Bourassa led a campaign against what he saw as Laurier's capitulation to British imperialism, playing a part in the defeat of Laurier's government and the election of Borden's Tories.
Prime Minister 1911-1920
First World War
As Prime Minister of Canada during the First World War, Borden transformed his government to a wartime administration, passing the War Measures Act in 1914. Borden committed Canada to provide half a million soldiers for the war effort. However, volunteers had quickly dried up when Canadians realized there would be no quick end to the war. Borden's determination to meet that huge commitment led to the Military Service Act and the Conscription Crisis of 1917, which split the country on linguistic lines. The unpopular conscription issue would likely have meant defeat in the election of 1917, but Borden recruited members of the Liberals (with the notable exception of Wilfrid Laurier) to create a Unionist government. The 1917 election saw the "Government" candidates (including a number of Liberal-Unionists) crush the Opposition "Laurier Liberals" in English Canada resulting in a large parliamentary majority for Borden.
The war effort also enabled Canada to assert itself as an independent power. Borden wanted to create a single Canadian army, rather than have Canadian soldiers split up and assigned to British divisions as had happened during the Boer War. Sam Hughes, the Minister of Militia, generally ensured that Canadians were well-trained and prepared to fight in their own divisions, although with mixed results such as the Ross Rifle. Arthur Currie provided sensible leadership for the Canadian divisions in Europe, although they were still under overall British command. Nevertheless Canadian troops proved themselves to be among the best in the world, fighting at the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele, and especially at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
During Borden's first term as prime minister, the National Research Council of Canada was established in 1916.
Borden and the Treaty of Versailles
In world affairs, Borden played a crucial role in transforming the British Empire into a partnership of equal states, the Commonwealth of Nations, a term that was first discussed at an Imperial Conference in London during the war. Borden also introduced the first Canadian income tax, which at the time was meant to be temporary, but was never repealed.
Convinced that Canada had become a nation on the battlefields of Europe, Borden demanded that it have a separate seat at the Paris Peace Conference. This was initially opposed not only by Britain but also by the United States, who perceived such a delegation as an extra British vote. Borden responded by pointing out that since Canada had lost more men than the U.S. in the war, she at least had the right to the representation of a "minor" power. British Prime Minister David Lloyd George eventually relented, and convinced the reluctant Americans to accept the presence of separate Canadian, Indian, Australian, Newfoundland, New Zealand and South African delegations. Despite this, Borden boycotted the opening ceremony, protesting at the precedence given to the prime minister of the much smaller Newfoundland over him.[6]
Not only did Borden's persistence allow him to represent Canada in Paris as a nation, it also ensured that each of the dominions could sign the Treaty of Versailles in its own right, and receive a separate membership in the League of Nations. During the conference Borden tried to act as an intermediary between the United States and other members of the British Empire delegation, particularly Australia and New Zealand over the issue of Mandates.[7] Borden also discussed with Lloyd George, the possibility of Canada taking over the administration of Belize and the West Indies, but no agreement was reached.
At Borden's insistence, the treaty was ratified by the Canadian Parliament. Borden was the last prime minister to be knighted after the House of Commons indicated its desire for the discontinuation of the granting of any future titles to Canadians in 1919 with the adoption of the Nickle Resolution.
Post-war government
That same year, Borden approved the use of troops to put down the Winnipeg General Strike, which was feared to be the result of Bolshevik agitation from the Soviet Union.[8]
Post-political career
Sir Robert Borden retired from office in 1920. He was the Chancellor of Queen's University from 1924 to 1930 and also was Chancellor of McGill University from 1918 to 1920 while still Prime Minister. At his death he stood as president of two financial institutions Barclay's Bank of Canada and the Crown Life Insurance Company. Borden died on June 10 1937 and is buried in the Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa.
Honours
- Borden was the last Canadian Prime Ministers to be knighted (in 1915) since, due to The Nickle Resolution, no others have been.
- Sir Robert Borden is depicted on the Canadian $100 bill.
- Sir Robert Borden was honoured by having a high school named after him in the Nepean part of Ottawa & Scarborough, Ontario
- Sir Robert Borden was also honoured by having a junior high school named after him in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.
- The town of Borden, Saskatchewan was named after him.
- The town of Borden in Western Australia was named after him.[9]
- In their book Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders, J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer include the results of a survey of Canadian historians regarding all the Prime Ministers through Jean Chrétien. Borden was ranked #7.
See also
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Robert Laird Borden |
Supreme Court appointments
Borden chose the following jurists to sit as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada:
- Sir Louis Henry Davies (as Chief Justice, November 23, 1918–May 1, 1924; appointed a Puisne Justice under Prime Minister Laurier, September 25, 1901)
- Pierre-Basile Mignault (October 25, 1918–September 30, 1929)
Notes
- ^ Sir Robert Laird Borden at www.freemasonry.bcy.ca
- ^ http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7998
- ^ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1SEC915529
- ^ http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7998
- ^ Last Steps to Freedom by John Boyko pg.46
- ^ MacMillan p.71
- ^ MacMillan p.107-14
- ^ MacMillan
- ^ "Albany Gateway - Borden". http://www.albanygateway.com.au/town/Borden/. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
External links
- Library and Archives Canada Collection on Borden
- Biography of Robert Borden with a section on Canada's relations with Britain
- CanadaHistory.com Robert Borden
- Encarta Encyclopedia: Robert Borden
Bibliography
- Borden, Robert. Robert Laird Borden : his memoirs / edited and with an introduction by Henry Borden* Canadian constitutional studies by Robert Borden at archive.org
- Comments on the Senate's rejection of the Naval Aid Bill by Robert Borden at archive.org
- Granatstein, J.L. and Hillmer, Norman. Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders. HarperCollinsPublishersLtd., 1999. P. 61-74. ISBN 0-00-200027-X.
- MacMillan, Margaret. Peacemakers: Six Months that Changed the World. John Murray, 2003.
|
|||||
.png){kind=small}
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Learn More
 | Charles Joseph Doherty (Canadian jurist & statesman) |
| Grand Pré (city, Canada) |
| Defence of Canada (1985 Culture & Society TV Series) |
Help us answer these
 | Where does Robert Borden live? |
| Accomplishment of robert borden? |
| Hobbies of sir robert borden? |
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
 |
 | Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Biography. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Robert Borden". Read more |
Related answers
- Robert Laird Borden's accomplishments?
- How is Robert Borden important?
- What were some of Robert borden's achievements?
- Who was gail borden?
ADVERTISEMENT
Answer these
- Is camp Borden named after Sir Robert Laird Borden?
- Why was robert borden important?
- How to start a Robert borden essay?
Mentioned in
- Charles Joseph Doherty (Canadian jurist & statesman)
- Grand Pré (city, Canada)
- Defence of Canada (1985 Culture & Society TV Series)
- Sir George Eulas Foster (Canadian statesman)
- Sir George Halsey Perley (Canadian statesman)
- Taste the Wall (1999 Album by Polly Moller)
- In the Great Abbey of Clement VI (1987 Album by Stuart Dempster)
- In The Great Abbey of Clement VI (Classical Album)
- Progressive Conservative party (organization, Canada – in politics)
- Thomas Alexander Crerar
- Arthur Meighen
- Year 1677 (in Science & Technology)
- Canadian Prime Ministers since Confederation (table)
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier
