page_title: Colonial Advocate
section_title: Origins of the Colonial Advocate
hierarchical_section_title: Colonial Advocate / Origins of the Colonial Advocate
caption_attribution_description: English: The Colonial advocate, no. 6&#160;: published Sept. 27th, 1824, containing an essay on canals and inland navigation, and the reports to the president and directors of the Welland Canal Company of Messrs. Francis Hall, James, Clowes, and Nathan. Copied from the PDF at the Kobo store, seems to have downloaded it from archive.org. Converted to greyscale by the uploader, cropped to remove some black marks around the edges and erased some smudges, all using GIMP.
context_page_description: The Colonial Advocate was a weekly political journal published in Upper Canada during the 1820s and 1830s. First published by William Lyon Mackenzie on May 18, 1824, the journal frequently attacked the Upper Canada aristocracy known as the "Family Compact", which governed the province. Over its twelve years in publication, Mackenzie explicitly advocated constitutional change to resemble a more American government with the principles of responsible government, and working for the greater good of the people. The Colonial Advocate was used as a voice for constitutional reform, educating and inspiring citizens to take action against their government, making Mackenzie and his paper an important leader in the formation of the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.
context_section_description: The first edition of the Colonial Advocate was published on May 18, 1824 in Queenston, Canada. Within the year, Mackenzie relocated to York (what is now Toronto) and set up his offices there. The Colonial Advocate became the foundation for Mackenzie's political life. It would give people the information they needed to form opinions of their own. Mackenzie believed with relevant information and having opportunities for discussion, citizens would form conclusions of their own. He would blatantly state his views on members of government, using outward attacks including the names of specific people and established institutions. In a May 18, 1826 article, he attacked the Bank of Upper Canada as a "terrible engine in the hands of the provincial administration...entirely under the thumb of parson Strachan [an influential Anglican priest, mentor to many of the Colonial leaders and member of the Executive Council of Upper Canada] and his pupils." He labelled the May 4, 1826 issue of the Colonial Advocate, the "latest and loudest blast of Colonial Advocate sounded in the ears of the people of Upper Canada," writing, "during the whole of our brief editorial campaign we have exercised with boldness the valuable privilege of thinking for ourselves; it may be here remarked that this boldness does not always attend the public exhibition of our countrymen; who are justly formed over the whole world for the more valuable quality of discretion." Attacks such as these made him disliked - even hated - among the wealthy merchant and professional class of Upper Canada.
  He believed that the main revenue and profit from the newspaper would come from subscription, and mocked newspapers like the Hamilton Western Mercury which were profitable through government advertising.  He claimed these papers were "openly in the pay of those who have sought for thirty years to keep the people in ignorance, squander the fruits of their industry … who had dared to stand up for the British constitution and the good of the country." He called the publishers "sycophants" and resentfully said of them, "these man fellows will bow and scrape, and fetch and carry."  He was not afraid to make enemies, he wanted to provide the public with enough information so they could form their own opinions. For this he would hide nothing, not accept briberies, and publish his newspaper to expose any hidden interest by Upper Canada's elite. In the first edition, he stated "far be it from us to desire to bring into disrepute the government of this country, yet we will not fail to point out their errors. Ridicule shall not be spared: It may effect our purpose when grave argument would fail. We will carefully go over the principal matters connected with his [Lieutnenant Governor Sir Peregrine Matiland's] administration… for the present we cannot remember anything he has done of a public nature worth recording."
caption: Coverpage of the Advocate published on September 27, 1824.
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