'Duty Bound and Ever Praying': Collective Petitioning to Governors and Legislatures in Selected Regions of Maine and Lower Canada, 1820-1838

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
'Duty Bound and Ever Praying': Collective Petitioning to Governors and Legislatures in Selected Regions of Maine and Lower Canada, 1820-1838
Abstract
An analysis by the author of some 1700 collective petitions addressed to the governors and legislatures of Lower Canada and Maine between 1820 and 1838. The author argues that scholars for the most part have viewed petitions as being marginal to the political narrative, and are reluctant to recognize individual and local manifestations of collective action as political. By contrast, the author explores an alternative conception of political culture by studying petitions which he claims better recognizes the ongoing relationship between formal politics and the wider society, and between authorities and citizens. The author explores the complex relationships that developed and were maintained through such practises as petitioning campaigns. The author concludes that although petitioning was not inherently democratic, it did harbour a great democratic potential insofar as it allowed a greater diversity of political perspectives and opinions to be expressed.
Type
PhD dissertation
University
Université du Québec à Montréal
Place
Montréal
Date
2006
# of Pages
xii-268p.
Language
en
Citation
Watt, Steven. “‘Duty Bound and Ever Praying’: Collective Petitioning to Governors and Legislatures in Selected Regions of Maine and Lower Canada, 1820-1838.” PhD dissertation, Université du Québec à Montréal, 2006.
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