Previously published in Examiner
Part 2 of the Viscount Charles Stanley Monck series
To learn more about Canadian or Quebec politics, both McGill University and Concordia University in Montreal offer wonderful political science degrees, that you may want to look into.
For further reading, Montreal’s Concordia University has a wonderful women’s studies program at the Simone do Beauvoir Institute
A history of the evolution of Canada is important to the understanding of the role of a governor general. We will look at four male governors at four different periods of Quebec and Canadian history. They mark the stage for governor generals. These men made decisions primarily on behalf of men. Women’s issues were really not considered with any semblance of respect before the 20th century. The actions of these governors affected the lives of women and that is why they are chosen as a preamble before our women governor generals will be discussed.
Viscount Charles Stanley Monck:
The next evolution in the period of governor generals of Canada occurred during the period just prior to confederation. At that time from 1831 – 1867, Canada was often called the Province of Canada. The Province of Canada ended when Canada became a nation in 1867.
When his father died in 1849, Charles became Viscount Monck inheriting his father’s title. A viscount is a Irish peerage title. Viscount Charles Monck was elected member of the UK parliament in 1852 and was given the title of Governor General of British North America and governor of the Province of Canada in 1861. His appointment came at a time when Canada was getting the legalities together to enter into a confederation.
The American civil war was happening at this time as well. The Trent affair had caused a big rift between US and British relationships as the Americans had captured a British mail packet (ship carrying mail to and from Britain and the USA), to remove two confederate diplomats who were on their way to argue for international recognition of the USA in Europe. The whole incident created an international scandal and threat of war. Click here for more info:
The Brits wanted to strengthen their military in British North America as a result of the tension between them and the USA, while the Canadian colonies wanted more independence and space between themselves and British rule. It was very turbulent times in Canada and America and Britain was facing political and diplomatic tensions from all sides.
Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Monck,_4th_Viscount_Monck