Address of the Fils de la liberté of Montreal to the young people of the colonies of North America: Difference between revisions

Jump to navigation Jump to search
m
no edit summary
mNo edit summary
Line 25: Line 25:
Our public lands, defended in two consecutive wars by the bravery of the inhabitants of the country, later turned valuable by the opening of communications accomplished at the cost of great and tiring labour, and by settlements stretching as far as the desert, were sold or given, ignoring our representation, to a [[Wikipedia:British American Land Company|company of speculators]], living on the other side of the Atlantic, or were divided amongst parasite officials who, for reason of interest, leagued themselves up in a faction to support a corrupted government, enemy of the rights and opposed to the desires of the people, while our fathers, our parents, our colonist brothers are served only refusals, or are unable to afford these uncultivated lands to establish themselves.
Our public lands, defended in two consecutive wars by the bravery of the inhabitants of the country, later turned valuable by the opening of communications accomplished at the cost of great and tiring labour, and by settlements stretching as far as the desert, were sold or given, ignoring our representation, to a [[Wikipedia:British American Land Company|company of speculators]], living on the other side of the Atlantic, or were divided amongst parasite officials who, for reason of interest, leagued themselves up in a faction to support a corrupted government, enemy of the rights and opposed to the desires of the people, while our fathers, our parents, our colonist brothers are served only refusals, or are unable to afford these uncultivated lands to establish themselves.


[[Laws on land tenancy]], absolutely inapplicable to the condition of the country, unjust in their operation, have been imposed on us by a foreign Parliament, which in order to favour private and sinister interests, confiscated the power over interior legislation, which solely belongs to the legislature of the province.
[[Canada Tenures Act|Laws on land tenancy]], absolutely inapplicable to the condition of the country, unjust in their operation, have been imposed on us by a foreign Parliament, which in order to favour private and sinister interests, confiscated the power over interior legislation, which solely belongs to the legislature of the province.


[[Trade regulations]] for this colony, adopted by a foreign Parliament are currently enforced against our consent. By that we find ourselves limited to a small subset of opportunities and deprived of the means to extend our trade to all the ports of the world when the markets of Great Britain are not as advantageous to the disposal of our products; from there the impotence and inertia of our commercial undertakings.
[[Canada Trade Act|Trade regulations]] for this colony, adopted by a foreign Parliament are currently enforced against our consent. By that we find ourselves limited to a small subset of opportunities and deprived of the means to extend our trade to all the ports of the world when the markets of Great Britain are not as advantageous to the disposal of our products; from there the impotence and inertia of our commercial undertakings.


The representation of the country has become a notorious object of mockery. A corrupted executive has constantly worked to make our House of Assembly an instrument suited to inflict slavery upon its constituents; and seeing that it did not succeed in this vile project, it rendered its action impotent by frequent prorogations or dissolutions, or by refusing assent to bills essential to the people and that had been passed unanimously by the representatives.
The representation of the country has become a notorious object of mockery. A corrupted executive has constantly worked to make our House of Assembly an instrument suited to inflict slavery upon its constituents; and seeing that it did not succeed in this vile project, it rendered its action impotent by frequent prorogations or dissolutions, or by refusing assent to bills essential to the people and that had been passed unanimously by the representatives.
Line 63: Line 63:


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
 
Original French-language address was transcribed from the copy kept on microfiche MIC/B524\47382 GEN at the [[w:Grande Bibliothèque|Grande Bibliothèque]] in Montréal.
Public domain text transcribed from the copy kept on microfiche MIC/B524\47382 GEN at the [[w:Grande Bibliothèque|Grande Bibliothèque]] in Montréal.


----
----
Line 71: Line 70:
{{Refa|1}} Compare with the introductory paragraph of the 1776 ''Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States'':  
{{Refa|1}} Compare with the introductory paragraph of the 1776 ''Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States'':  


"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."  
:"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."  


The rest of the address is also directly comparable to the United States' declaration of independence, being followed by a ''preamble'' outlining a general philosophy, an ''indictment'' listing the injustices, a ''denunciation'' of England's failure to redress the situation, a ''conclusion'' where the objectives of the ''Association des Fils de la liberté'' are outlined and finally the ''signatures'' of the ''Fils de la liberté'' of Montreal.
:The rest of the address is also directly comparable to the United States' declaration of independence, being followed by a ''preamble'' outlining a general philosophy, an ''indictment'' listing the injustices, a ''denunciation'' of England's failure to redress the situation, a ''conclusion'' where the objectives of the ''Association des Fils de la liberté'' are outlined and finally the ''signatures'' of the ''Fils de la liberté'' of Montreal.


== See also ==
== See also ==
wikieditor
10,503

edits

Navigation menu