Tory Ruffianism: Using the Unenfranchised as Shock-Troops and Enforcers

Some, like W.W. Baldwin, a leading lawyer and politician, believed on principle that the use of violence against political opponents was "in the strictest sense uncivilized." Moreover, it violated the rule of law, a fundamental principle of the British constitution as understood by Baldwin and other reformers; for this reason also it was unacceptable. The use of the unenfranchised as shock-troops and enforcers remained distinctly tory weapons. In offering a clear alternative to tory ruffianism, the reformers continued to discredit one of the most significant aspects of early tory governance.

--Carol Wilton, Popular Politics and Political Culture in Upper Canada, 1800-1850 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000), 202.

The Durham Meetings: Swinging Upper Canadian Public Opinion Against the Existing System of Government

"Lord Durham," commented Upper Canadian Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Arthur, "has thrown a firebrand amongst the People." Aghast at Lord Durham's success in swinging Upper Canadian public opinion against the existing system of government, Arthur railed against the Durham meetings, powerful expressions of a new spirit of political reform. These Durham meetings -- sixteen in all -- were held throughout the province in the summer and fall of 1839. They attracted huge crowds in support of the principal recommendations of Lord Durham's recently published report: responsible government and the union of the Canadas.

--Carol Wilton, Popular Politics and Political Culture in Upper Canada, 1800-1850 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000), 194.