Ryerson Memorial Volume / Prepared on the occasion of the unveiling of the Ryerson statute in the grounds of the Education department on the Queen's birthday, 1889

by J. George Hodgins

Three Educational Periods in the History of Ontario.

The educational history of Ontario naturally divides itself in three periods, viz.:—

1. The early settlement, or United Empire Loyalist period.

2. The period preceding the union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1840.

3. The period since that union, and including the administration of the Education Department by the Rev. Dr. Ryerson, down to 1876.

The United Empire Loyalists period takes us back to a period antecedent to that of their historical prominence as a factor in the events of the war of the American Revolution. In order, therefore, to estimate the value of the educational influence of those times on the future of the provinces in which the U. E. Loyalists settle, we must take a glance at the Colonial chapter in the History of American Education.