Ontario Teachers' Manuals: History

by Ontario. Department of Education

In connection with sections 3 and 4 the description of the Feudal System would show how the land was held in France; first by the king, under him by the greater nobles, then by the lesser nobles and the gentry, then by the large farmers who sublet it in small farms or hired men to work it. Every one who held land had to do something for his lord. When this description is complete, let the pupils apply it to Canada, the teacher supplying the names of the corresponding classes in Canada. Then the pupils may be asked to consider what return each holder would make for his land; this leads to a statement of the conditions of tenure in Canada. Then the evils connected with this system may be presented as another problem; for example, how would the actual workers be discouraged in making improvements that they would get no credit for? In connection with section 5, the pupils can contrast the method of holding land that they are familiar with, that is, by complete ownership, and can imagine what changes the English settlers would want. They are then ready to hear how and when these changes were brought about, and at what cost.

The method is therefore a combination of the narrative and development, or problem, methods.

THE LESSON

1. Introduce the lesson by a reference to the system of holding land in Ontario. (See lesson on the Feudal System.) Develop the leading principles of freehold tenure. What Act gave the people of Ontario this method of holding land? We are going to learn something about the system of holding land adopted by the French when they ruled Canada. (See Ontario Public School History, Chapter IX, also Ontario High School History of Canada, Chap. VIII.)

2. Under the French the lands of Canada were held in feudal tenure, which means that the King was regarded as the owner, and that rent was paid to him, not altogether in money, but partly in military service. Large portions of land were granted in this way to officers and nobles. An important and imposing ceremony was that at which the lords of manors annually did homage to the King's representative at Quebec. These seigniors, as they were called, had great powers within their domains. This method of tenure was similar to the system of holding land in France, called the Feudal System.

At this point the teacher might give a short description of the Feudal System. Picture to the pupils the old Feudal castle and its surroundings. Show how ill the common people were provided for in comparison with the lords.

3. Cardinal Richelieu introduced feudalism into Canada about the year 1527. He had two objects in view: (a) to create a Canadian aristocracy, (b) to establish an easy system of dividing land among settlers. This system of holding land came to be known as Seigniorial Tenure. The seignior received vast tracts of land from the King, became his vassal, and in turn made grants to the censitaires, those who held their land on the payment of an annual rental. The censitaires secured habitants to cultivate the soil.

4. The seignior was compelled to clear his estate of forest within a certain time. In order to do this he rented it, at from half a cent to two cents an acre, and received his rent in produce. If the censitaire sold the land which was cleared, he had to pay his seignior one twelfth of the price. If the seignior parted with his estate, he had to pay the King one fifth of the selling price. The forests of Canada were not very attractive to the nobles of France; hence, but few of them settled in this country. Some of the prominent colonists, however, were granted patents of nobility and became seigniors. Prevented by their rank from cultivating the soil, they soon became bankrupt. Then they turned their attention to the fur-trade, and later many of them became explorers and the most gallant defenders of New France.

5. In the year 1760, Canada became a British possession, and English settlers commenced to make homes for themselves in Upper Canada. Their number was greatly increased by the United Empire Loyalists who came over after the American Revolution. The English disliked the French method of holding land. Under Seigniorial Tenure, the seller of land in a seigniory was compelled to pay the seignior an amount equal to one twelfth of the purchase money. As this was chargeable not only on the value of the land, but also on the value of all buildings and improvements, which, costing the seigniors nothing, were often more valuable than the land itself, it was considered by the English settlers an intolerable handicap. (Centuries before this the Feudal System had been abolished in England.)