UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Commonwealth of republics : the lost republican history of Australia and Canada

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.25911/5d5fcdc23eddc

Authors

Jones, Benjamin Thomas

Reported year

2018

Reported language

und · en_AU

Source type

Thesis (PhD)

First detected

2026-11-09T19:08:03.057965+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:08:03.057965+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Documentary abstract — original language

This thesis is a history of ideas and seeks to provide the first study of civic republican ideas and their impact on Britain's Australian and Canadian colonies in the mid-nineteenth century. In particular, the way in which civic republican ideas manifested themselves during the debates over responsible government is explored. The period between 1837 and 1855 is the primary focus of the thesis. Beginning with the Canadian rebellions and finishing with the Eureka rebellion, those eighteen years saw a fundamental shift in British policy towards the colonies and the birth of Lord Durham's second empire. The principle argument here is that civic republican ideas made a significant impact on the reform leaders who petitioned for greater democracy. Australian and Canadian historiography has tended to view the granting of responsible government as a triumph of liberal politics. This thesis examines the language of reform leaders and contends that the calls to end the corruption of the ruling tory cabals and to encourage widespread political participation by virtuous citizens are reflective of the civic republican tradition which can be traced back to Sidney, Harrington, Milton, Cromwell and ultimately, Machiavelli, Cicero and Aristotle. While acknowledging the place of Lockean liberalism, this thesis concludes that for many reform leaders and papers, the emphasis was on collectivism and communalism not the advancement of personal rights and individualism. Although not a contemporary word, this thesis contends that civic republicanism was a major political ideology and one which has been missing from the historical orthodoxies of Australia and Canada.

Identifiers

DOI

10.25911/5d5fcdc23eddc

HANDLE

1885/150428

OAI

oai:openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au:1885/150428

Documentary context

Documentary family

Thesis

Source-reported types

Thesis (PhD)

Jurisdictions studied — explicit sources

AU · CA

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

Repository · Record 1 · Record 2 · Record 3

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.25911/5d5fcdc23eddc
• Handle · https://hdl.handle.net/1885/150428
• Document · https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstreams/a0c00432-7c38-46a3-911b-5f8194602435/download

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.