#CIVILIZATION 2 GOVERNMENTS HOW TO#
#CIVILIZATION 2 GOVERNMENTS FULL#

The Gradual Civilization Act served as one indicator of the expansionist agenda of the growing Canadian state, which was on the verge of federation in the late 1850s. In pursuing an official act of enfranchisement in 1857, the colonial arm of the British Empire sought to remove the rights of Indigenous peoples, and aimed to set a framework by which this diverse population might be culturally absorbed, or assimilated, into settler populations. However, some historians argue that cost was not necessarily the main motivation for defining who was an вЂњIndianвЂќ or civilization policy.

Ultimately, the British policy of вЂњcivilizationвЂќ was a result of cost and expediency. Some historians have argued that civilization did not necessarily mean assimilation for colonial administrators.

#CIVILIZATION 2 GOVERNMENTS HOW TO#

There was internal debate between the respective colonies in British North America on how to best deal with the issue of Indigenous peoples and their ancestral rights.

#CIVILIZATION 2 GOVERNMENTS FULL#

Indigenous people were expected to relinquish their treaty rights voluntarily, to be replaced by land parcelled out for homesteading and voting privileges, which were already constrained under the restrictive definitions of who was eligible to participate in full citizenship rights at the time. At the time, colonial administrators believed that Indigenous people would benefit from individualized property rights, despite provisions in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 (issued by King George III), which recognized Indigenous land rights. Under the Act, a debt-free, вЂњeducated Indian,вЂќ who was of вЂњgood moral character,вЂќ could apply for a land grant from the federal government. The Gradual Civilization Act sought to assimilate Indigenous peoples (then referred to as вЂњ IndiansвЂќ) by encouraging enfranchisement, and adherence to the European concept of private land ownership and wealth accumulation. The Gradual Civilization Act, as it came to be known, was part of a state effort to use government policy to assimilate Indigenous peoples to the economic and social customs of European settler society. An Act to Encourage the Gradual Civilization of the Indian Tribes in the Province was passed by the fifth Parliament of the Province of Canada (formally Upper Canada and Lower Canada ) in 1857.

Civilization 2 governments