Definitions for family compact
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word family compact
The Family Compact is the epithet applied by their opponents to a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Chateau Clique in Lower Canada. It was noted for its conservatism and opposition to democracy. The term Family Compact first appeared in a letter written by Marshall Spring Bidwell to William Warren Baldwin in 1828. "Family" did not mean relations by marriage, but rather a close brotherhood. Lord Durham noted in 1839 "There is, in truth, very little of family connection among the persons thus united". The Family Compact emerged from the War of 1812 and collapsed in the aftermath of the Rebellions of 1837. Their resistance to the political principle of responsible government contributed to its short life. At the end of its lifespan, the Compact would be condemned by Lord Durham as "a petty corrupt insolent Tory clique".
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
a compact concluded in 1761 between the Bourbons of France, Spain, and Italy to resist the naval power of England.
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"family compact." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2016. Web. 9 Feb. 2016. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/family compact>.