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March 8, 2014 |
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He became Governor of Jamaica in 1842, and in 1847 was appointed Governor General of Canada. Under Lord Elgin the first real attempts began at establishing responsible government in Canada. In 1848 the moderate reformers of both Canada East and Canada West, Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin, won their elections, and Lord Elgin asked them to form a government together. Lord Elgin became the first Governor General to remove himself from the affairs of the legislature, leading to the essentially symbolic role that the Governor-General now has. In 1849 the Baldwin-Lafontaine government passed the Rebellion Losses Bill, compensating French Canadians for losses suffered during the Rebellions of 1837. Lord Elgin signed the bill despite heated Tory opposition and his own personal misgivings, sparking riots in Quebec, during which Elgin himself was assaulted by an English language|English-speaking mob and the Parliament buildings were burned down. The French-speaking minority in the Canadian legislature also unsuccessfully tried to have him removed from his post. In 1854 Lord Elgin negotiated the Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty|Reciprocity Treaty with the United States in an attempt to stimulate the Canadian economy. Later that year he signed the law that abolished the seigneurial system in Quebec, and then resigned as Governor-General. In 1857 he became High Commissioner to China, and he visited China and Japan in 1858-9. He signed a Treaty of Amity and Commerce with Japan in 1859. He became Viceroy of India in 1861. He died in India in 1863.
start box succession box | before=Charles Murray Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart|The Earl Cathcart | title=List of Canadian Governors General|Governor General of Canada | years=1847–1854 | after=Edmund Walker Head succession box | title=United Kingdom Postmaster General|Postmaster General | before=Charles Edward Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester|The Lord Colchester | after=Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley|The Lord Stanley of Alderley | years=1859–1860 succession box | before=Charles John Canning, 1st Earl Canning|The Earl Canning | title=Governor-General of India | years=1862–1863 | after=John Laird Mair Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence|Sir John Lawrence end box start box succession box | before=Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin|Thomas Bruce | title=Earl of Elgin | after=Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin|Victor Alexander Bruce | years= end box Category:1811 births|Elgin, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Category:1863 deaths|Elgin, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Category:Governors General of the Province of Canada|Elgin Category:Peers|Elgin, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Category:Viceroys of India|Elgin, James Bruce, 8th Earl of This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin".
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