@JJ_McCullough On candidate names/affliations - official records probably were based on Parliamentary Guides/returns rather on papers; in view of party press, it requires a huge effort to locate correct data (speeches and addresses to 'free and independent electors' are the best helpers). 3/3
Well, I'm fine, just don't ask me how did I spent my summer. Here's the results of 1867 Canadian elxn by census subdivisions, the first of its kind. I used official returns as well as shapefiles from Can Historical GIS (https://t.co/K01hAgNCWR). So without ado, here we go in 🧵
@JJ_McCullough So you have 'loose fish', patronage desire and etc. Things are complicated for 1867 - many liberals stated themselves as Coalition ones, but the Globe could rank them as straight Libs; while La Minerve would put Rouge as the ministerialist. Remember - the press was political. 2/3
To summarize, John A. Macdonald used the popularity for Conf, as well as internal techniques/offices/bribery to gain the mandate in ON, while his colleagues in QC/NS/NB tried to maximize the loyal electorate. Here's the simplified map to observe vote/ethnic patterns, so enjoy!
Even Grit Western Peninsula had blue fractures in. While urban seats were boring, rural ones could bring three-side ways or intense political fights. The candidates’ closeness directly influenced the voters' enthusiasm. You could see space for redistribution, don't you? (cont)