The federal election of 1896 in Manitoba revisited

Abstract

This thesis examines the federal election of 1896 in Manitoba. It is prompted by the question of why, during a brief period of six months, Manitoba voters retracted their support from the anti-Remedial and anti-coercionist Liberals in the Provincial election of January 1896 to elect the pro-Remedial and coercionist federal Conservatives in the federal election of 1896. The thesis investigates the ways Manitoba candidates and parties developed their positions and priorities on campaign issues and public policy during the federal campaign. It examines candidates' reliance upon both political management and their stance on controversial election issues. The thesis will show that the Manitoba campaign was not the referendum on education that almost all historians have assumed or concluded.