Biography
Joseph Howe was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia On December 13th, 1804 to John Howe and Mary Edes. Howe came from a family of patriots loyal to the British. This was seen as a reason to him being against confederation. Howe Bought the NovaScotian newspaper at the age of 23 after having worked at his dads printing business for years. Howe made his newspaper a success through his fight for free journalism and not being afraid to report and write about many controversies. One example of this was when Howe's newspaper published a letter accusing politicians and police workers of stealing 30 000 pounds. They answered back by charging him with Seditious Libel and bringing him to court. Howe defended himself in court and after things began to look bad for him he came back with a 6-hour defense to convince the jury of his innocence. Even after the judge advised the jury against innocent prosecution the jury did just that and Howe won the case and paved the path for free-press. Howe Married Susan Ann McNabb in 1828. They had one child together, Sydenham Howe. Howe was elected as Premier of Nova Scotia in 1836 in efforts to help support free-journalism as well as to get involved in politics as he discovered how corrupt it could become. Howe fought in many political fronts but eventually died of natural causes on June 1st, 1873 in Halifax. Howe was born in and died in his beloved Province of Nova Scotia he did many things in his life that changed the lives of many people as well as the course of Canadian History
Political Impact
Joseph Howe fought for many political issues such as free-journalism, reliable government and the argument of confederation.
Howe's newspaper allowed him to fight for free-journalism on a personal note. His scandal letter published in his paper was one of his major accomplishments in his fight for free press. Howe ran and was elected as Premier of Nova Scotia in 1836 in hopes to assist his fight for free-press as well as his fight for reliable government as he knew, first hand, how corrupt governments on every level could be. It was his impact on confederation though, that led to his political importance. He led the anti-confederates and although he was not involved in the Charlottetown Conference he was extremely influential in the reaction to the 72 resolutions in Nova Scotia. He made key points on the fact that Nova Scotia had less population than the provinces of Canada East and West and could have much less impact in the new proposed government. Even after confederation occurred and Canada was a country Howe still tried to reverse confederation by trying to convince Nova Scotia to withdraw from confederation. Although Howe eventually joined the new government by becoming a Cabinet Minister for the Federal government. Joseph Howe's efforts in politics will never be forgotten as they and his actions are engraved on a nation.
Howe's newspaper allowed him to fight for free-journalism on a personal note. His scandal letter published in his paper was one of his major accomplishments in his fight for free press. Howe ran and was elected as Premier of Nova Scotia in 1836 in hopes to assist his fight for free-press as well as his fight for reliable government as he knew, first hand, how corrupt governments on every level could be. It was his impact on confederation though, that led to his political importance. He led the anti-confederates and although he was not involved in the Charlottetown Conference he was extremely influential in the reaction to the 72 resolutions in Nova Scotia. He made key points on the fact that Nova Scotia had less population than the provinces of Canada East and West and could have much less impact in the new proposed government. Even after confederation occurred and Canada was a country Howe still tried to reverse confederation by trying to convince Nova Scotia to withdraw from confederation. Although Howe eventually joined the new government by becoming a Cabinet Minister for the Federal government. Joseph Howe's efforts in politics will never be forgotten as they and his actions are engraved on a nation.