Joseph Howe
Canadian politician
Died when: 68 years 170 days (821 months)Star Sign: Sagittarius
Joseph Howe PC (December 13, 1804 – June 1, 1873) was a Nova Scotian journalist, politician, public servant, and poet.Howe is often ranked as one of Nova Scotia's most admired politicians and his considerable skills as a journalist and writer have made him a provincial legend.
He was born the son of John Howe and Mary Edes at Halifax and inherited from his loyalist father an undying love for Great Britain and her Empire.
At age 23, the self-taught but widely read Howe purchased the Novascotian, soon making it into a popular and influential newspaper.
He reported extensively on debates in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly and travelled to every part of the province writing about its geography and people.In 1835, Howe was charged with seditious libel, a serious criminal offence, after the Novascotian published a letter attacking Halifax politicians and police for pocketing public money.
Howe addressed the jury for more than six hours, citing example after example of civic corruption.The judge called for Howe's conviction, but swayed by his passionate address, jurors acquitted him in what is considered a landmark case in the struggle for a free press in Canada.
The next year, Howe was elected to the assembly as a liberal reformer, beginning a long and eventful public career.
He was instrumental in helping Nova Scotia become the first British colony to win responsible government in 1848.He served as premier of Nova Scotia from 1860 to 1863 and led the unsuccessful fight against Canadian Confederation from 1866 to 1868.
Having failed to persuade the British to repeal Confederation, Howe joined the federal cabinet of John A.Macdonald in 1869 and played a major role in bringing Manitoba into the union.
Howe became the third Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia in 1873, but died after only three weeks in office.
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