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{{Short description|Canadian Jewish entrepreneur and politician}}
'''Aaron Ezekiel Hart''' (] ] - ] ]) was a ] ] ] and ], and the first Canadian Jew elected to public office in the ].
{{For|the naval officer|Ezekiel B. Hart}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|name = Ezekiel Hart
|honorific-suffix = Esq.
|image = EzekielHart.jpg
|imagesize =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1770|05|15|df=y}}
|birth_place = ], ]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1843|09|16|1770|05|15|df=y}}
|death_place = ], ]
|nationality =
|spouse = {{marriage|Frances Lazarus|1794|1821|end=d}}
|alma_mater =
|occupation = ], ]
}}
'''Ezekiel Hart''' (15 May 1770 – 16 September 1843) was an ] and ] in ]. He is often said to be the first ] to be elected to ] in the ].<ref>{{Cite DCB|3429}}</ref>


He was elected twice by the voters of ] to the ]. Some members consistently prevented him from taking his seat by observing that as a Jew, he could not take the ], which included the phrase "on the true faith of a Christian".
== Biography ==
Hart was born ] ] at ] to ] and Dorothea Judah.


==Biography==
He obtained part of his education in the ]. In ] his father brought him into his store and involved him in his ] activities. The following year he was in New York and lived for a while at the home of Ephraim Hart and his wife Frances Noah. There he met Mrs Hart’s niece, Frances Lazarus, and in ] ] they were married. He also looked after family affairs and settled the estate of his uncle Henry Hart, who had been a merchant in ].
=== Early life ===
Ezekiel Hart was born May 15, 1767, at ], ], to Dorothea ({{nee|Judah}}) and ]. His father was a member of the ],<ref>{{cite book|title=Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution|first=Richard S.|last=Levy|author-link=Richard S. Levy|year=2005|publisher=]|isbn=1-85109-439-3}}</ref> and a well-known and successful ] in ].<ref>{{cite book|title=Taking Root: The Origins of the Canadian Jewish Community|first=Gerald J. J.|last=Tulchinsky|year=1993|publisher=]|isbn=0-87451-609-9}}</ref> He obtained part of his education in the ] and, along with his brother ], served as a ] in the ] during the ]. He began participating in his father's ] activities in 1792.


On ] ] Hart and his brothers Moses and Benjamin went into partnership to establish a brewery in Trois-Rivières, the ''M. and E. Hart Company''. By the terms of the agreement the three agreed to hold equal shares in the firm. They had the financial backing of their father. Ezekiel Hart later withdrew from the ''M. and E. Hart Company''. Ezekiel sold everything to Moses, apparently soon after Aaron Hart’s death in ]. Subsequently Ezekiel followed in the footsteps of his father, who was in every respect his model. He went into the import and export trade, kept a general store, never let a good business deal pass, and acquired property. Besides inheriting the seigneury of Bécancour, he bought a great deal of land, mainly at Trois-Rivières and ]. On January 29, 1794, he married Frances Lazarus, niece of ]. Hart and his brothers ] and Benjamin established a ] in Trois-Rivières, the ''M. and E. Hart Company'', in 1796. He remained a partner for only a few years. He then went into the import and export trade, owned a ], and acquired property. Ezekiel Hart inherited the ] of Bécancour and bought land at Trois-Rivières and ].


===''The Hart Affair''===
Ezekiel Hart was admitted into the ] in ] ] and served as a ] in the 8th Battalion of Trois-Rivières militia, which was placed under Lieutenant Colonel ] in ]. He may or may not have been at the battle of Châteauguay, since about that time he was posted to a unit that did not take part in the engagement, the 1st Battalion of Trois-Rivières militia, in which he became a captain.
On 11 April 1807, Ezekiel Hart was elected to the ] over three other ]s, obtaining 59 out of the 116 votes cast. This was not the first time a Jew had run for election: Moses Hart, Ezekiel's older brother, had run unsuccessfully for a seat in ] in 1796. The election having taken place on ], Hart refused to take his oath of allegiance at that time. He would await the opening of the session of the legislature in ] the following January.


Hart caused controversy when, being ]ish he swore his ] on a ], instead of on the ], and with his ] in preparation for taking up his seat on 29 January 1808.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Beginning of Jewish Emancipation in Canada: The Hart Affair|publisher=|volume=10|first=Michael|last=Brown|year=1986}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=One a Day: An Anthology of Jewish Historical Anniversaries for Every Day of the Year|first=Abraham P.|last=Bloch|publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc|year=1987|page=31|isbn=0-88125-108-9}}</ref> (At the time, Jews were accustomed to swearing in courts of law in this manner.)<ref>{{cite book|title=Journals of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada|date=17 February 1808|page=120}}</ref> The next day an objection was raised by the ], ], ] by ] ], that the oath was not taken in the manner required for sitting in the assembly — an oath of ], which would have required Hart to swear "on the true faith of a Christian".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Weinfeld|first1=Morton|last2=Shaffir|first2=William|last3=Cotler|first3=Irwin|author3-link=Irwin Cotler|year=1981|title=The Canadian Jewish Mosaic|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=0-471-79929-7|pages=262, 385}}</ref> Sewell moved that the assembly pass a resolution to this effect, and that Hart be provided with a copy of the resolution, "to the end that he may thereupon pursue such further course in the premises as the law of Parliament may be found to require".
On ] ] was elected to the ]. He caused great controversy when, being ] he swore his oath on a ]. At the time, ] laws prohibited Jews from such positions, and Hart was expelled from the assembly. Hart's expulsion, in part, led to the dissolution of the assembly a short time later. He was elected again in ] and once again expelled.


Shortly after, ], the runner-up in the election in Trois-Rivières, petitioned the assembly, calling for the removal of Hart because, as a Jew, he was "not capable of being elected to serve in the House of Assembly, or of taking the oaths requires, or sitting or voting in the Assembly," and asking that the election be considered null and void and that Coffin be given the seat for Trois-Rivières in his place.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Ezekiel Hart and the Oath Problem in the Assembly of Lower Canada|journal=Canadian Jewish Historical Society Journal|volume=3|first=Abraham J.|last=Arnold|year=1979|pages=10–26, 13}}</ref> On April 18, '']'', the mouthpiece of the Canadian Party, published a poem decrying the choice of a Jew for a seat as even more foolish than ]'s appointment of ] as a Roman consul and priest.<ref>{{cite news|title=Si Caligula l'Empéreur|newspaper=Le Canadien|location=Lower Canada|url=https://fr.wikisource.org/Si_Caligula_l%27Emp%C3%A9reur|date=18 April 1807|page=87|quote=Si Caligula l'Empereur / Fit son cheval consul à Rome, / Ici, notre peuple électeur / Surpasse beaucoup ce grand homme; / Il prend par un choix surprenant / Un juif pour son représentant.|access-date=30 September 2021|archive-date=30 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930233523/https://fr.wikisource.org/Si_Caligula_l%27Emp%C3%A9reur|url-status=live}}</ref> In the same issue, a more ideologically explicit attack was launched. Many antisemitic letters to the editor were published, one of which argued that the electors of Trois-Rivières should be ]ed for electing a Jew to office. Sir ], ] and ], tried to protect Hart, but the legislature dismissed him.
Hart did not run for public office again. He continued to live in Trois-Rivières where he was a successful businessman and well-respected member of the community. He served in the militia during the ] and became colonel in 1830. He was one of the founders of the ] in 1817.


Hart petitioned the legislature, saying that, while he believed that he was justified in the law in taking a seat by means of the oath used by Jews in the courts, he was willing to swear the oaths used for those elected to the assembly. After some deliberation, however, on 20 February 1808, the assembly resolved by a vote of 35 to 5 that "Ezekiel Hart, Esquire, professing the Jewish religion cannot take a seat, nor sit, nor vote, in this House."<ref>{{cite book|title=Journals of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada|date=20 February 1808|page=144}}</ref>
His brother Moses was a businessman and property owner at Trois-Rivières. His brother Benjamin was an important businessman at Montreal. His cousin ] later became a member of the legislative assembly for the Province of Canada.


In 1808, new elections were held, and once again Trois-Rivières returned Hart as one of its two representatives. This time, to avoid controversy, Hart took the oath in the same fashion as a Christian. In his presentation to the assembly, ], the leader of ''Le Canadien'', argued against granting a seat to Hart in the assembly. He claimed that
Ezekiel Hart passed away on ] ] at ], at the age of 73. He was accorded an impressive funeral. The stores in Trois-Rivières closed, and the 81st Foot paid him final honours. He was buried in the second Jewish cemetery in Trois-Rivières, which was on a lot that he himself had given for it. He is believed to have had 10 children. At the time he dictated his last will on ] ], his wife had been dead for 18 years. At the time of his death, he had lived in an enormous well-furnished house with 16 rooms.
<blockquote>"No Christian nation had granted Jews the rights of citizens, not for unjust reasons, but because they themselves do not wish to be part of any country. They may make a country their residence to pursue their business dealings, but never their home. This state of affairs is a result of the Jewish tradition, which requires Jews to wait for the ], their prince; while waiting, they cannot pledge allegiance to any other prince."<ref name="AC">{{cite book|title=Antisemitism in Canada|first=Alan T.|last=Davies|pages=14–16|year=1992|publisher=]|isbn=0-88920-216-8}}</ref></blockquote>
When the assembly finally reconvened in 1809, Hart sat as a member for Trois-Rivières for a few days. After ascertaining that Hart had been expelled the previous year, the assembly voted to expel him again.

The events of 1807–1809 are known to many as ''the Hart Affair'' (]: ''L'Affaire Hart'').<ref>{{cite book|last=Douville|first=Raymond|year=1939–1940|chapter=L'Affaire Hart: Historical Circumstances of the Legislation Giving Jews a Status of Political Equality|title=Canadian Jewish Year Book|volume=1|pages=149–152}}</ref> Some historians explain these events as the result of the rivalry between the contemporary ] and ] factions in Lower Canada rather than ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Sack|first=B.G.|year=1965|title=History of the Jews in Canada|publisher=]|location=Montreal|others=trans. Ralph Novek, rev. ed}}</ref> Some have interpreted this affair as proof of ongoing hostility toward Jews among ]s.<ref name=AC/> Ezekiel Hart stated that, with only one exception, his opponents were ]s, and he assumed they were encouraged in voting against him by their ]s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Michael|year=1987|title=Jew or Juif|url-access=registration|publisher=Jewish Publication Society|page=197|isbn=9780827602717 |url=https://archive.org/details/jeworjuifjewsfre00brow_0/page/197}}</ref>

===Later life===
Hart did not run for public office again. He continued to live in Trois-Rivières where he was a successful businessman and well-respected member of the community. He served in the militia during the ], serving as a ] under Lieutenant Colonel ] in the 8th Battalion of Trois-Rivières militia. He was later promoted ] in 1830.

His wife died on 21 April 1821, at Trois-Rivières.

On 5 June 1832, mainly because of Hart's activism, the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, under the influence and authority of ], passed a bill (the ]) that ultimately guaranteed full rights to people practising the Jewish faith,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/QuebecHistory/docs/jews/1832act.htm|title=An Act to Grant Equal Rights and Privileges to Persons of the Jewish Religion (1832)|publisher=Marianopolis College|date=23 August 2000|editor-first=Claude|editor-last=Bélanger|access-date=23 February 2009|archive-date=17 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317135132/http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/docs/jews/1832act.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> only the second location in the ] to do so after ].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bédard|first1=Marc-André|title=Québec et le droit de vote des personnes de religion juive: une première?|journal=Bulletin de la Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec|date=January 1983|volume=13|issue=1|page=20|language=fr|url=https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/1565134?docref=K-5YMFeZpOOhncOsBB2-9A|access-date=31 December 2020|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020034409/https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/1565134?docref=K-5YMFeZpOOhncOsBB2-9A|url-status=live}}</ref> Papineau, who became ] of the Assembly in 1815, earlier had supported Hart's expulsion in 1809. Samuel Becancour Hart, Ezekiel's son, had a strong influence on the legislation, as he, along with several other important Jewish figures, had sent a letter to ], submitting a ] to the Legislative Assembly demanding that Jews be allowed to hold public office.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10131|title=Building Democracy: Hart & Papineau|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607054109/http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10131|archive-date=7 June 2008|website=Historica|access-date=5 March 2009}}</ref>

Many of Hart's family members were also important people in the community. His brother ] was an important businessman at ]. Because of his work, the Legislative Assembly granted Jews the right to erect a new ] and to keep registers of births, marriages and deaths within their community. His cousin ] was later elected to the ] for ].

===Death===
]
Ezekiel Hart died on 16 September 1843 at ], at the age of 76. A prominent member of the community, he was accorded an impressive ] in which all the stores in Trois-Rivières closed, and the ] paid him final honours. He was buried in the second ] in Trois-Rivières.

Hart had dictated his last ] on 20 June 1839. At the time of his death, he lived in an enormous well-furnished house with 16 rooms. He was survived by his ten children: Samuel Becancour, Harriet, Aaron Ezekiel, Esther Elizabeth, Miriam, Carolina Athalia, Henry, Julia, Abraham Kitzinger, and ].

In October 1909, the remains of Ezekiel Hart and others buried in the Jewish cemetery on Prison Street in Trois-Rivières were moved to Montreal's ] of the ].

==Legacy and honours==
*The Hart family papers held by the ] Archives<ref>{{cite web|url=http://opac.cjh.org:8991/F/LXICJFVT1S8TA7EUD8CLIN94JYE28TGQGL1EH9EJA33N2P8AP2-30166?func=full-set-set&set_number=014209&set_entry=000001&format=999|title=Hart Family Papers|website=American Jewish Historical Society Archives|access-date=2009-03-11|archive-date=2016-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202703/http://opac.cjh.org:8991/F/LXICJFVT1S8TA7EUD8CLIN94JYE28TGQGL1EH9EJA33N2P8AP2-30166?func=full-set-set&set_number=014209&set_entry=000001&format=999|url-status=live}}</ref> in ], and at the ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/explore.php?Lang=1&tableid=18&tablename=fond&elementid=22__true|title=Hart Family Papers|website=McCord Museum|access-date=2009-02-24|archive-date=2007-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071110024049/http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/explore.php?Lang=1&tableid=18&tablename=fond&elementid=22__true|url-status=live}}</ref> in ]. The ] owns an oil portrait of him.
*''The Member from Trois-Rivières'', a ] about the life of Ezekiel Hart, was written in 1959 by Maxwell Charles Cohen.<ref>{{cite book|first=M. Charles|last=Cohen|location=Montreal|date=1959|publisher=s.n.|url=https://openlibrary.org/b/OL20143637M|title=The Member from Trois-Rivières|ol=20143637M|via=]|access-date=2016-07-13|archive-date=2024-08-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804193423/https://openlibrary.org/books/OL20143637M/The_member_from_Trois-Rivi%C3%A8res|url-status=live}}</ref>
*A ] mentioning the Hart Affair was filmed and broadcast in the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historica-dominion.ca/content/heritage-minutes/hart-papineau?media_type=41&|title=Hart & Papineau |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415085413/https://www.historica-dominion.ca/content/heritage-minutes/hart-papineau?media_type=41&|archive-date=15 April 2016|website=Historica Canada}}</ref>
*In 2002, a ] was erected to Ezekiel Hart by the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/clmhc-hsmbc/plaques/images/EzekielHart.jpg|title=Plaque erected by the ''Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada''|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325143037/http://www.pc.gc.ca/clmhc-hsmbc/plaques/images/EzekielHart.jpg|archive-date=2009-03-25 }}</ref> A plaque was commemorated to him at the ''Patrimoine de Trois-Rivières''.
* A street in Trois-Rivières was named for him (Rue Hart).


==See also== ==See also==
*] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


==References== ==References==
{{refs}} {{div col}}
* {{Cite book|last=Abella|first=Irving M.|author-link=Irving Abella|year=1990|title=A Coat of Many Colours: Two Centuries of Jewish Life in Canada|publisher=]|isbn=0-88619-251-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/coatofmanycolour0000abel }}
{{refbegin}}
* {{citebook|title=Un Québec Qui Bougeait|first=Jean-Pierre|last=Wallot|pages=149–53, 163–64|year=1973|publisher=Éditions du Boréal Express}} * {{Cite book|last=Audet|first=Francis Joseph|year=1934|title=Les Députés de Trois-Rivières, 1808-1838|publisher=Éditions du Bien Public}}
* {{Cite book|last=Godfrey|first=Sheldon J.|year=1995|title=Search Out the Land|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=0-7735-1201-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/searchoutlandjew0000godf }}
* {{citebook|title=Les Députés de Trois-Rivières, 1808-1838|first=Francis Joseph|last=Audet|year=1934|publisher=Éditions du Bien Public,}}
* {{Cite book|last=Hart|first=Arthur Daniel|year=1926|title=The Jew in Canada|publisher=Jewish Publications Limited}}
*
* {{Cite book|last=Kage|first=Joseph|year=1964|title=Chapter One: Sketches of Canadian Life Under the French Regime|url=https://archive.org/details/chapteronesketch0000kage|url-access=registration|publisher=Eagle Publishing}}
*
* {{Cite ODNB|last=Kerem|first=Yitzchak|title=Hart, Ezekiel (1770–1843)|id=12476|year=2004}}
*
* {{Cite book|last=Lacoursière|first=Jacques|author-link=Jacques Lacoursière|year=1996|title=Histoire populaire du Québec|publisher=Les Éditions du Septentrion|isbn=2-89448-051-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/histoirepopulair0000laco }}
* ]
* {{Cite book|last=Lambert|first=John|year=1814|title=Travels Through Canada, and the United States of North America, in the Years|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_38811|publisher=C. Cradock and W. Joy|isbn=9780665388118 }}
{{refend}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Langlais|first1=Jacques|last2=Rome|first2=David|year=1991|title=Jews & French Quebecers|publisher=]|isbn=0-88920-998-7}}
* {{Cite book|last=Rhinewine|first=Abraham|author-link=Abraham Rhinewine|year=1932|title=Looking Back a Century|url=https://archive.org/details/lookingbackcentu0000rhin|url-access=registration|publisher=Kraft Press}}
* {{cite book|chapter-url= http://www.americanjewisharchives.org/pdfs/stern_p095.pdf|chapter=Hart Family Tree|title=Americans of Jewish Descent |page=95|first=Malcolm|last=Stern|date=1991|edition=3rd|via=]|access-date=30 September 2021}}
* {{Cite book|last=Vaugeois|first=Denis|author-link=Denis Vaugeois|year=1968|title=Les juifs et la Nouvelle-France|url=https://archive.org/details/lesjuifsetlanouv0000vaug|url-access=registration|language=fr|publisher=Boréal Express}}
* {{Cite book|last=Wallot|first=Jean-Pierre|author-link=Jean-Pierre Wallot|language=fr|year=1973|title=Un Québec qui bougeait|pages=149–53, 163–64|publisher=Boréal Express|isbn=0-88503-005-2}}
* {{Quebec MNA biography|hart-ezekiel-3599}}
* {{cite news|url=http://www.jewish-history.com/Occident/volume1/nov1843/obituary.html|title=Obituary|newspaper=]|date=24 September 1843|volume=1|number=8}}
* {{cite book|chapter=Proceedings Relating to the Expulsion of Ezekiel Hart from the House of Assembly of Lower Canada|title=Journals of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada|date=1808–1809|via=]|chapter-url=https://en.wikisource.org/Proceedings_Relating_to_the_Expulsion_of_Ezekiel_Hart_from_the_House_of_Assembly_of_Lower_Canada}}


{{div col end}}


===Footnotes===
{{Reflist|30em}}


==External links==
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Latest revision as of 01:07, 5 September 2024

Canadian Jewish entrepreneur and politician For the naval officer, see Ezekiel B. Hart.

Ezekiel HartEsq.
Personal details
Born(1770-05-15)15 May 1770
Trois-Rivières, Province of Quebec
Died16 September 1843(1843-09-16) (aged 73)
Trois-Rivières, United Province of Canada
Spouse Frances Lazarus ​ ​(m. 1794; died 1821)​
OccupationEntrepreneur, politician

Ezekiel Hart (15 May 1770 – 16 September 1843) was an entrepreneur and politician in British North America. He is often said to be the first Jew to be elected to public office in the British Empire.

He was elected twice by the voters of Trois-Rivières to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. Some members consistently prevented him from taking his seat by observing that as a Jew, he could not take the oath of office, which included the phrase "on the true faith of a Christian".

Biography

Early life

Ezekiel Hart was born May 15, 1767, at Trois-Rivières, Quebec, to Dorothea (née Judah) and Aaron Hart. His father was a member of the British forces, and a well-known and successful businessman in Lower Canada. He obtained part of his education in the United States and, along with his brother Benjamin, served as a colonel in the militia during the American War of Independence. He began participating in his father's fur trade activities in 1792.

On January 29, 1794, he married Frances Lazarus, niece of Ephraim Hart. Hart and his brothers Moses and Benjamin established a brewery in Trois-Rivières, the M. and E. Hart Company, in 1796. He remained a partner for only a few years. He then went into the import and export trade, owned a general store, and acquired property. Ezekiel Hart inherited the seigneury of Bécancour and bought land at Trois-Rivières and Cap-de-la-Madeleine.

The Hart Affair

On 11 April 1807, Ezekiel Hart was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada over three other candidates, obtaining 59 out of the 116 votes cast. This was not the first time a Jew had run for election: Moses Hart, Ezekiel's older brother, had run unsuccessfully for a seat in William-Henry in 1796. The election having taken place on Shabbat, Hart refused to take his oath of allegiance at that time. He would await the opening of the session of the legislature in Quebec the following January.

Hart caused controversy when, being Jewish he swore his oath on a Tanakh, instead of on the Christian Bible, and with his head covered in preparation for taking up his seat on 29 January 1808. (At the time, Jews were accustomed to swearing in courts of law in this manner.) The next day an objection was raised by the attorney general, Jonathan Sewell, seconded by Justice Pierre-Amable de Bonne, that the oath was not taken in the manner required for sitting in the assembly — an oath of abjuration, which would have required Hart to swear "on the true faith of a Christian". Sewell moved that the assembly pass a resolution to this effect, and that Hart be provided with a copy of the resolution, "to the end that he may thereupon pursue such further course in the premises as the law of Parliament may be found to require".

Shortly after, Thomas Coffin, the runner-up in the election in Trois-Rivières, petitioned the assembly, calling for the removal of Hart because, as a Jew, he was "not capable of being elected to serve in the House of Assembly, or of taking the oaths requires, or sitting or voting in the Assembly," and asking that the election be considered null and void and that Coffin be given the seat for Trois-Rivières in his place. On April 18, Le Canadien, the mouthpiece of the Canadian Party, published a poem decrying the choice of a Jew for a seat as even more foolish than Caligula's appointment of his horse as a Roman consul and priest. In the same issue, a more ideologically explicit attack was launched. Many antisemitic letters to the editor were published, one of which argued that the electors of Trois-Rivières should be reprimanded for electing a Jew to office. Sir James Henry Craig, Governor-General and Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada, tried to protect Hart, but the legislature dismissed him.

Hart petitioned the legislature, saying that, while he believed that he was justified in the law in taking a seat by means of the oath used by Jews in the courts, he was willing to swear the oaths used for those elected to the assembly. After some deliberation, however, on 20 February 1808, the assembly resolved by a vote of 35 to 5 that "Ezekiel Hart, Esquire, professing the Jewish religion cannot take a seat, nor sit, nor vote, in this House."

In 1808, new elections were held, and once again Trois-Rivières returned Hart as one of its two representatives. This time, to avoid controversy, Hart took the oath in the same fashion as a Christian. In his presentation to the assembly, Pierre-Stanislas Bédard, the leader of Le Canadien, argued against granting a seat to Hart in the assembly. He claimed that

"No Christian nation had granted Jews the rights of citizens, not for unjust reasons, but because they themselves do not wish to be part of any country. They may make a country their residence to pursue their business dealings, but never their home. This state of affairs is a result of the Jewish tradition, which requires Jews to wait for the messiah, their prince; while waiting, they cannot pledge allegiance to any other prince."

When the assembly finally reconvened in 1809, Hart sat as a member for Trois-Rivières for a few days. After ascertaining that Hart had been expelled the previous year, the assembly voted to expel him again.

The events of 1807–1809 are known to many as the Hart Affair (French: L'Affaire Hart). Some historians explain these events as the result of the rivalry between the contemporary English and French factions in Lower Canada rather than antisemitism. Some have interpreted this affair as proof of ongoing hostility toward Jews among French Canadians. Ezekiel Hart stated that, with only one exception, his opponents were Catholics, and he assumed they were encouraged in voting against him by their priests.

Later life

Hart did not run for public office again. He continued to live in Trois-Rivières where he was a successful businessman and well-respected member of the community. He served in the militia during the War of 1812, serving as a lieutenant under Lieutenant Colonel Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry in the 8th Battalion of Trois-Rivières militia. He was later promoted colonel in 1830.

His wife died on 21 April 1821, at Trois-Rivières.

On 5 June 1832, mainly because of Hart's activism, the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, under the influence and authority of Louis-Joseph Papineau, passed a bill (the 1832 Emancipation Act) that ultimately guaranteed full rights to people practising the Jewish faith, only the second location in the British Empire to do so after Jamaica. Papineau, who became speaker of the Assembly in 1815, earlier had supported Hart's expulsion in 1809. Samuel Becancour Hart, Ezekiel's son, had a strong influence on the legislation, as he, along with several other important Jewish figures, had sent a letter to King William, submitting a petition to the Legislative Assembly demanding that Jews be allowed to hold public office.

Many of Hart's family members were also important people in the community. His brother Benjamin was an important businessman at Montreal. Because of his work, the Legislative Assembly granted Jews the right to erect a new synagogue and to keep registers of births, marriages and deaths within their community. His cousin Henry Judah was later elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Champlain.

Death

Commemorative plaque in Trois-Rivières

Ezekiel Hart died on 16 September 1843 at Trois-Rivières, at the age of 76. A prominent member of the community, he was accorded an impressive funeral in which all the stores in Trois-Rivières closed, and the 81st Foot paid him final honours. He was buried in the second Jewish cemetery in Trois-Rivières.

Hart had dictated his last will on 20 June 1839. At the time of his death, he lived in an enormous well-furnished house with 16 rooms. He was survived by his ten children: Samuel Becancour, Harriet, Aaron Ezekiel, Esther Elizabeth, Miriam, Carolina Athalia, Henry, Julia, Abraham Kitzinger, and Adolphus Mordecai.

In October 1909, the remains of Ezekiel Hart and others buried in the Jewish cemetery on Prison Street in Trois-Rivières were moved to Montreal's Mount Royal Cemetery of the Congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews.

Legacy and honours

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. "Ezekiel Hart". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
  2. Levy, Richard S. (2005). Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-85109-439-3.
  3. Tulchinsky, Gerald J. J. (1993). Taking Root: The Origins of the Canadian Jewish Community. University Press of New England. ISBN 0-87451-609-9.
  4. Brown, Michael (1986). The Beginning of Jewish Emancipation in Canada: The Hart Affair. Vol. 10.
  5. Bloch, Abraham P. (1987). One a Day: An Anthology of Jewish Historical Anniversaries for Every Day of the Year. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. p. 31. ISBN 0-88125-108-9.
  6. Journals of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada. 17 February 1808. p. 120.
  7. Weinfeld, Morton; Shaffir, William; Cotler, Irwin (1981). The Canadian Jewish Mosaic. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 262, 385. ISBN 0-471-79929-7.
  8. Arnold, Abraham J. (1979). "Ezekiel Hart and the Oath Problem in the Assembly of Lower Canada". Canadian Jewish Historical Society Journal. 3: 10–26, 13.
  9. "Si Caligula l'Empéreur". Le Canadien. Lower Canada. 18 April 1807. p. 87. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021. Si Caligula l'Empereur / Fit son cheval consul à Rome, / Ici, notre peuple électeur / Surpasse beaucoup ce grand homme; / Il prend par un choix surprenant / Un juif pour son représentant.
  10. Journals of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada. 20 February 1808. p. 144.
  11. ^ Davies, Alan T. (1992). Antisemitism in Canada. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 14–16. ISBN 0-88920-216-8.
  12. Douville, Raymond (1939–1940). "L'Affaire Hart: Historical Circumstances of the Legislation Giving Jews a Status of Political Equality". Canadian Jewish Year Book. Vol. 1. pp. 149–152.
  13. Sack, B.G. (1965). History of the Jews in Canada. trans. Ralph Novek, rev. ed. Montreal: Harvest House.
  14. Brown, Michael (1987). Jew or Juif. Jewish Publication Society. p. 197. ISBN 9780827602717.
  15. Bélanger, Claude, ed. (23 August 2000). "An Act to Grant Equal Rights and Privileges to Persons of the Jewish Religion (1832)". Marianopolis College. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  16. Bédard, Marc-André (January 1983). "Québec et le droit de vote des personnes de religion juive: une première?". Bulletin de la Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec (in French). 13 (1): 20. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  17. "Building Democracy: Hart & Papineau". Historica. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  18. "Hart Family Papers". American Jewish Historical Society Archives. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  19. "Hart Family Papers". McCord Museum. Archived from the original on 2007-11-10. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
  20. Cohen, M. Charles (1959). The Member from Trois-Rivières. Montreal: s.n. OL 20143637M. Archived from the original on 2024-08-04. Retrieved 2016-07-13 – via Open Library.
  21. "Hart & Papineau". Historica Canada. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016.
  22. "Plaque erected by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada". Archived from the original on 2009-03-25.

External links


Political offices
Preceded byJohn Lees, Tory
Louis-Charles Foucher, Tory 		MLA, District of Trois-Rivières
1807–1809
With: Louis-Charles Foucher, Tory
Joseph Badeaux, Tory 		Succeeded byMathew Bell, Tory
Joseph Badeaux, Tory
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