Robert Atkinson Davis

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Robert Atkinson Davis

Robert Atkinson Davis (born March 9, 1841 in Dudswell , Lower Canada , † January 7, 1903 in Phoenix , Arizona ) was a Canadian politician and businessman . He was Prime Minister of Manitoba Province and ruled from December 2, 1874 to October 16, 1878.

biography

After graduating from high school, Davis, who had a twin brother named Thomas, worked as a teacher in his birthplace. After a few months, he dropped out of a law degree at McGill University . After the end of the Civil War , the brothers moved to the American Rocky Mountains and earned their living with transport services for prospectors . In 1870 Robert Davis settled in Winnipeg . He bought a hotel that turned out to be very profitable.

Davis expanded his business activities and became involved in Manitoba Province politics after the death of his first wife . In 1873 he was elected to the Protestant School Board and the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. In April 1874 the election to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba followed . Prime Minister Marc-Amable Girard appointed him to the government as treasurer on July 8, 1874. Davis sought to reduce the provincial debt burden and negotiate greater financial assistance with the federal government. Due to tensions between English-speaking and French-speaking ministers, Girard's government fell apart after just a few months.

Davis was the only minister who did not resign during the crisis and was commissioned on December 2, 1874 to form a new government. As prime minister, he pursued a policy of equalization between the language groups. Against the opposition of John Christian Schultz's allies , the government maintained the dual education system and restricted speculation on land owned by the Métis. Davis managed to get the Canadian Pacific Railway to build its transcontinental railroad through Winnipeg instead of through Selkirk as originally planned .

Davis resigned as prime minister on October 16, 1878 and then moved to Illinois to live with his second wife, who had never taken up residence in Manitoba. From 1880 he worked successfully as a real estate agent in Chicago . On one of his many trips he died of kidney disease in Phoenix in 1903 .

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personal data
SURNAME Davis, Robert Atkinson
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian politician and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH Dudswell , Lower Canada
DATE OF DEATH January 7, 1903
Place of death Phoenix , Arizona