Editing Newfoundland and Labrador (section)

==== Achievement of home rule ====
After the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in 1815, France and other nations re-entered the fish trade and an abundance of cod glutted international markets. Prices dropped, competition increased, and the colony's profits evaporated. A string of harsh winters between 1815 and 1817 made living conditions even more difficult, while fires at St. John's in 1817 left thousands homeless.<ref>{{cite web|last=Higgins|first=Jenny|date=2009|title=Reform Movement|url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/reform-movement.php|url-status=live|website=Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage|access-date=March 12, 2021|archive-date=June 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619072255/https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/reform-movement.php}}</ref> At the same time a new wave of immigration from Ireland increased the Catholic population. In these circumstances much of the English and Protestant proprietor class tended to shelter behind the appointed, and Anglican, "naval government".<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Thomsen|first=Robert Chr.|date=2005|title=Democracy, Sectarianism and Denomi(-)nationalism: The Irish in Newfoundland|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30001517|journal=Nordic Irish Studies|volume=4|pages=13–27, 16|jstor=30001517|issn=1602-124X|access-date=March 12, 2021|archive-date=August 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815134056/https://www.jstor.org/stable/30001517|url-status=live}}</ref>

A broad home-rule coalition of Irish community leaders and ([[Scottish people|Scottish]] and [[Welsh people|Welsh]]) [[Methodists]] formed in 1828. Expressing, initially, the concerns of a new middle class over taxation, it was led by William Carson, a Scottish physician, and Patrick Morris, an Irish merchant. In 1825, the British government granted Newfoundland and Labrador official colonial status and appointed Sir Thomas Cochrane as its first civil governor. Partly carried by the wave of reform in Britain, a colonial legislature in St. John's, together with the promise of Catholic emancipation, followed in 1832. Carson made his goal for Newfoundland clear: "We shall rise into a national existence, having a national character, a nation's feelings, assuming that rank among our neighbours which the political situation and the extent of our island demand".<ref name=":1"/>

Standing as [[Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador|Liberals]], the reformers sought to break the Anglican monopoly on government patronage and to tax the fisheries to fund the judiciary, road-building projects, and other expenses. They were opposed by the [[Conservative Party of Newfoundland|Conservatives]] (the "Tories"), who largely represented the Anglican establishment and mercantile interests. While Tories dominated the governor's appointed Executive Council, Liberals generally held the majority of seats in the elected House of Assembly.<ref>{{cite web|last=Higgins|first=Jenny|date=2009|title=Liberals, Conservatives and Sectarianism|url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/sectarianism.php|url-status=live|access-date=March 13, 2021|website=Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage|archive-date=May 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504135340/https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/sectarianism.php}}</ref>

Economic conditions remained harsh. As in Ireland, the potato which made possible a steady growth in population failed as a result of the ''[[Phytophthora infestans]]'' blight. The number of deaths from the [[1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine]] remains unknown, but there was pervasive hunger. Along with other half-hearted measures to relieve the distress, Governor John Gaspard Le Marchant declared a "Day of Public Fasting and Humiliation" in hopes the Almighty might pardon their sins and "withdraw his afflicting hand."<ref>Castelle, George (2019). "The Newfoundland Potato Famine, 1846–48: An Account from the Colony's Newspapers". ''Journal of Newfoundland and Labrador Studies'', 34 (2). St. John's, Newfoundland, pp. 304, 314–315</ref> The wave of post-famine emigration from Ireland notably passed over Newfoundland.