In the first half of the nineteenth century, British North
America was trying to find its way within the Empire and in North
America. The American democratic and republican experiment offered
the Canadian colonies an alternative that seemed both appealing and
threatening. The Nova Scotian politician, historian, and satirist T. C.
Haliburton articulated the fears of his time in a series of humorous
sketches targeting a general audience and designed to spur a collective
debate on the advantages and disadvantages of democracy. This article
explores Haliburton’s political satire in parallel with the classic interpretation
of democracy in America offered by Alexis de Tocqueville. Both authors
wrote about American democracy at about the same time and related
to the American model from without, being aware of the profound effect
the new form of government could have on their own communities
