document_title: Brazilian passport

question_text: how long does it take to renew a brazilian passport

text: Brazilian passport

text: History[edit]

text: The term "passport" was first inserted into the Old Republic Constitution of Brazil in 1891, which defined that anyone of any nationality could enter and leave the country during peacetime.[4] However, there are records of travel documents being checked at Brazilian ports of entry from as early as 1530, and during the 19th century wave of immigration to Brazil, passports from overseas were checked as well.[5]

text: The "green" (old) and "blue" (new) models[edit]

text: The newest model for Brazilian passports, introduced in December 2006, follows the standard established by the Mercosul countries concerning cover color (dark blue for common passports) and the printing of the name Mercosul (Portuguese) or Mercosur (Spanish) on the upper portion of the cover, with the country name below it. The new passport model was first issued to Brazilian citizens for travel outside the country in 2007 and by May 2010 was the sole model being issued.[6]

text: The previous, "old" model has a dark-green cover and is not machine-readable. It does not have the name Mercosul printed on its cover, either. The even older model (also green) that was used until the 1970s, following that time's diplomatic tradition, had the inside pages printed only in Portuguese and French; the more recent "green" model has text in Portuguese, French and English. The latest, "blue" model is in four languages: Portuguese, French, English and Spanish, but the page with the holder's identification data is in Portuguese and English only, and the cover only in Portuguese.

text: Older passports (the "green" model) were produced either by Casa da Moeda do Brasil, the government's official mint, or by the American Bank Note Company. New passports (the "blue" model) are made solely by Casa da Moeda.

text: The "blue" passport's features[edit]

text: The current Brazilian passport is machine-readable, complying with the ICAO Document 9303 standard. When the passport is first issued, the holder's fingerprints, signature and photograph are digitally acquired and stored in a database, but only the holder's digital picture is coded in the physical passport, in a two-dimensional barcode. The latter, as well as the holder's personal identification data and his or her picture are directly laser-printed on the passport; only the holder's signature is handwritten in the traditional way. (Since the old "green" model was designed in the 1970s, before computer technology became widely available, the holder's data are typewritten or even handwritten on it.) At 8.5 x 12.5 cm (3.35 x 5.31 inches), the new passport model is 1 cm (0.39 inch) shorter in height than its predecessor.

text: Passports issued before November 2010 do not contain an RFID chip, but do contain about 20 advanced security features, including a security band embedded within the paper pulp, sewing threads and watermarks with a red fluorescence under ultraviolet light, latent images, optically-variable ink, laser perforations and a holographic plastic film protecting the holder's data page.[7]

text: In November 2010, the Brazilian passport began being issued with an RFID chip. [3], [4], [5], [6]

text: Identification page[edit]

text: It has a data page with a machine-readable zone and a digital photograph of the passport holder. All the information is written in Portuguese and English.

text:
Photograph
Type of document (P for Passport)
Country code (BRA = Brazil)
Passport number
Surname
Given names
Nationality (Brasileiro(a))
Personal no. (in blank by default)
Sex
Place of birth (city and state code, or city and country of birth – if born abroad or is naturalised)
Filiation (parents' names)
Date of issue
Date of expiry
Authority

text: The bearer's signature is placed on the third page.

text: Passport message[edit]

text: Passports of many countries contain a message, nominally from the official or office in charge of passport issuance (e.g., Secretary of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs), addressed to authorities of other countries. The message identifies the bearer as a citizen of the issuing country, requests free passage through the other country, and requests further that, when necessary, aid and protection be afforded as per international laws.

text: In Brazilian passports, there is no highlight to the message whatsoever, nor is it referred to as a message from Brazilian authorities. It is printed on the back of the front cover, as well as three other information blocks. It is in Portuguese, French, English and Spanish. The message is:

text: In Portuguese:

text: in French:

text: in English:

text: and in Spanish:

text: Visa requirements map[edit]

text: Visa requirements for Brazilian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Brazil. As of 1 March 2018, Brazilian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 160 countries and territories, ranking the Brazilian passport 17th in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley visa restrictions index.[8]

text: Issuing process[edit]

text: Passport applications are now made exclusively through the Internet, on the Federal Police Department's Web site. One fills the necessary information in an on-line form and must print the application form and the bank document for paying the required fee. If the new-model passport is going to be issued (the site will inform if it is available at the chosen city and post), an appointment must be previously scheduled; this is also done on-line.

text: At the scheduled time (or at any time during the passport issuing post's working hours, for the old model), the applicant goes to the chosen Federal Police post with the required documents (no photograph needed for the new model, since the photo is taken digitally on the spot) and the passport will be ready at most six working days later (usually less). There is no fast-track system under ordinary circumstances.

text: The applicant's physical presence at the post is required for both applying for and picking up the passport, even if the old-model version will be issued. Special cases where the applicant is unable to go in person for relevant reasons (such as health issues) must be arranged with the authorities on a case-by-case basis.

text: As of July 2015, the passport issuing fee is R$257.00. Passports issued from May 2010 up to June 2015, the issuing fee was R$156.07 (BRL) and R$89.71 for the oldest model (pre 2010). The fee can be paid at any Brazilian bank, including Internet and home banking, with a document that is issued during the on-line application process and can be printed for payment. The fee is doubled if there is a previously issued passport and it is not produced when applying for a new one, but in practice this is rarely enforced.

text: Normally required documents for adult persons are listed below. Actual requirements are subject to change and there are special cases. Applicants should always check the Federal Police Web site for the latest information. Special requirements apply for minors (under 18 years of age).

text: For all applicants:

text:
state-issued ID card or other officially recognised form of identification;
Federal Revenue Secretariat (income tax) registration certificate (known as "CPF", will be waived if the number already appears on the ID document, which is common);
receipt of payment of the passport fee;
application form printed from the on-line page.

text: If applicable:

text:
voter registration certificate, with proof of having voted in the latest elections or legally justified the absence (voting is compulsory in Brazil for people between the ages of 18 and 65)
military service, conscription or waiver certificate (for males 18 through 45 years old);
previous passport, if any (regardless of validity);
two 5 × 7-cm photographs (for the old-model passport only);
marriage certificate;
judicial name change authorisation or sentence;
naturalisation certificate.

text: Brazil and Mercosur[edit]

text: Brazilians within Mercosur have unlimited access to any of the full members (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay) and associated members (Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador) with the right to residence and work, with no requirement other than nationality. Citizens of these nine countries (including Brazil) may apply for the grant of "temporary residence" for up to two years in another country of the bloc [9]. Before the expiration of the term of "temporary residence", they may apply for their transformation into permanent residence.[10][11]

text: Special passports[edit]

text: Other types of Brazilian passports are issued with different colors,[12] but all will incorporate the new design and security features:

text:
Red: diplomatic passport
Green: official passport (for officers on duty for the Brazilian government, but without diplomatic immunity)
Brown: laissez-passer for foreigners to travel to Brazil under special circumstances
Yellow: for holders of refugee status in Brazil
Light blue: passport for emergency repatriation of Brazilians

text: Fraudulent use[edit]

text: Legitimate blank Brazilian passports from the Embassy of Brazil in Prague were used to create fraudulent identification documents for the leaders of North Korea, including Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un.[13]

text: Gallery of historic images[edit]

text:
Brazilian passport from 2010 to 2015.

Old (dark green) version of the Brazilian passport, in use since the late 1970s and still issued at minor Federal Police posts, with the same legal value.

Sample identification page of old-model ("green") Brazilian passport. This model's original design in the 1970s predated widespread computer technology, so data are either typewritten or stamped, there is no machine-readable code, and an ordinary photograph is glued to the page. A plain adhesive plastic sheet protects the page.

Even older model, issued until the 1970s.

Non-biometric passport, issued from 2006.

Visa stamps on a Brazilian passport.

Brazilian immigration exit stamp.

Brazilian immigration entry stamp.

Special Brazilian 2016 Olympics and Paralympics Stamp.


document_title: History of the Liberal Party of Canada

question_text: when was the liberal party of canada formed

root

text: History of the Liberal Party of Canada

text: Party systems model[edit]

text: According to recent scholarship there have been four party systems in Canada at the federal level since Confederation, each with its own distinctive pattern of social support, patronage relationships, leadership styles, and electoral strategies.[1]  Steve Patten identifies four party systems in Canada's political history[2]

tag: p

text:
The first party system emerged from pre-Confederation colonial politics, had its "heyday" from 1896 to 1911 and lasted until the Conscription Crisis of 1917, and was characterized by local patronage administered by the two largest parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives.
The second system emerged following the First World War, and had its heyday from 1935 and 1957, was characterized by regionalism and saw the emergence of several protest parties, such as the Progressives, the Social Credit Party, and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.
The third system emerged in 1963 and had its heyday from 1968 to 1983 and began to unravel thereafter.  The two largest parties were challenged by a strong third party, the New Democratic Party. Campaigns during this era became more national in scope due to the electronic media, and involved a greater focus on leadership. The dominant policy of the era was Keynesian economics.
The fourth party system has involved the rise of the Reform Party, the Bloc Québécois, and the merger of the Canadian Alliance with the Progressive Conservatives. It saw most parties move to one-member-one-vote leadership contests, and a major reform to campaign finance laws in 2004.  The fourth party system has been characterized by market-oriented policies that abandoned Keynesian policies, but maintained the welfare state.

tag: ul

text: Clarkson (2005) shows how the Liberal Party had dominated all the party systems, using different approaches. It began with a  "clientelistic approach" under Sir Wilfrid Laurier, which evolved into a "brokerage" system of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s under William Lyon Mackenzie King. The 1950s saw the emergence of a "pan-Canadian system", which lasted until the 1990s. The 1993 election — categorized by Clarkson as an electoral "earthquake" which "fragmented" the party system, saw the emergence of regional politics within a four party-system, whereby various groups championed regional issues and concerns. Clarkson concludes that the inherent bias built into the first-past-the-post system, had chiefly benefited the Liberals.[3]

text: 19th century[edit]

text: Origins[edit]

text: The Liberals are descended from the mid-19th century Reformers who agitated for responsible government throughout British North America. These included George Brown, Robert Baldwin, William Lyon Mackenzie and the Clear Grits in Upper Canada, Joseph Howe in Nova Scotia, and the Patriotes and Rouges in Lower Canada led by figures such as Louis-Joseph Papineau.  The Clear Grits and Parti rouge sometimes functioned as a united bloc in the legislature of the Province of Canada beginning in 1854, and a united Liberal Party combining both English and French Canadian members was formed in 1861.

text: Confederation[edit]

text: At the time of confederation of the former British colonies of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the radical Liberals were marginalized by the more pragmatic Conservative coalition assembled under Sir John A. Macdonald. In the 29 years after Canadian confederation, the Liberals were consigned to opposition, with the exception of one stint in government.  Alexander Mackenzie was able to lead the party to power in 1873 after the Macdonald government lost a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons because of the Pacific Scandal.  Mackenzie won the 1874 election, but lost the government to Macdonald in 1878. Liberals spent the next 18 years in opposition.

text: In dealing with labour unions, the laissez-faire Liberals under Mackenzie, George Brown and Edward Blake were anti-labour, while Conservatives under Macdonald were pro-labour in the process of making their National Policy work to raise wages (and profits) by imposing a tariff on imports. Macdonald was an important financial supporter of the labor newspaper and friend of trade-union leaders, who in turn aided his party during the election campaigns of the decade.[4]

text: Provinces[edit]

text: In Ontario, the Liberal Party under Oliver Mowat controlled the provincial government and advocated the rights of provinces.  He was in close touch with Catholic officials, and received the Irish Catholic vote.

text: In Prince Edward Island during the 1860s the issue of confederation split the colony's Conservative Party leadership in 1864-65, but after that the central issues were sectarianism and absentee landownership. The defection of rural supporters from the Conservatives allowed the Liberals to win the 1867 provincial election. But the issue of denominational grants to schools cost the Liberals their Roman Catholic support in 1870, and resulted in a coalition government that ruled the island for 17 of the next 21 years.[5]

text: The Nova Scotia Liberal Party fared poorly in national elections during the 1880s and early 1890s. The national party advocated policies that would discontinue the national coal subsidy and, for all practical purposes, eliminate Catholic schools in Manitoba, policies disliked by provincial coal miners and Catholics respectively. William Stevens Fielding influenced a more moderate coal policy and defused the school issue. Thus in 1896 the provincial Liberals improved their showing in the national election.[6]

text: Laurier era[edit]

text: In their early history, the Liberals were the party of  continentalism (free trade with the United States), and opposition to imperialism. The Liberals also became identified with the aspirations of Quebecers as a result of the growing hostility of French-Canadians to the Conservatives.  The Conservatives lost the support of Quebecers because of the perceived role of Conservative governments in the execution of Louis Riel, and their role in the Conscription crisis of 1917.

text: It was not until Wilfrid Laurier became leader that the Liberal Party emerged as a modern party. Laurier was able to capitalize on the Tories' apparent alienation of French Canada by offering the Liberals as a credible alternative. Laurier was able to overcome the party's reputation for anti-clericalism that offended the still-powerful Quebec Roman Catholic Church. In English-speaking Canada, the Liberal Party's support for free trade made it popular among farmers, and helped cement the party's hold in the growing prairie provinces.

text: Laurier led the Liberals to power in the 1896 election (in which he became the first Francophone Prime Minister), and oversaw a government that increased immigration in order to settle Western Canada. Laurier's government created the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta out of the North-West Territories, and promoted the development of Canadian industry.

text: 20th century[edit]

text: Loss of power[edit]

text: The Liberals lost power in the 1911 election due to opposition to the party's policies on reciprocity (or free trade), and the creation of a Canadian navy.

text: The Conscription crisis divided the party as many Liberals in English Canada supported conscription.  Many of them joined Sir Robert Borden's Conservatives to form a Unionist government. With numerous Liberal candidates running as Unionists or Liberal-Unionists with the support of provincial Liberal parties in a number of provinces, the Laurier Liberals were reduced to a largely Quebec-based rump. The long-term impact of the Conscription crisis benefited the party as the issue only added to the animosity of French-Canadians towards the Conservatives, making that party unpopular in Quebec for decades.

text: Canadian sovereignty[edit]

text: Under Laurier, and his successor William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Liberals promoted Canadian sovereignty and greater independence from the British Empire. In Imperial Conferences held throughout the 1920s, Canadian Liberal governments often took the lead in arguing that the United Kingdom and the dominions should have equal status, and against proposals for an imperial parliament that would have subsumed Canadian independence. After the King-Byng Affair of 1926, the Liberals argued that the Governor General of Canada should no longer be appointed on the recommendation of the British government. The decisions of the Imperial Conferences were formalized in the Statute of Westminster, which was actually passed in 1931, the year after the Liberals lost power.

text: The Liberals also promoted the idea of Canada being responsible for its own foreign and defence policy. Initially, it was Britain which determined external affairs for the dominion. In 1905, Laurier created the Department of External Affairs, and in 1909 he advised Governor General Earl Grey to appoint the first Secretary of State for External Affairs to Cabinet. It was also Laurier who first proposed the creation of a Canadian Navy in 1910.  Mackenzie King recommended the appointment by Governor General Lord Byng of Vincent Massey as the first Canadian ambassador to Washington in 1926, marking the Liberal government's insistence on having direct relations with the United States, rather than having Britain act on Canada's behalf.

text: Liberals and the social safety net[edit]

text: In the period just before and after the Second World War, the party became a champion of 'progressive social policy'.[7]

text: As Prime Minister for most of the time between 1921 and 1948, King introduced several measures that led to the creation of Canada's social safety net.  Bowing to popular pressure, he introduced the mother's allowance, a monthly payment to all mothers with young children. He also reluctantly introduced old age pensions when J. S. Woodsworth required it in exchange for his Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party's support of King's minority government. Later, Lester B. Pearson introduced universal health care, the Canada Pension Plan, Canada Student Loans, and the Canada Assistance Plan (which provided funding for provincial welfare programs).

text: Trudeau era[edit]

text: Under Pierre Trudeau, the mission of a progressive social policy evolved into the goal of creating a "just society".

text: The Trudeau Liberals became the champions of official bilingualism, passing the Official Languages Act, which gave the French and English languages equal status in Canada. Trudeau hoped that the promotion of bilingualism would cement Quebec's place in confederation, and counter growing calls for an independent Quebec.  This policy aimed to transform Canada into a country where English and French-Canadians could live together in comfort, and could move to any part of the country without having to lose their language. While this has not occurred, official bilingualism has helped to halt the decline of the French language outside of Quebec, and has also ensured that all federal government services (as well as radio and television services provided by the government-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada) are available in both languages throughout the country.

text: The Trudeau Liberals are also credited with support for official multiculturalism as a means of integrating immigrants into Canadian society without forcing them to shed their culture.  As a result of this and a more sympathetic attitude by Liberals towards immigration policy, the party has built a base of support among recent immigrants and their children.

text: The most lasting effect of the Trudeau years has been the patriation of the Canadian constitution and the creation of Canada's Charter of Rights.  Trudeau Liberals support the concept of a strong, central government, and fought Quebec separatism,  other forms of Quebec nationalism, and the granting of "distinct society" status to Quebec. Such actions, however, served as rallying cries for sovereigntists & alienated many francophone Quebecers

text: The other primary legacy of the Trudeau years has been financial. Net federal debt in fiscal 1968, just before Trudeau became Prime Minister, was about $18-billion, or 26 per cent of gross domestic product; by his final year in office, it had ballooned to $206-billion– at 46 per cent of GDP, nearly twice as large relative to the economy.

text: From the fiscal years 1976 to 1985 the government ran not only an overall deficit, but an operating deficit. The overall deficit throughout the latter phase never fell below 3 per cent of GDP; it averaged 5.6 percent. In the final year of Liberal rule, 1984–85, total spending exceeded revenues by more than 50 percent. The deficit that year, at $38.5 billion, was equal to nearly 9 per cent of GDP. Interest payments alone were now enough to consume nearly one-third of all revenues dollar. With interest costs compounding at a rate of 13 percent per year, the debt doubled every three or four years.[citation needed]

text: The post-Trudeau party in opposition[edit]

text: After Trudeau's retirement in 1984, many Liberals, such as Jean Chrétien and Clyde Wells, continued to adhere to Trudeau's concept of federalism. Others, such as John Turner, supported the failed Meech Lake and Charlottetown Constitutional Accords, which would have recognized Quebec as a "distinct society" and would have increased the powers of the provinces to the detriment of the federal government.

text: Trudeau stepped down as Prime Minister and party leader in 1984, as the Liberals were slipping in polls. At that year's leadership convention, Turner defeated Chrétien on the second ballot to become Prime Minister. Immediately, upon taking office, Turner called a snap election, citing favourable internal polls. However, party was hurt by numerous patronage appointments, many of which Turner had made supposedly in return for Trudeau retiring early. Also, they were unpopular in their traditional stronghold of Quebec due to the constitution repatriation which excluded that province. The Liberals lost power in the 1984 election, and were reduced to only 40 seats in the House of Commons. The Progressive Conservatives won a majority of the seats in every province, including Quebec.  The 95-seat loss was the worst defeat in the party's history, and the worst defeat at the time for a governing party at the federal level.  What was more, the New Democratic Party, successor to the CCF, won only ten less seats than the Liberals, and some thought that the NDP under Ed Broadbent would push the Liberals to third-party status.

text: The party began a long process of reconstruction.  A small group of young Liberal MPs, known as the Rat Pack, gained fame by criticizing the Tory government of Brian Mulroney at every turn. Also, despite public and backroom attempts to remove Turner as leader, he managed to consolidate his leadership at the 1986 review.

text: The 1988 election was notable for Turner's strong opposition to the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement negotiated by Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Although most Canadians voted for parties opposed to free trade, the Tories were returned with a majority government, and implemented the deal.  The Liberals recovered from their near-meltdown of 1984, however, winning 83 seats and ending much of the talk of being eclipsed by the NDP.

text: The party under Chrétien[edit]

text: Turner resigned in 1990 due to growing discontent within the party with his leadership, and was replaced by bitter rival Jean Chrétien, who had served in every Liberal cabinet since 1965. Chrétien's Liberals campaigned in the 1993 election on the promise of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and eliminating the Goods and Services Tax (GST).  Just after the writ was dropped for the election, they issued the Red Book, a detailed statement of exactly what the Liberals would do in office if they won power.  This was unprecedented for a Canadian party.  Taking full advantage of the inability of Mulroney's successor, Kim Campbell to overcome a large amount of antipathy toward Mulroney, they won a strong majority government with 177 seats—the third-best performance in party history, and their best since 1949.  The Progressive Conservatives were cut down to only two seats, suffering a defeat even more severe than the one they had handed the Liberals nine years earlier.  The Liberals were re-elected with a considerably reduced majority in 1997, but nearly tied their 1993 total in 2000.

text: For the next decade, the Liberals dominated Canadian politics in a fashion not seen since the early years of Confederation.  This was because of the destruction of the "grand coalition" of Western socially conservative populists, Quebec nationalists, and fiscal conservatives from Ontario that had supported the Progressive Conservatives in 1984 and 1988.  The PCs' Western support, for all practical purposes, transferred en masse to the Western-based Reform Party, which replaced the PCs as the major right-wing party in Canada.  However, the new party's agenda was seen as too conservative for most Canadians.  It only won one seat east of Manitoba in an election (but gained another in a floor-crossing).  Even when Reform restructured into the Canadian Alliance, the party was virtually nonexistent east of Manitoba, winning only 66 seats in 2000.  Reform/Alliance was the official opposition from 1997 to 2003, but was never able to overcome wide perceptions that it was merely a Western protest party.  The Quebec nationalists who had once supported the Tories largely switched their support to the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois, while the Tories' support in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces largely moved to the Liberals.  The PCs would never be a major force in Canadian politics again; while they rebounded to 20 seats in the next election, they won only two seats west of Quebec in the next decade.

text: Ontario and Quebec are guaranteed a majority of seats in the House of Commons under both Constitution Acts (59 percent of the seats).  As a result, it is very difficult to form even a minority government without substantial support in Ontario and/or Quebec.  It is mathematically impossible to form a majority government without winning the most seats in either Ontario or Quebec. While it is mathematically possible to form a minority government without a strong base in either province, but such an undertaking is politically difficult. The Liberals were the only party with a strong base in both provinces, thus making them the only party capable of forming a government.

text: There was some disappointment as Liberals were not able to recover their traditional dominant position in Quebec, despite being led by a Quebecer from a strongly nationalist region of Quebec.  The Bloc capitalized on discontent with the failure of the 1990 Meech Lake Accord and Chrétien's uncompromising stance on federalism (see below) to win the most seats in Quebec in every election from 1993 onward, even serving as the official opposition from 1993 to 1997. Chrétien's reputation in his home province never recovered after the 1990 leadership convention when rival Paul Martin forced him to declare his opposition to the Meech Lake Accord.  However, the Liberals did increase their support in the next two elections due to infighting within the Bloc. In the 1997 election, although the Liberals finished with a thin majority, it was their gains in Quebec which were credited with offsetting their losses in the Maritime provinces. In particular, the 2000 election was a breakthrough for the Liberals after the PQ government's unpopular initiatives regarding consolidation of several Quebec urban areas into "megacities."  Many federal Liberals also took credit for Charest's provincial election victory over the PQ in spring 2003. A series of by-elections allowed the Liberals to gain a majority of Quebec ridings for the first time since 1984.

text: The Chrétien Liberals more than made up for their shortfall in Quebec by building a strong base in Ontario. They reaped a substantial windfall from the votes of fiscally conservative and socially liberal voters who had previously voted Tory, as well as rapid growth in the Greater Toronto Area.  They were also able to take advantage of massive vote splitting between the Tories and Reform/Alliance in rural areas of the province that had traditionally formed the backbone of provincial Tory governments.  Combined with their historic dominance of Metro Toronto and northern Ontario, the Liberals dominated the province's federal politics even as the Tories won landslide majorities at the provincial level. In 1993, for example, the Liberals won all but one seat in Ontario, and came within 123 votes in Simcoe Centre of pulling off the first clean sweep of Canada's most populated province.  They were able to retain their position as the largest party in the House by winning all but two seats in Ontario in the 1997 election.  The Liberals were assured of at least a minority government once the Ontario results came in, but it was not clear until later in the night that they would retain their majority.  In 2000, the Liberals won all but three seats in Ontario.

text: While the Chrétien Liberals campaigned from the left, their time in power is most marked by the cuts made to many programs in order to balance the federal budget.  Chrétien had supported the Charlottetown Accord while in opposition, but in power opposed major concessions to Quebec and other provincialist factions. In contrast to their promises during the 1993 campaign, they implemented only minor changes to NAFTA, embraced the free trade concept and– with the exception of the replacement of the GST with the Harmonized Sales Tax in some Atlantic provinces– broke their promise to replace the GST.

text: After a proposal for Quebec independence was narrowly defeated in the 1995 Quebec referendum, the Liberals passed the "Clarity Act" Clarity Act which outlines the federal government's preconditions for negotiating provincial independence. In Chrétien's final days, he supported same-sex marriage in Canada as well as decriminalizing the possession of small quantities of marijuana. Chrétien displeased the United States government when he pledged on March 17, 2003 that Canada would not support the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Polling released a month later[8] showed the decision was largely popular, with 62% in favour of the Prime Minister's decision, and 35% opposed. Later polls would increase that margin of support.[9][10]

text: Into the 21st century[edit]

text: Martin succeeds Chrétien[edit]

text: Paul Martin succeeded Chrétien as party leader and prime minister in 2003.  Despite the personal rivalry between the two, Martin was the architect of the Liberals' economic policies as Minister of Finance during the 1990s. Chrétien left office with a high approval rating and Martin was expected to take the Liberals to greater heights. While his cabinet choices provoked some controversy over excluding many Chrétien supporters, it at first did little to hurt his popularity. However, the political situation changed with the revelation of the sponsorship scandal, in which advertising agencies supporting the Liberal Party received grossly inflated commissions for their services.

text: Having faced a divided conservative opposition for the past three elections, Liberals were seriously challenged by competition from the newly united Conservative Party led by Stephen Harper. The infighting between Martin and Chrétien's supporters also dogged the party. Nonetheless, by criticizing the Conservatives' social policies, the Liberals were able to draw progressive votes from the NDP which made the difference in several close races. On June 28, 2004 federal election, the Martin Liberals retained enough support to continue as the government, though they were reduced to a minority.

text: In the ensuing months, testimony from the Gomery Commission caused public opinion to turn sharply against the Liberals for the first time in over a decade.  Despite the devastating revelations, only two Liberal MPs--David Kilgour (who had, ironically, crossed the floor from the PC Party in 1990) and Pat O'Brien—left the party for reasons other than the scandal.  Belinda Stronach, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals, gave Martin the number of votes needed, although barely, to hold onto power when an NDP-sponsored amendment to his budget was passed only by the Speaker's tiebreaking vote on May 19, 2005.

text: In November, the Liberals dropped in polls following the release of the first Gomery Report. Nonetheless, Martin turned down the NDP's conditions for continued support, as well as rejected an opposition proposal which would schedule a February 2006 election in return for passing several pieces of legislation. The Liberals thus lost the no-confidence vote on November 28; Martin thus became only the fifth prime minister to lose the confidence of the House, but the first to lose on a straight no-confidence motion.  Due to the Christmas holiday, Martin advised Governor General Michaëlle Jean to dissolve Parliament and call an election for January 2006.

text: The Liberal campaign was dogged from start to finish by the sponsorship scandal, which was brought up by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) criminal investigation into the leak of the income trust announcement.  Numerous gaffes, contrasting with a smoothly run Conservative campaign, put Liberals as many as ten points behind the Conservatives in opinion polling.  They managed to recover some of their momentum by election night, but not enough to retain power.  They won 103 seats, a net loss of 30 from when the writs were dropped, losing a similar number of seats in Ontario and Quebec to the Tories.  However, the Liberals managed to capture the most seats in Ontario for the fifth straight election (54 to the Tories' 40), holding the Conservatives to a minority government. While the Conservatives captured many of Ontario's rural ridings, the Liberals retained most of the population-rich Greater Toronto Area.  Many of these ridings, particularly the 905 region, had historically been bellwethers (the Liberals were nearly shut out of this region in 1979 and 1984), but demographic changes have resulted in high Liberal returns in recent years.

text: Martin resigned as parliamentary leader after the election and stepped down as Liberal leader on March 18, having previously promised to step down if he didn't win a plurality.

text: In Opposition and 2006 convention[edit]

text:
Bill Graham was appointed interim party and parliamentary leader and the process to select a new party leader began. An unusually large number of prominent members such as Frank McKenna, Brian Tobin,
Allan Rock and Belinda Stronach declined to run, yet at the same time many new faces stepped forward. There were eight people running for the leadership of the Liberal Party [11] at the time of the convention:

text:
Martha Hall Findlay
Stéphane Dion
Michael Ignatieff
Gerard Kennedy
Bob Rae
Scott Brison
Ken Dryden
Joe Volpe

text: The Liberal Party reportedly felt they could quickly regain power, so they accelerated the leadership selection process.[12] While there were some predictions the party's National Executive would call the convention for as late as March 2007, it instead decided to announce the convention for the first weekend of December 2006.

text: On December 2 in Montreal, the Liberals voted for their new party leader. The first ballot results had Michael Ignatieff leading the pack with 30% of the delegates, Bob Rae second with 20%, and Stéphane Dion and Gerard Kennedy in third and fourth respectively with 16% of the votes each. The remaining contenders gathered less than 5% of the first ballot vote and Martha Hall Findlay was eliminated as she came in last on the first ballot, she endorsed Stéphane Dion for leader before voting began for the second ballot the next morning.  Before voting began for the second ballot, Scott Brison and Joe Volpe voluntarily dropped out of the race, and both endorsed Bob Rae. The second ballot results showed Ignatieff again leading the way, with Rae in second, Dion in third, Kennedy in fourth, and Dryden in fifth. Dryden was thus eliminated, and he endorsed Bob Rae as well. Kennedy dropped out of the race and endorsed Stéphane Dion. Thus the third ballot came down to only Ignatieff, Rae and Dion. Dion jumped to first on the third ballot with Ignatieff and Rae falling to second and third respectively. Rae was eliminated, and Dion was elected leader over Ignatieff on the fourth ballot.

text: On May 11, 2006, Montreal's La Presse reported that the Government of Canada will file a lawsuit against the Liberal Party to recover all the money missing in the sponsorship program. Scott Brison told reporters that same day that the Liberals has already paid back the $1.14 million into the public purse, however the Conservatives believe that there is as much as $40 million unaccounted for in the sponsorship program.[13]

text: On September 28, 2007, party national director Jamie Carroll, was criticized for comments he allegedly made in response to a suggestion that the Liberals should hire more francophone Quebecers to appeal to francophone voters. According to some persons present at a private meeting, Carroll said "Do we also have to hire people from the Chinese community to represent the Chinese community?". He later indicated that a statement he made was taken out of context. Several Quebec MPs and the president of the party's Quebec wing said that Carroll was quoted correctly, with Pablo Rodriguez and Liza Frulla demanding that he be fired. Dion affirmed Carroll's version of events, and rejected calls for his dismissal.[14][15][16][17] Carroll initially threatened to sue for defamation and demand 12 to 18 months of severance, though Dion later had him quietly reassigned to another position.[18]

text: British Columbia MP Blair Wilson was resigned from caucus and the shadow cabinet, after the Vancouver Province charged that he was involved in unlawful off-the-books cash spending, and that his private businesses had numerous discrepancies and unpaid debts. Wilson, who is being investigated, has denied the allegations.[19]

text: Majority under Trudeau[edit]

text: For much of its history, the Liberal Party has been referred to as "Canada's Natural Governing Party", due to the party's election success and a weak Conservative Opposition.[20] In the aftermath of the Liberal Party's poor performance in the 2011 federal election, there was speculation that the Conservative Party was in a position to replace the Liberals in that unofficial status[21] but the Liberal party won a majority government again in 2015.

text: Leaders of the Liberal Party since 1867[edit]

text:
Start of Leadership

Leader

Date of Birth

Date of Death

Length of Leadership

1 July 1867

George Brown

29 November 1818

10 May 1880

2 months, 19 days (interim)1

20 September 1867

Vacant

n/a

n/a

2 years (approx)

1869

Edward Blake

13 October 1833

1 March 1912

2 years (approx) (interim)

1871

Vacant

n/a

n/a

2 years (approx)

6 March 1873

Alexander Mackenzie

28 January 1822

17 April 1892

7 years, 1 month

27 April 1880

Edward Blake

13 October 1833

1 March 1912

7 years, 1 month

23 June 1887

Sir Wilfrid Laurier

20 November 1841

17 February 1919

31 years, 8 months

17 February 1919

Daniel Duncan McKenzie

8 January 1859

8 June 1927

5 months, 3 weeks (interim)

7 August 1919

William Lyon Mackenzie King

17 December 1874

22 July 1950

29 years

7 August 1948

Louis St. Laurent

1 February 1882

25 July 1973

9 years, 5 months

16 January 1958

Lester B. Pearson

23 April 1897

28 December 1972

10 years, 3 months

6 April 1968

Pierre Elliott Trudeau

18 October 1919

28 September 2000

16 years, 2 months

16 June 1984

John Turner

7 June 1929

Living

6 years

6 February 1990

Herb Gray

25 May 1931

12 April 2014

4 months, 17 days2 (interim Parliamentary leader)

23 June 1990

Jean Chrétien

11 January 1934

Living

13 years, 5 months

14 November 2003

Paul Martin

28 August 1938

Living

2 years, 3 months

18 March 2006

Bill Graham

17 March 1939

Living

8 months, 2 weeks3 (interim)

2 December 2006

Stéphane Dion

28 September 1955

Living

2 years

10 December 2008

Michael Ignatieff

12 May 1947

Living

2 years, 5 months, 15 days

25 May 2011

Bob Rae

2 August 1948

Living

1 year, 10 months, 20 days(interim)

14 April 2013

Justin Trudeau

25 December 1971

Living

Current Leader

tag: table

text: Notes:

text: 1 Brown was regarded by most Liberal candidates as their leader in the 1867 election but did not officially hold the title. Had he won a seat he would have almost certainly become Leader of the Opposition and had the Liberals won enough seats to form a government Brown would almost certainly have become Prime Minister. However, he failed in his bid for a seat in the House of Commons and the Liberals had no official leader until 1873.

text: 2 Herb Gray served as Leader of the Opposition from February 6 until Chrétien was re-elected to Parliament, and took his seat on December 21, 1990. He led the Liberal Party in parliament, though he was never the leader or interim leader of the Liberal Party as a whole.

text: 3 After the defeat of the Liberals by the Conservatives of Stephen Harper in the 2006 Canadian federal election, held on January 26, Paul Martin announced in the early hours of January 27, 2006 his intention to resign the leadership of the Liberal Party. Bill Graham was later selected as parliamentary leader by caucus, while Martin indicated he would remain nominal party leader. On March 18, 2006, Graham was appointed interim leader after Martin officially stepped down from the post.

text: The Liberal Party held its first leadership convention in 1919, electing William Lyon Mackenzie King as leader. Prior to that party leaders were chosen by caucus.

text: Presidents of the Liberal Party since 1932[edit]

text:
Beginning of Presidency

Name

Date of Birth

Date of Death

Length of Presidency

1932

Vincent Massey

20 February 1887

30 December 1967

3 years

1935

Norman Platt Lambert

7 January 1885

4 November 1965

5 years

1940

Inactive Presidency [2]

5 years

1945

Gordon Fogo

9 July 1896

6 July 1952

7 years

1952

Duncan Kenneth MacTavish

3 June 1899

15 November 1963

6 years

1958

?

1968

Richard Stanbury

2 May 1932

Living

5 years

1973

Gildas Molgat

25 January 1927

28 February 2001

3 years

1976

Alasdair Graham

21 May 1929

Living

4 years

1980

Norman MacLeod

Living

2 years

1982

Iona Campagnolo

18 October 1932

Living

4 years

1986

J. J. Michel Robert

29 January 1938

Living

4 years

1990

Don Johnston

26 June 1936

Living

4 years

1994

Dan Hays

24 April 1939

Living

4 years

1998

Stephen LeDrew

1953

Living

5 years

2003

Michael Eizenga

1956

Living

3 years

2006

Marie Poulin

21 June 1945

Living

2 years

2008

Doug Ferguson

Living

1 year

March 2009

Alfred Apps

Living

January 14, 2012

Mike Crawley

Living

2 years

text: Election results[edit]

text:
Election

# of candidates nominated

# of seats won

# of total votes

% of popular vote

result

1867

65

62

60,818

22.67%

Cons. majority

1872

111

95

110,556

34.72%

Cons. majority

1874

140

129

128,059

39.49%

majority government

1878

121

63

180,074

33.05%

Cons. majority

1882

112

72

160,547

31.10%

Cons. majority

1887

184

79

312,736

43.13%

Cons. majority

1891

194

90

350,512

45.22%

Cons. majority

1896

190

117

401,425

41.37%

majority government

1900

209

128

477,758

50.25%

majority government

1904

208

137

521,041

50.88%

majority government

1908

213

133

570,311

48.87%

majority government

1911

214

85

596,871

45.82%

Cons. majority

1917*

213

82

729,756

38.80%

coalition government

1921

204

118

1,285,998

41.15%

majority government

1925

216

100

1,252,684

39.74%

minority government

1926

189

114

1,294,072

42.74%

majority government

1930

226

90

1,716,798

44.03%

Cons. majority

1935

245

173

1,967,839

44.68%

majority government

1940

242

179

2,365,979

51.32%

majority government

1945

236

117

2,086,545

39.78%

majority government

1949

259

190

2,878,097

49.15%

majority government

1953

263

169

2,743,013

48.62%

majority government

1957

265

105

2,703,687

40.91%

PC minority

1958

265

49

2,444,909

33.50%

PC majority

1962

264

100

2,862,001

37.17%

PC minority

1963

265

128

3,276,995

41.52%

minority government

1965

265

131

3,099,521

40.18%

minority government

1968

263

155

3,686,801

47.53%

majority government

1972

263

109

3,717,804

38.42%

minority government

1974

264

141

4,102,853

43.15%

majority government

1979

282

114

4,595,319

40.11%

PC minority

1980

282

147

4,855,425

44.40%

majority government

1984

282

40

3,516,486

28.02%

PC majority

1988

294

83

4,205,072

31.92%

PC majority

1993

295

177

5,598,775

41.24%

majority government

1997

301

155

4,994,377

38.46%

majority government

2000

301

172

5,251,961

40.85%

majority government

2004

308

135

4,951,107

36.7%

minority government

2006

308

103

4,477,217

30.09%

Cons. minority

2008

308

76

3,629,990

26.24%

Cons. minority

2011

308

34

2,783,175

18.91%

Cons. majority

2015

338

184

6,930,136

39.47%

majority government

text: 1953-1968 includes one Liberal-Labour Member of Parliament.

text: * In 1917, some Liberals ran under the Unionist banner, figures only count those who ran as "Laurier Liberals"

text: Further reading[edit]

text:
Bickerton, James, and Alain G. Gagnon. Canadian Politics (5th ed. 2009), 415pp; university textbook
Bliss, Michael. Right Honourable Men: The Descent of Canadian Politics from Macdonald to Mulroney (1994), essays on Prime Ministers
Clarkson, Stephen. The Big Red Machine: How the Liberal Party Dominates Canadian Politics (2005)
Cohen, Andrew, J. L. Granatstein, eds. Trudeau's Shadow: the life and legacy of Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1999).
Gagnon, Alain G. and Brian Tanguay. Canadian Parties in Transition (3rd ed. 2007), 574pp; university textbook
Granatstein, J.L. Mackenzie King: His Life and World (1977).
Hillmer, Norman, and Steven Azzi. "Canada's Best Prime Ministers," Maclean's June 20, 2011 online
McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson. "Liberal Party". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Neatby, H. Blair. Laurier and a Liberal Quebec: A Study in Political Management (1973)
Wallace, W.S. (1948). "History of the Liberal Party of Canada". The Encyclopedia of Canada. IV. Toronto: University Associates of Canada. pp. 75–76.
Whitaker, Reginald. The Government Party: Organizing and Financing the Liberal Party of Canada, 1930-1958 (1977)


document_title: Wedding anniversary

question_text: what is the traditional gift for 4 year wedding anniversary

text: Wedding anniversary

text: Official recognition[edit]

text: The historic origins of wedding anniversaries date back to the Holy Roman Empire, when husbands crowned their wives with a silver wreath on their twenty-fifth anniversary, or vicennalia, and a gold wreath on the fiftieth. Later, principally in the twentieth century, commercialism led to the addition of more anniversaries being represented by a named gift.[1]

text: In the Commonwealth realms, one can receive a message from the monarch for 60th, 65th, and 70th wedding anniversaries, and any wedding anniversary after that.[2] This is done by applying to Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom, or to the Governor-General's office in the other Commonwealth realms.[3]

text: In Australia, where one can receive a letter of congratulations from the Governor-General on the 50th and all subsequent wedding anniversaries; the Prime Minister, the federal Opposition leader, local members of both state and federal parliaments, and state Governors may also send salutations for the same anniversaries.[4]

text: In Canada, one can also receive a message from the Governor-General for the 50th anniversary, and every fifth anniversary after that.[5]

text: In the United States, a couple can receive a greeting from the President for any wedding anniversary on or after the 50th.[6]

text: Roman Catholics may apply for a Papal blessing through their local diocese for wedding anniversaries of a special nature (25th, 50th, 60th, etc.).[7][8]

text: Celebration and gifts[edit]

text: The names of some anniversaries provide guidance for appropriate or traditional gifts for the spouses to give each other; if there is a party these can be brought by the guests or influence the theme or decoration. These gifts vary in different countries, but some years have well-established connections now common to most nations[citation needed]: 5th Wooden, 10th Tin, 15th Crystal, 20th China, 25th Silver, 30th Pearl, 40th Ruby, 50th Gold, 60th Diamond, and 70th Platinum. In English speaking countries the first, wooden, gift was cut on the day of celebration and then presented to the wife as a finished article before the next two quarter days had passed[citation needed]. The tradition may have originated in medieval Germany where, if a married couple lived to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their wedding, the wife was presented by her friends and neighbours with a silver wreath to congratulate them for the good fortune that had prolonged the lives of the couple for so many years[inconsistent]. On celebration of the 50th, the wife received a wreath of gold. Over time the number of symbols expanded and the German tradition came to assign gifts that had direct connections with each stage of married life. The symbols have changed over time. For example, in the United Kingdom, diamond was a well known symbol for the 75th anniversary[citation needed], but this changed to the now more common 60th anniversary after Queen Victoria's 60 years on the throne was widely marked as her Diamond Jubilee.[citation needed]

text: The origins of the current gift conventions date to 1937. Before that, only the 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 50th, and 75th anniversaries had an associated gift. In 1937, the American National Retail Jeweler Association (now known as Jewelers of America as a result of an organizational merger) introduced an expanded list of gifts. The revamped list gave a gift for each year up to the 25th, and then for every fifth anniversary after that.[9]

text: Traditional and modern anniversary gifts [edit]

text: Lists of wedding anniversary gifts vary by country. The traditional and modern U.S. versions were compiled by librarians at the Chicago Public Library.[10][11][12][13]

text:
Year
Traditional (U.S.)
Traditional (U.K.)[14]
Modern list created by Chicago Public Library

1st
Paper
Cotton
Clock

2nd
Cotton
Paper
China

3rd
Leather
Crystal, glass

4th
Linen, silk
Fruit and flowers
Appliances (electrical)

5th
Wood
Silverware

6th
Iron
Sugar
Wood objects

7th
Wool, copper
Woollen
Desk sets / Pen and Pencil sets

8th
Bronze
Salt
Linens, lace

9th
Pottery
Copper
Leather goods

10th
Tin, aluminium
Tin
Diamond jewelry

11th
Steel

Fashion jewelry, accessories

12th
Silk
Silk and fine linen
Pearls, colored gems

13th
Lace

Textiles, furs

14th
Ivory

Gold jewelry

15th
Crystal
Watches

16th

Silver holloware

17th

Furniture

18th

Porcelain

19th

Bronze

20th
China
Platinum

21st

Brass, Nickel

22nd

Copper

23rd

Silver plate

24th
Opal

Musical instruments

25th
Silver

30th
Pearl
Diamond

35th
Coral, jade
Coral
Jade

40th
Ruby

45th
Sapphire

50th
Gold

55th
Emerald

60th
Diamond (yellow)
Diamond

65th

Blue sapphire

70th

Platinum[15][16][17]

75th
Diamond, gold

80th

Oak[18][19]
Diamond, pearl

85th
Moonstone
Wine
Wife's birthstone

90th

Stone
Engraved marble, granite[20]

text: Flower gifts[edit]

text:
Year
Flower

1st
Carnation

2nd
Lily of the Valley

3rd
Sunflower

4th
Hydrangea

5th
Daisy

6th
Calla

7th
Freesia

8th
Lilac

9th
Bird of paradise

10th
Daffodil

11th
Tulip

12th
Peony

13th
Chrysanthemum

14th
Dahlia

15th
Rose

20th
Aster

25th
Iris

28th
Orchid

30th
Lily

40th
Gladiolus

50th
Yellow rose, violet

text: Gemstone gifts[edit]

text:
Year
Gemstone

1st
Mother of Pearl

2nd
Garnet

3rd
Moonstone

4th
Blue Topaz

5th
Rose Quartz

6th
Amethyst

7th
Onyx

8th
Tourmaline

9th
Lapis Lazuli

10th
Crystal or green Tourmaline

11th
Turquoise

12th
Jade

13th
Citrine

14th
Opal

15th
Rhodolite

20th
Emerald

25th
Tsavorite

30th
Pearl

40th
Ruby

50th
Gold

60th
Diamond

65th
Sapphire


document_title: Amos 'n' Andy

question_text: who owns the rights to amos and andy

question_tokens: who owns the rights to amos and andy

text: Amos 'n' Andy

text: Origins[edit]

text: Amos 'n' Andy creators, Gosden and Correll, were white actors familiar with minstrel traditions. They met in Durham, North Carolina,[5][6] in 1920. Both men had some scattered experience in radio, but it was not until 1925 that the two appeared on Chicago's WQJ.[7] Their appearances soon led to a regular schedule on another Chicago radio station, WEBH, where their only compensation was a free meal.[8][9] The pair hoped that the radio exposure would lead to stage work; they were able to sell some of their works to local bandleader Paul Ash,[10] which brought them enough name recognition to be offered jobs at the Chicago Tribune's station WGN in 1925. The lucrative offer allowed them to become full-time broadcasters. The Victor Talking Machine Company also offered them a recording contract.[8]

text: Since the Tribune syndicated Sidney Smith's popular comic strip The Gumps, which had successfully introduced the concept of daily continuity, WGN executive Ben McCanna thought a serialized version would work on radio. He suggested that Gosden and Correll adapt The Gumps for radio. The idea seemed to involve more risk than either Gosden or Correll was willing to take; neither was adept at imitating female voices, which would have been necessary for The Gumps. They were also conscious of having made names for themselves with their previous act. By playing the roles of characters doing dialect, they would be able to conceal their identities enough to be able to return to their old pattern of entertaining if the radio show was a failure.[8]

text: Instead, they proposed a series about "a couple of colored characters", which, nevertheless, borrowed certain elements from The Gumps. Their new show, Sam 'n' Henry,[11] began on January 12, 1926, and fascinated radio listeners throughout the Midwest.[12] It became so popular that, in 1927, Gosden and Correll requested that it be distributed to other stations on phonograph records in a "chainless chain" concept that would have been the first radio syndication. When WGN rejected the proposal, Gosden and Correll quit the show and the station; their last musical program for WGN was announced in the Chicago Daily Tribune on January 29, 1928).[13] Episodes of Sam 'n' Henry continued to be aired until July 14, 1928.[14] Correll's and Gosden's characters contractually belonged to WGN, so, when they left WGN, the pair performed in personal appearances but could not use the character names from the radio show.[4][8]

text: WMAQ, the Chicago Daily News station, hired Gosden and Correll and their former WGN announcer, Bill Hay, to create a series similar to Sam 'n' Henry. They offered higher salaries than WGN and the right to pursue the "chainless chain" syndication idea.[15] The creators later said that they named the characters, Amos and Andy, after hearing two elderly African-Americans greet each other by those names in a Chicago elevator.[5] Amos 'n' Andy began on March 19, 1928[16] on WMAQ, and prior to airing each program they recorded their show on 78 rpm discs at Marsh Laboratories, operated by electrical recording pioneer Orlando R. Marsh.[17] Early 1930s broadcasts of the show were done from the El Mirador Hotel in Palm Springs, California.[18]

text: For the program's entire run as a nightly series, Gosden and Correll provided over 170 male voice characterizations in the show's first decade. With the episodic drama and suspense heightened by cliffhanger endings, Amos 'n' Andy reached an ever-expanding radio audience. It was the first radio program to be distributed by syndication in the United States, and, by the end of the syndicated run in August 1929, at least 70 stations besides WMAQ carried recorded episodes.[8]

text: Early storylines and characters[edit]

text: Amos Jones and Andy Brown worked on a farm near Atlanta, Georgia, and, during the first week's episodes, they made plans to find a better life in Chicago, despite warnings from a friend. With four ham-and-cheese sandwiches and $24, they bought train tickets and headed for Chicago, where they lived in a rooming house on State Street and experienced some rough times before launching their own business, the Fresh Air Taxi Company.[8] (The first car they acquired had no roof; the pair turned it into a selling point.) By 1930, the noted toy maker Louis Marx and Company was offering a tin wind-up version of the auto, with Amos and Andy inside.[19] The toy company produced a special autographed version of the toy as gifts for American leaders, including Herbert Hoover.[20] There was also a book, All About Amos 'n' Andy and Their Creators, in 1929 by Correll and Gosden (reprinted in 2007 and 2008),[21][22] and a comic strip in the Chicago Daily News.[11]

text: Naïve but honest Amos was hard-working, and, after his marriage to Ruby Taylor in 1935, a dedicated family man. Blustering Andy was a dreamer with overinflated self-confidence and tended to let Amos do most of the work. Their Mystic Knights of the Sea lodge[23] leader, George "the Kingfish" Stevens, was always either trying to lure the two into get-rich-quick schemes, especially the gullible Andy, or else tricking Andy into some kind of trouble. Other characters included John Augustus "Brother" Crawford, an industrious but long-suffering family man; Henry Van Porter, a social-climbing real estate and insurance salesman; Frederick Montgomery Gwindell, a hard-charging newspaperman; Algonquin J. Calhoun, a somewhat crooked lawyer added to the series in 1949, six years after its conversion to a half-hour situation comedy; William Lewis Taylor, the well-spoken, college-educated father of Amos's fiancée; and Willie "Lightning" Jefferson, a slow-moving Stepin Fetchit–type character.[8] The Kingfish's catchphrase "Holy mackerel !" soon entered the American lexicon.

text: Of the three central characters, Correll voiced Andy Brown while Gosden voiced both Amos and the Kingfish. The majority of the scenes were dialogues between either Andy and Amos or Andy and Kingfish. Amos and Kingfish rarely appeared together. Since Correll and Gosden voiced virtually all of the parts, the female characters, such as Ruby Taylor, Kingfish's wife Sapphire, and Andy's various girlfriends, did not initially appear as voiced characters, but entered the plots through discussions among the male characters. Prior to 1931, when Madame Queen (then voiced by Gosden) took the witness stand in her breach-of-promise lawsuit against Andy, a feminine voice was heard only once.[24] Beginning in 1935, actresses began voicing the female characters, and, after the program's conversion to a weekly situation-comedy format in 1943, other actors were recruited for some of the supporting male roles.[2][8] However, Correll and Gosden continued to voice the three central characters on radio until the series ended in 1960.

text: With the listening audience increasing in spring and summer 1928, the show's success prompted the Pepsodent Company to bring it to the NBC Blue Network on August 19, 1929.[25] At this time the Blue Network, was not heard on stations in the West. Western listeners complained to NBC that they wanted to hear the show. Under a special arrangement, Amos 'n' Andy debuted coast-to-coast November 28, 1929, on NBC's Pacific Orange Network and continued on the Blue. WMAQ was then an affiliate of CBS and its general manager tried, to no avail, to interest that network in picking up the show.[8] At the same time, the serial's central characters — Amos, Andy, and the Kingfish — relocated from Chicago to Harlem. The program was so popular by 1930, that NBC's orders were to only interrupt the broadcast for matters of national importance and SOS calls. Correll and Gosden were making a combined salary of $100,000, which they split three ways to include announcer Bill Hay, who was with them when they started doing radio.[26][27]

text: The story arc of Andy's romance (and subsequent problems) with Harlem beautician Madame Queen entranced some 40 million listeners during 1930 and 1931, becoming a national phenomenon.[24][28] Many of the program's plotlines in this period leaned far more to straight drama than comedy, including the near-death of Amos's fiancee Ruby from pneumonia in the spring of 1931,[29] and Amos's brutal interrogation by police following the murder of cheap hoodlum Jack Dixon that December. Following official protests by the National Association of Chiefs of Police, Correll and Gosden were forced to abandon that storyline – turning the entire sequence into a bad dream, from which Amos gratefully awoke on Christmas Eve.

text: The innovations introduced by Gosden and Correll made their creation a turning point for radio drama, as noted by broadcast historian Elizabeth McLeod:[4]

text:
As a result of its extraordinary popularity, Amos 'n' Andy profoundly influenced the development of dramatic radio. Working alone in a small studio, Correll and Gosden created an intimate, understated acting style that differed sharply from the broad manner of stage actors – a technique requiring careful voice modulation, especially in the portrayal of multiple characters. The performers pioneered the technique for varying both the distance from, and the angle of their approach to, the microphone to create the illusion of a group of characters.[26] Listeners could easily imagine that they were in the taxicab office, listening to the conversation of close friends. The result was a uniquely absorbing experience for listeners, who, in radio's short history, had never heard anything quite like Amos 'n' Andy.

While minstrel-styled wordplay humor was common in the formative years of the program, it was used less often as the series developed, giving way to a more sophisticated approach to characterization. Correll and Gosden were fascinated by human nature, and their approach to both comedy and drama was drawn from their observations of the traits and motivations that drive the actions of all people. While their characters often overlapped popular African-American stereotypes, there was also a universality to their characters which transcended race; beneath the dialect and racial imagery, the series celebrated the virtues of friendship, persistence, hard work, and common sense, and as the years passed and the characterizations were refined, Amos 'n' Andy achieved an emotional depth rivaled by few other radio programs of the 1930s.

Above all, Correll and Gosden were gifted dramatists. Their plots flowed gradually from one to the other, with minor subplots building in importance until they overtook the narrative, before receding to give way to the next major sequence; in this manner, seeds for storylines were often planted months in advance. This complex method of story construction kept the program fresh and enabled Correll and Gosden to keep their audiences in constant suspense. The technique that they developed for radio from that of the narrative comic strip endures as the standard method of storytelling in serial drama.

text: Only a few dozen episodes of the original series have survived in recorded form. However, numerous scripts from the original episodes have been discovered and were used by Elizabeth McLeod when preparing her previously cited 2005 book.

text: Amos 'n' Andy was officially transferred by NBC from the Blue Network to the Red Network in 1935, although the vast majority of stations carrying the show remained the same. Several months later, Gosden and Correll moved production of the show from NBC's Merchandise Mart studios in Chicago to Hollywood.[30][31] After a long and successful run with Pepsodent, the program changed sponsors in 1938 to Campbell's Soup; because of Campbell's closer relationship with CBS, the series switched to that network on April 3, 1939.

text: In 1943, after 4,091 episodes, the radio program went from a 15-minute CBS weekday dramatic serial to an NBC half-hour weekly comedy. While the five-a-week show often had a quiet, easygoing feeling, the new version was a full-fledged sitcom in the Hollywood sense, with a regular studio audience (for the first time in the show's history) and an orchestra. More outside actors, including many black comedy professionals, such as Eddie Green, were brought in to fill out the cast.[32] Many of the half-hour programs were written by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, later the writing team behind Leave It to Beaver and The Munsters. In the new version, Amos became a peripheral character to the more dominant Andy and Kingfish duo, although Amos was still featured in the traditional Christmas show, where he explains the Lord's Prayer to his daughter, Arbadella,[8] voiced by Elinor Harriot and later by the Asian American Barbara Jean Wong.[2][33] The Christmas show also became a part of the later television series.[34] The later radio program and the TV version were advanced for the time, depicting Blacks in a variety of roles including successful business owners and managers, professionals and public officials, in addition to the comic characters at the show's core.[35] It anticipated many later comedies featuring working class characters (both Black and White) including All in the Family, The Honeymooners and Sanford and Son.

text: By the fall of 1948, the show was back on CBS again.[36] In that same year, Correll and Gosden sold all rights to Amos 'n' Andy to CBS for a reported 2.5 million dollars.[37]

text: Sponsors[edit]

text: Advertising pioneer Albert Lasker often took credit for having created the show as a promotional vehicle. After the associations with Pepsodent toothpaste (1929–37) and Campbell's Soup (1937–43), primary sponsors included Lever Brothers' Rinso detergent (1943–50), the Rexall drugstore chain (1950–54) and CBS' own Columbia brand of television sets (1954–55). President Calvin Coolidge was said to be among the devoted listeners. Huey P. Long took his nickname of "Kingfish" from the show. At the peak of the popularity, many movie theaters began the practice of stopping the films for the 15 minutes of the Amos 'n' Andy show and then playing the program through the theater's sound system or simply by placing a radio on the stage.[8] Some theaters attempted to attract patrons by noting the fact that they offered the broadcast in their advertisements. NBC sought to stop the practice by charging the theaters who did so with copyright infringement, claiming that charging admission for a free broadcast was not legal.[38]

text: Controversy and the Pittsburgh Courier protest[edit]

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text: The first sustained protest against the program found its inspiration in the December 1930 issue of Abbott's Monthly, when Bishop W. J. Walls of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church wrote an article sharply denouncing Amos 'n' Andy, singling out the lower-class characterizations and the "crude, repetitious, and moronic" dialogue. The Pittsburgh Courier was the second largest African-American newspaper at the time, and publisher Robert L. Vann expanded Walls' criticism into a full-fledged crusade during a six-month period in 1931.[39]

text: The paper, among other publicly stated efforts, published a petition to get the program pulled from the air, with a stated goal of one million signatures. While many prominent African-American newspapers refused to back the drive, the Courier found support from Bishop Walls, the National Association of Colored Waiters and Hotel Employees and several African-American fraternal orders. The NAACP national office declined to endorse the protest, although some of their local chapters stood behind the effort. Before the campaign was dropped, the paper claimed to have 675,000 names on their petition, although the figure was never independently verified. Gosden and Correll never commented on the Courier's efforts.

text: Broadcast historian Elizabeth McLeod argues that the characterizations on the daily serial version were actually much more sympathetic and rounded than those of other shows of the period,[8] which perpetuated nineteenth century minstrel show stereotypes and did not equal the immense success of Amos 'n' Andy. Examples include the blackface act by the Two Black Crows, who did two-man comedy routines in vaudeville, short subjects and comedy records and minstrel headliner Emmett Miller, who recorded a series of popular songs for Okeh Records in the late 1920s.

text: It can also be noted that Andy and Kingfish's use of malapropisms (i.e. misuse of vocabulary) had been a comedic staple for centuries and was employed by a number of white comedians of the day, including Chico Marx, Lou Costello, and Leo Gorcey.

text: Films[edit]

text: In 1930, RKO Radio Pictures brought Gosden and Correll to Hollywood to do an Amos 'n' Andy feature film, Check and Double Check (a catchphrase from the radio show). The cast included a mix of white and black performers (the latter including Duke Ellington and his orchestra) with Gosden and Correll playing Amos 'n' Andy in blackface.[40] The film pleased neither critics nor Gosden and Correll themselves, but briefly became RKO's biggest box-office hit prior to King Kong (1933) before falling off rapidly. Audiences were curious to see what their radio favorites looked like and were expecting to see African-Americans instead of white men in blackface. RKO ruled out any plans for a sequel.[41] Gosden and Correll did lend their voices to a pair of Amos 'n' Andy cartoon shorts produced by the Van Beuren Studios in 1934: The Rasslin' Match and The Lion Tamer. These were also not successful.[42] Years later, Gosden was quoted as calling Check and Double Check "just about the worst movie ever." Gosden and Correll also posed for publicity pictures in blackface. They were also stars of The Big Broadcast of 1936 as Amos 'n' Andy.[43]

text: Television[edit]

text: Hired by CBS as producers of the television show, Gosden and Correll were ready to try bringing the show to television as early as 1946; the search for cast members went on for four years before filming began.[37][44][45] According to a 1950 newspaper story, Gosden and Correll had initial aspirations of voicing the characters Amos, Andy and Kingfish for television, while the actors hired for these roles performed and apparently were to lip-sync the story lines.[46] A year later, both spoke about how they realized they were visually unsuited to play the television roles, citing difficulties with making the Check and Double-Check film. No further mention was made about Gosden and Correll continuing to voice the key male roles in the television series.[47] Corell and Gosden did record the lines of the main male characters to serve as a guideline for the television show dialogue at one point. In 1951, the men targeted 1953 for their retirement from broadcasting; there was speculation that their radio roles might be turned over to black actors at that time.[48]

text: Adapted to television, The Amos 'n Andy Show was produced from June 1951 to April 1953 with 78 filmed episodes, sponsored by the Blatz Brewing Company.[35] The television series used black actors in the main roles, although the actors were instructed to keep their voices and speech patterns close to those of Gosden and Correll.[49] Produced at the Hal Roach Studios for CBS, the show was among the first television series to be filmed with a multicamera setup, four months before I Love Lucy used the technique. The series' theme song was based on radio show's "The Perfect Song" but became Gaetano Braga's "Angel's Serenade", performed by The Jeff Alexander Chorus. The program debuted on June 28, 1951.[50][51]

text: The main roles in the television series were played by the following black actors:[52]

text:
Amos Jones – Alvin Childress
Andrew Hogg Brown (Andy) – Spencer Williams
George "Kingfish" Stevens – Tim Moore
Sapphire Stevens – Ernestine Wade
Ramona Smith (Sapphire's Mama) – Amanda Randolph
Algonquin J. Calhoun – Johnny Lee[53]
Lightnin' – Nick Stewart (billed as "Nick O'Demus")
Ruby Jones – Jane Adams

text:
Ruby Dandridge in various roles
Dudley Dickerson in various roles
Roy Glenn as numerous authority figures[55]
Jester Hairston in various roles
Theresa Harris as Gloretta
Jeni Le Gon in various roles
Sam McDaniel in various roles
Lillian Randolph as Madame Queen
(2 episodes); Caroline's mother (1 episode)
Bill Walker in various roles

text: This time, the NAACP mounted a formal protest almost as soon as the television version began,[35] and that pressure was considered a primary factor in the show's cancellation, even though it finished at #13 in the 1951-1952 season in the Nielsen ratings and at #25 in 1952-1953[56] (the sponsor, Blatz Beer, was targeted as well, finally discontinuing their advertising support in June 1953).[57] It has been suggested that CBS erred in premiering the show at the same time as the 1951 NAACP national convention, perhaps increasing the objections to it.[58] The show was widely repeated in syndicated reruns until 1966 when, in an unprecedented action for network television at that time, CBS finally gave in to pressure from the NAACP and the growing civil rights movement and withdrew the program, being also pulled from Australian network ABC, which had been broadcasting it for almost a decade. The series would not be seen on American television regularly for 46 more years.[59][60] The television show has been available in bootleg VHS and DVD sets, which generally include 72 of the 78 known TV episodes.

text: When the show was cancelled, 65 episodes had been produced. An additional 13 episodes were produced to be added to the syndicated rerun package. These episodes were focused on Kingfish, with little participation from Amos 'n' Andy. This is because these episodes were to be titled The Adventures of Kingfish, but they premiered under the Amos 'n' Andy title instead.[61] The additional episodes first aired on CBS on January 4, 1955.[62] Plans were made for a vaudeville act of the television program in August 1953, with Tim Moore, Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams playing the same roles. It is not known whether there were any performances.[63] Still eager for television success, Gosden, Correll and CBS made initial efforts to give the series another try. The plan was to begin televising Amos 'n' Andy in the fall of 1956, with both of its creators appearing on television in a split screen with the proposed black cast.[64]

text: A group of cast members began a "TV Stars of Amos 'n' Andy" cross-country tour in 1956, which was halted by CBS; the network considered it an infringement of their exclusive rights to the show and its characters.[49] Following the threatened legal action that brought the 1956 tour to an end, Moore, Childress, Williams and Lee were able to perform in character for at least one night in 1957 in Windsor, Ontario.[65]

text: In the summer of 1968 the premiere episode of a CBS News documentary series, Of Black America narrated by Bill Cosby, showed brief film clips of "Amos 'n' Andy" in a segment on racial stereotypes in vintage motion pictures and television programing. In 1983, a one-hour documentary film called Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy aired in television syndication (and in later years, on PBS and on the Internet). It told a brief history of the franchise from its radio days to the CBS series, and featured interviews with then-surviving cast members, as well as then-popular black television stars, such as Redd Foxx and Marla Gibbs, reflecting on the show's impact on their careers. Foxx and Gibbs emphasized the importance of the show featuring black actors in lead roles and expressed disagreement with the NAACP's objections that had contributed to the program's downfall. The film also contained a select complete episode of the classic TV series ("Kingfish Buys a Lot") that had not been seen since it was pulled from the air in 1966.[66]

text: In 2004, the now-defunct Trio network brought Amos 'n' Andy back to television for one night in an effort to re-introduce the series to 21st century audiences. Its festival featured the Anatomy of a Controversy documentary, followed by the 1930 Check and Double Check film.[67]

text: In 2012, Rejoice TV, a small independent television and Internet network in Houston, started re-airing the show weeknights on a regular, nationwide basis for the first time since CBS pulled the series from distribution in 1966.[68]

text: Legal status[edit]

text: Although the characters of Amos and Andy themselves are in the public domain, as well as the show's trademarks, title, format, basic premise, and all materials created prior to 1948 (Silverman vs CBS, 870 F.2d 40),[69] the TV series itself is protected by copyright. CBS bought out Gosden & Correll's ownership of the program and characters in 1948 and the courts decided in the Silverman ruling that all post-1948 Amos 'n' Andy material was protected. All Amos 'n' Andy material created prior to 1948, such as episodes of the old radio show are in the public domain.[70] There are no official home video releases of Amos 'n' Andy as of this date; all are unlicensed bootleg private creations. In 1998, CBS initiated copyright infringement suits against three companies selling the videos and did issue a "cease and desist" order to a national mail-order outfit who offered various episodes on videocassettes, via late-night TV ads during the late '90s.[71][72]

text: Later years[edit]

text: In 1955 the format of the radio show was changed from a weekly to a daily early evening half-hour to include playing recorded music between sketches (with occasional guests appearing), and the series was renamed The Amos 'n' Andy Music Hall. The final Amos 'n' Andy radio show was broadcast November 25, 1960.[2] Although by the 1950s the popularity of the show was well below its peak of the 1930s, Gosden and Correll had managed to outlast most of the radio shows that came in their wake.

text: In 1961, Gosden and Correll attempted one last televised effort, albeit in a "disguised" version. They were the voices in a prime time animated cartoon, Calvin and the Colonel, featuring anthropomorphic animals whose voices and situations were almost exactly those of Andy and the Kingfish (and adapting several of the original "Amos 'n' Andy" radio scripts).[6] This effort at reviving the series in a way that was intended to be less racially offensive ended after one season on ABC, although it remained quite popular in syndicated reruns in Australia for several years after the fight.

text: In 1988, the Amos 'n' Andy program was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.[73] A pair of parallel, one-block streets in west Dallas, Texas are named Amos Street and Andy Street in honor of these performers.

text: Currently, the scripts of Amos 'n' Andy are performed on a shortwave station broadcasting from Maine, WBCQ on 7490 kHz and also on the internet at 12:00am, 8am and 8pm eastern by Ed Bolton, who performs all roles.

text: Later work by cast members[edit]

text: Comedian Tim Moore made numerous public appearances and was a guest on television on shows such as Jack Paar's Tonight Show and the Paul Coates Show.[74][75] He also was a guest on radio's Johnny Otis Show.[citation needed] And in 1958, he headlined a stand-up comedy act at the Mocambo Night Club in Hollywood.[76] Ernestine Wade (Sapphire) and Lillian Randolph (Madame Queen) appeared together on an episode of That's My Mama called "Clifton's Sugar Mama" on October 2, 1974.[77] They were friends of "Mama" played by Theresa Merritt who wanted to see Clifton played by Clifton Davis (later of TV show Amen) at the beginning of the episode. Ernestine played Augusta and Lillian played Mrs. Birdie. Jester Hairston (who played Henry Van Porter and Leroy Smith on "Amos 'n' Andy") was a regular on both That's My Mama as "Wildcat" and on Amen as "Rolly Forbes."[78] He was also quite prominent in a brief role as a butler in the racially charged film In the Heat of the Night (1967).

text: Amanda Randolph (Sapphire's Mama, Ramona Smith) had a recurring role as Louise, the housekeeper, on CBS's The Danny Thomas Show and appeared in the show's 1967 reunion program, which aired shortly after her death.

text: Nick Stewart (Lightnin') had a memorable cameo in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), as a hapless driver run off the highway. With all their belongings falling off their overloaded truck as he tries to retain control, Stewart finally looks at his wife and intones "I said it before and I'll say it again, I didn't want to move to California." Johnny Lee (Calhoun) and Nick Stewart (Lightnin') both provided voices in the Walt Disney film Song of the South in 1946. Johnny did the voice of Br'er Rabbit and Nick was heard as Br'er Bear.[79]