1.
Massachusetts
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It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, and New York to the west. The state is named for the Massachusett tribe, which inhabited the area. The capital of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England is Boston, over 80% of Massachusetts population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, a region influential upon American history, academia, and industry. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution, during the 20th century, Massachusetts economy shifted from manufacturing to services. Modern Massachusetts is a leader in biotechnology, engineering, higher education, finance. Plymouth was the site of the first colony in New England, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, in 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of Americas most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. In 1777, General Henry Knox founded the Springfield Armory, which during the Industrial Revolution catalyzed numerous important technological advances, in 1786, Shays Rebellion, a populist revolt led by disaffected American Revolutionary War veterans, influenced the United States Constitutional Convention. In the 18th century, the Protestant First Great Awakening, which swept the Atlantic World, in the late 18th century, Boston became known as the Cradle of Liberty for the agitation there that led to the American Revolution. The entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts has played a commercial and cultural role in the history of the United States. Before the American Civil War, Massachusetts was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, in the late 19th century, the sports of basketball and volleyball were invented in the western Massachusetts cities of Springfield and Holyoke, respectively. Many prominent American political dynasties have hailed from the state, including the Adams, both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world. Massachusetts public school students place among the top nations in the world in academic performance, the official name of the state is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. While this designation is part of the official name, it has no practical implications. Massachusetts has the position and powers within the United States as other states. Massachusetts was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family such as the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett. While cultivation of crops like squash and corn supplemented their diets, villages consisted of lodges called wigwams as well as longhouses, and tribes were led by male or female elders known as sachems. Between 1617 and 1619, smallpox killed approximately 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans, the first English settlers in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims, arrived via the Mayflower at Plymouth in 1620, and developed friendly relations with the native Wampanoag people. This was the second successful permanent English colony in the part of North America that later became the United States, the event known as the First Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World which lasted for three days
2.
Salt Lake City
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Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and the most populous municipality of the U. S. state of Utah. With an estimated population of 190,884 in 2014, the city lies at the core of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, Salt Lake City is further situated within a larger metropolis known as the Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo Combined Statistical Area. This region is a corridor of contiguous urban and suburban development stretched along an approximately 120-mile segment of the Wasatch Front and it is one of only two major urban areas in the Great Basin. The city was founded in 1847 by Brigham Young, Isaac Morley, George Washington Bradley and numerous other Mormon followers, who extensively irrigated and cultivated the arid valley. Due to its proximity to the Great Salt Lake, the city was originally named Great Salt Lake City—the word great was dropped from the name in 1868 by the 17th Utah Territorial Legislature. Today, however, less than half the population of Salt Lake City proper are members of the LDS Church. It was traversed by the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway, in 1913, Salt Lake City has since developed a strong outdoor recreation tourist industry based primarily on skiing, and hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. It is the banking center of the United States. Before Mormon settlement, the Shoshone, Ute, and Paiute had dwelt in the Salt Lake Valley for thousands of years. The land was treated by the United States as public domain, the first U. S. explorer in the Salt Lake area is believed to be Jim Bridger in 1825, although others had been in Utah earlier, some as far north as the nearby Utah Valley. Frémont surveyed the Great Salt Lake and the Salt Lake Valley in 1843 and 1845, the Donner Party, a group of ill-fated pioneers, had traveled through the Great Salt Lake Valley in August 1846. The first permanent settlements in the date to the arrival of the Latter-day Saints on July 24,1847. Upon arrival at the Salt Lake Valley, president of the church Brigham Young is recorded as stating, This is the right place, Brigham Young claimed to have seen the area in a vision prior to the wagon trains arrival. They found the broad valley empty of any human settlement, four days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young designated the building site for the Salt Lake Temple, which would eventually become a famous Mormon and Salt Lake City landmark. The Salt Lake Temple, constructed on the block that would later be called Temple Square, construction started in 1853, and the temple was dedicated on 6 April 1893. The temple has become an icon for the city and serves as its centerpiece, in fact, the southeast corner of Temple Square is the initial point of reference for the Salt Lake Meridian, and for all addresses in the Salt Lake Valley. The Mormon pioneers organized a new state called Deseret and petitioned for its recognition in 1849, the United States Congress rebuffed the settlers in 1850 and established the Utah Territory, vastly reducing its size, and designated Fillmore as its capital city. Great Salt Lake City replaced Fillmore as the capital in 1858
3.
Missionary (LDS Church)
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Mormon missionaries may serve on a full- or part-time basis, depending on the assignment, and are organized geographically into missions. The mission assignment could be to any one of the 418 missions organized worldwide, the LDS Church is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, reporting that it had over 74,000 full-time missionaries worldwide at the end of 2015. Most full-time Mormon missionaries are young men and women in their late teens and early twenties. Missionaries are often assigned to serve far from their homes, including in other countries, many missionaries learn a new language at a missionary training center as part of their assignment. Missions typically last two years for males,18 months for females, and 6 to 18 months for older couples, the LDS Church strongly encourages, but does not require, missionary service for young men. All Mormon missionaries serve voluntarily and do not receive a salary for their work, many Latter-day Saints save money during their teenage years to cover their mission expenses. Throughout the churchs history, over one million missionaries have been sent on missions, LDS Church president Spencer W. Kimball said, Every young man should fill a mission. Completing a mission is described as a rite of passage for a young Latter-day Saint. The phrase the best two years of my life is a common cliché among returned missionaries when describing their experience, hinckley had suggested that a mission is not to be a rite of passage, this cultural aspect remains. With the usual starting age of 18–20, a provides a clear event or marker for the traditional age of adulthood. Young men between the ages of 18 and 25 who meet standards of worthiness are strongly encouraged to consider a two-year and this expectation is based in part on the New Testament passage Go ye therefore, and teach all nations. Prior to the announcement, some held that male missionaries may be 18 years old because of educational or military requirements. It was also announced that women may serve beginning at age 19 instead of 21. In 2007, approximately 30% of all 19-year-old LDS men became Mormon missionaries, from LDS families that are active in the church, in cases where an immediate family member dies, the missionary has the choice to travel home for the funeral or to remain on the mission. Missionaries can be sent home for violating rules, and occasionally missionaries choose to go home for health or various other reasons. However, the vast majority of serve the whole two-year or eighteen-month terms. As of 2007, 80% of all Mormon missionaries were young, single men, 13% were young single women, women who would like to serve a mission must meet the same standards of worthiness and be at least 19 years old. Women generally serve as missionaries for 18 months, married retired couples, on the other hand, are encouraged to serve missions, but their length of service may vary from 6 to 36 months depending on their circumstances and means
4.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a Christian restorationist church that is considered by its members to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations, according to the church, it has over 70,000 missionaries and a membership of over 15 million. It is ranked by the National Council of Churches as the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States and it is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. Adherents, often referred to as Latter-day Saints, or, less formally, Mormons, view faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement as fundamental principles of their religion. The church has a canon which includes four scriptural texts, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants. The current president is Thomas S. Monson, individual members of the church believe that they can also receive personal revelation from God in conducting their lives. The president heads a hierarchical structure with various levels reaching down to local congregations, Bishops, drawn from the laity, lead local congregations. Male members, after reaching age 12, may be ordained to the priesthood, Women do not hold positions within the priesthood, but do occupy leadership roles in some church auxiliary organizations. Both men and women may serve as missionaries, and the church maintains a large missionary program which proselytizes, faithful members adhere to church laws of sexual purity, health, fasting, and Sabbath observance, and contribute ten percent of their income to the church in tithing. The LDS Church was formally organized by Joseph Smith on April 6,1830, Smith intended to establish the New Jerusalem in North America, called Zion. In 1831, the moved to Kirtland, Ohio, and began establishing an outpost in Jackson County, Missouri. However, in 1833, Missouri settlers brutally expelled the Latter Day Saints from Jackson County, the Kirtland era ended in 1838, after a financial scandal rocked the church and caused widespread defections. Smith regrouped with the church in Far West, Missouri. Believing the Saints to be in insurrection, the Missouri governor ordered that the Saints be exterminated or driven from the State, in 1839, the Saints converted a swampland on the banks of the Mississippi River into Nauvoo, Illinois, which became the churchs new headquarters. Nauvoo grew rapidly as missionaries sent to Europe and elsewhere gained new converts who then flooded into Nauvoo, meanwhile, Smith introduced polygamy to his closest associates. He also established ceremonies, which he stated the Lord had revealed to him, to allow people to become gods in the afterlife. He also introduced the church to an accounting of his First Vision. This vision would come to be regarded by the LDS Church as the most important event in history since the resurrection of Jesus
5.
Brigham Young
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Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877 and he founded Salt Lake City and he served as the first governor of the Utah Territory. Young also led the foundings of the precursors to the University of Utah, Young was dubbed by his followers the Lion of the Lord for his bold personality and was also commonly called Brother Brigham by Latter-day Saints. Young was a polygamist and was involved in controversies regarding black people and the Priesthood, the Utah War, and the Mountain Meadows massacre. Young was born to John Young and Abigail Nabby Howe, a family in Whitingham, Vermont. Young was first married in 1824 to Miriam Angeline Works, though he had converted to the Methodist faith in 1823, Young was drawn to Mormonism after reading the Book of Mormon shortly after its publication in 1830. He officially joined the new church in 1832 and traveled to Upper Canada as a missionary, after his wife died in 1832, Young joined many Mormons in establishing a community in Kirtland, Ohio. In 1844, while in jail awaiting trial for treason charges, Joseph Smith, several claimants to the role of church president emerged during the succession crisis that ensued. Young opposed this reasoning and motion, the majority in attendance were persuaded that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was to lead the church with Young as the Quorums president. Many of Youngs followers would later reminisce that while Young spoke to the congregation, he looked or sounded exactly like Smith, Young was ordained President of the Church in December 1847, three and a half years after Smiths death. Rigdon became the president of a church organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Repeated conflict led Young to relocate his group of Latter-day Saints to the Salt Lake Valley, Young organized the journey that would take the Mormon pioneers to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, in 1846, then to the Salt Lake Valley. By the time Young arrived at the destination, it had come under American control as a result of war with Mexico. Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24,1847, Youngs expedition was one of the largest and one of the best organized westward treks. On August 22,29 days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, after three years of leading the church as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Young reorganized a new First Presidency and was declared president of the church on December 27,1847. As colonizer and founder of Salt Lake City, Young was appointed the territorys first governor, during his time as prophet, Young directed the establishment of settlements throughout present-day Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, California and parts of southern Colorado and northern Mexico. Young was also one of the first to subscribe to Union Pacific stock, Young organized the first legislature and established Fillmore as the territorys first capital. Young organized a Board of Regents to establish a university in the Salt Lake Valley and it was established on February 28,1850, as the University of Deseret, its name was eventually changed to the University of Utah
6.
President of the Church (LDS Church)
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In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the President of the Church is the highest office of the church. It was the held by Joseph Smith, founder of the church. The President of the LDS Church is the leader and the head of the First Presidency. Latter-day Saints consider the president of the church to be a prophet, seer, and revelator, and refer to him as the Prophet, when the name of the president is used by adherents, it is usually prefaced by the title President. The President of the Church serves as the head of both the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes and the Council of the Church, the President of the Church also serves as the ex officio chairman of the Church Boards of Trustees/Education. The concept that the Church of Christ would have a single presiding officer arose in late 1831, initially, after the churchs formation on April 6,1830, Joseph Smith referred to himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, and elder of the church. However, there was another apostle—Oliver Cowdery—and several other elders of the church, for he receiveth them even as Moses. This established Smiths exclusive right to lead the church, in early June 1831, Smith was ordained to the high priesthood, along with twenty-two other men, including prominent figures in the church such as Hyrum Smith, Parley P. Pratt, and Martin Harris. As high priests, these men were higher in the hierarchy than the elders of the church. However, it was unclear whether Smiths and Cowderys callings as apostles gave them superior authority to that of other high priests. And again the duty of the President of the priesthood is to preside over the whole church. Smith was ordained to this position and sustained by the church on January 25,1832, at a conference in Amherst, in 1835, the Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ were revised, changing the phrase an. Elder of the church to the first elder of this Church, thus, subsequent to 1835, Smith was sometimes referred to as the First Elder of the church. The 1835 revision also added a verse referring to the office of president of the high priesthood, in 1844, while in jail awaiting trial for treason charges, Joseph Smith was killed by an armed mob. Hyrum Smith, his successor, was killed in the same incident. Smith had not indisputably established who was next in line as successor to President of the Church, several claimants to the role of church president emerged during the succession crisis that ensued. Young would not be ordained President of the Church until December 1847, thomas S. Monson is the 16th and current President of the LDS Church. As president, Monson is considered by adherents of the religion to be a prophet, seer, a printer by trade, Monson has spent most of his life engaged in various church leadership positions and in public service
7.
Book of Mormon
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It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith as The Book of Mormon, An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. According to Smiths account and the narrative, the Book of Mormon was originally written in otherwise unknown characters referred to as reformed Egyptian engraved on golden plates. Critics claim that it was fabricated by Smith, drawing on material, the pivotal event of the book is an appearance of Jesus Christ in the Americas shortly after his resurrection. The Book of Mormon is divided into books, titled after the individuals named as primary authors and, in most versions, divided into chapters. It is written in English very similar to the Early Modern English linguistic style of the King James Version of the Bible, as of 2011, more than 150 million copies of the Book of Mormon have been published. The writings were said to describe a people whom God had led from Jerusalem to the Western hemisphere 600 years before Jesus birth. According to the narrative, Moroni was the last prophet among these people and had buried the record, which God had promised to bring forth in the latter days. e. Smiths description of these events recounts that he was allowed to take the plates on September 22,1827, exactly four years from that date, accounts vary of the way in which Smith dictated the Book of Mormon. Smith himself implied that he read the plates directly using spectacles prepared for the purpose of translating, other accounts variously state that he used one or more seer stones placed in a top hat. Both the special spectacles and the stone were at times referred to as the Urim and Thummim. During the translating process itself, Smith sometimes separated himself from his scribe with a blanket between them, additionally, the plates were not always present during the translating process and, when present, they were always covered up. Smiths first published description of the said that the plates had the appearance of gold. They were described by Martin Harris, one of Smiths early scribes, Smith called the engraved writing on the plates reformed Egyptian. A portion of the text on the plates was also sealed according to his account, in addition to Smiths account regarding the plates, eleven others stated that they saw the golden plates and, in some cases, handled them. Their written testimonies are known as the Testimony of Three Witnesses and these statements have been published in most editions of the Book of Mormon. Smith enlisted his neighbor Martin Harris as a scribe during his work on the text. In 1828, Harris, prompted by his wife Lucy Harris, Smith reluctantly acceded to Harriss requests. Lucy Harris is thought to have stolen the first 116 pages, after the loss, Smith recorded that he had lost the ability to translate, and that Moroni had taken back the plates to be returned only after Smith repented
8.
Baptism
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Baptism is a Christian sacrament of admission and adoption, almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally. The canonical Gospels report that Jesus was baptized—a historical event to which a degree of certainty can be assigned. Baptism has been called a sacrament and an ordinance of Jesus Christ. In some denominations, baptism is also called christening, but for others the word christening is reserved for the baptism of infants, Baptism has also given its name to the Baptist churches and denominations. The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the candidate to be immersed, in v.16, Matthew will speak of Jesus coming up out of the water. The traditional depiction in Christian art of John the Baptist pouring water over Jesus head may therefore be based on later Christian practice, other common forms of baptism now in use include pouring water three times on the forehead, a method called affusion. Martyrdom was identified early in Church history as baptism by blood, later, the Catholic Church identified a baptism of desire, by which those preparing for baptism who die before actually receiving the sacrament are considered saved. Today, some Christians, particularly Christian Scientists, Quakers, The Salvation Army, and Unitarians, do not see baptism as necessary, among those that do, differences can be found in the manner and mode of baptizing and in the understanding of the significance of the rite. Most Christians baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, much more than half of all Christians baptize infants, many others hold that only believers baptism is true baptism. Some insist on submersion or at least partial immersion of the person who is baptized, others consider that any form of washing by water, as long as the water flows on the head, is sufficient. The term baptism has also used to refer to any ceremony, trial, or experience by which a person is initiated, purified. The Greek verb baptō, dip, from which the verb baptizo is derived, is in turn hypothetically traced to a reconstructed Indo-European root *gʷabh-, the Greek words are used in a great variety of meanings. John the Baptist, who is considered a forerunner to Christianity, the apostle Paul distinguished between the baptism of John, and baptism in the name of Jesus, and it is questionable whether Christian baptism was in some way linked with that of John. Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism, though whether Jesus intended to institute a continuing, the earliest Christian baptisms were probably normally by immersion, complete or partial. Though other modes may have also been used, at the hour in which the cock crows, they shall first pray over the water. When they come to the water, the water shall be pure and flowing, that is, then they shall take off all their clothes. The children shall be baptized first, all of the children who can answer for themselves, let them answer. If there are any children who cannot answer for themselves, let their parents answer for them, after this, the men will be baptized
9.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
10.
Upper Canada
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The new province remained, for the next fifty years of growth and settlement, the colonial government of the territory. Upper Canada existed from 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841, the upper prefix in the name reflects its geographic position being closer to the headwaters of the Saint Lawrence River than that of Lower Canada to the northeast. The control the French had over Canada was handed over to Great Britain in 1763 when the Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years War in America. The territories of modern southern Ontario and southern Quebec were initially maintained as the single Province of Quebec, from 1763 to 1791, the Province of Quebec maintained its French language, cultural behavioural expectations, practices and laws. This region quickly became culturally distinct, while the act addressed some religious issues, it did not appease those used to English law. Upper Canada became an entity on December 26,1791 with the Parliament of Great Britains passage of the Constitutional Act of 1791. The act divided the Province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, the first lieutenant-governor was John Graves Simcoe. On February 1,1796, the capital of Upper Canada was moved from Newark to York, which was judged to be less vulnerable to attack by the Americans. Upper Canadas constitution was said to be the image and transcript of the British constitution. The Executive Council of Upper Canada had a function to the Cabinet in England but was not responsible to the Legislative Assembly. They held a position, however, and did not serve in administrative offices as cabinet ministers do. Members of the Executive Council were not necessarily members of the Legislative Assembly but were members of the Legislative Council. The Legislative branch of the government consisted of the parliament comprising legislative council, forces in the War of 1812, rebuilt, then burned again by accident. The site was abandoned for another, to the west. The Legislative Council of Upper Canada was the upper house governing the province of Upper Canada, although modelled after the British House of Lords, Upper Canada had no aristocracy. Members of the Legislative council, appointed for life, formed the core of the group, the Family Compact. The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada functioned as the house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lieutenant Governor, Executive Council, local government in the Province of Upper Canada was based on districts
