the first time. Political rationale for enfranchisement By 1857, Canadian politicians and Indian Department officials were "becoming impatient" with the progress of the Indians living on reserves, with the colonial government facing increasing pressure from Britain to reduce the costs associated with Indian administration. Two influential commissions into Indian policy, the 1844 Bagot Commission and the 1856 Pennefather Commission, had asserted that individual property ownership and enfranchisement would provide the Indians with the motivation to achieve self-sufficiency and become ‘civilised’ members of colonial society. Multiple scholars agree that these commissions precipitated a shift in the goal of British Indian policy: from the protection of Indians as a separate people, to their total assimilation into the settler population. This objective was entrenched in law with the passing of the Gradual Civilization Act in 1857, establishing a legal process through which reserve Indians could become enfranchised and receive an individual allotment of land. Policies of the Act The Act's opening preamble stated its intended purpose as enabling the assimilation of Indian persons through voluntary enfranchisement. 'Indian status’ Sections 1 and 2 of the Act provided a legal definition of an ‘Indian’, and declared that this status would be removed upon enfranchisement. Qualification as a ‘status Indian’ required that a person had Indian ancestry or was married to someone with such ancestry, held membership in a recognised Indian band, and lived on the lands of that band. An 'enfranchised Indian' would lose this status and the unique legal rights that came with it. The Act specifically cited the exemption for Indians from debt repayments to non-Indians, enacted by the 1850 Act for the protection of the Indians in Upper Canada, as no longer applying after enfranchisement. Process of enfranchisement Section 3 of the Act outlined the conditions that needed to be met by Indians applying for enfranchisement, as well as how their applications would be assessed. Only men over the age of 21 could apply - they would then be examined by a Committee composed of their tribe's Superintendent (an Indian Department official), a missionary, and another appointed non-Indian. The commissioners were instructed to approve applicants that were literate in English or French, "sufficiently" educated, "of good moral character", and debt-free. With this approval, an Indian would be officially enfranchised by the federal government. Section 4 outlined a modified process available for Indian men (aged 21 to 40) who were illiterate but could