Transcript Canadian History

Canadian History
Life in Upper and
Lower Canada
Geography of Upper and
Lower Canada











Population increased from 250000 in 1806 to 717000 in
1841 in Lower Canada
Loyalists leaving the United States during American Revolution
originally settled Upper Canada
After the war American settlers were no longer welcome
As a result of British immigration the population of upper
Canada increased from 71000 in 1806 to 432000 in 1841,
population was 80% American
3rd major change industry, important part of economy
of Lower Canada
1763, Montreal Merchants formed North West Company to compete
for furs with Hudson’s Bay Company
North West Company proceeded to build posts far to west, easy for
Natives to bring their furs
Hudson Bay Company had post on Hudson Bay, could ship furs and
trading goods
Fur frontier was moving further North all the time, meant it was
getting more expensive for North West Company to take furs to the
market and transport goods to trading post
British occupied Upper Canada
French occupied Lower Canada
Lower
Canada
Life in Lower Canada

Life in lower Canada





Time of section 1815-1838
Lower Canada was a male dominated society
Most of people were French-speaking
There were 3 major groups of people living in
the area

English-speaking merchants,

Habitants

French speaking profession men
Each group has there own special concerns
Woman didn’t enter the professions (doctors, lawyers, judges)
Natives in the area has no power in government



The Three Groups


















Habitants
-they were French speaking farmers
lived there for the last 150 years
work on long strips of land call seigneur
The seigneurs were really important but got thinner through generations
Professional Men
They were French speaking professionals
Did not become prominent until after 1800
Educated people ex. Doctors and lawyers
wanted to become leaders and believed they spoke for all French people
They believe New France should separated from the rest of Canada
They formed a new political party call the “Parti Canadien”
Merchants
Merchants were mostly English-speaking
Merchants are new comers in lower Canada
They arrived in 1763 because of major events
When new France became British the merchants were rich and powerful
Made money from merchandising

They wanted to improve road, canals and harbours
Government of Lower
Canada







The system of government was established by the
Constitutional Act of 1791
The power of the elected Legislative Assembly was
limited by the governor and the Councils
After 1817 the Legislative Assembly controlled
revenues in Lower Canada
The laws could be vetoed by the Legislative
Council, the Executive Council, and the British
appointed governor
The members of the Councils we appointed for life,
the could not be voted out at election time
The members appointed by the governor were
usually English speaking
There concerns were different from the French
speaking Habitants and professional men
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Louis-Joseph Papineau











October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871
Wealthy seigneur
Strong supporter of French order
Favored doing things the old way (before British)
Officer in militia (Militia Definition-An army
made up of ordinary citizens (not soldiers in the
military) who undergo training incase of
emergency, or in case of national defense crisis)
Served in militia in the war of 1812 (defending
British North America from the Americans
(present day USA)
Elected into Legislative assembly in 1809
Served as speaker from 1815 to 1837
Became leader of “parti canadien” or later known
as(after 1826) “parti patriote”
Lead the people who wanted political reform
(political reform definition- changes to make the
government better)
Some of the “parti canadiens” goals were to
bring back the French language (as Canada’s
main language), allow roman catholic religion,
and use traditional agriculture methods.
Unrest in Lower Canada
 The French speaking people and merchants wanted different things
for Lower Canada
 Merchants wanted improved canals, harbors, and roads to make it
easier to transport wheat and timber to Britain
 Immigration was also causing problems
 When more immigrants came the
 Canadians thought that there might
 not be any space left for them to farm
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
 In June 1832 an immigrant brought a deadly disease
 called chlora which killed over 5500 people
 In 1882 the merchants asked the British to unite upper and lower
Canada
 1834 the Legislative assembly made a list of their grievances which
they called the Nineteen Resolutions
Armed Rebellion in
Lower Canada
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

The armed rebellion lasted only a few weeks
and started November 23, 1837

The rebellions won the battle and built a log fort in St. Charles.

When the British attacked again the rebellions lost

In the second battle 40 people were killed, 30 were wounded, and 500
others were captured.

The surviving rebels fled to United States

A bigger battle took place in December 1837 at St. Eustache

The British burned and robbed the city ending any hopes of a successful
rebellion
Upper
Canada
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Life in Upper Canada
-You have certain duties like building a house, a fence, and clear land for a
road.
-You had to do this within two years of arriving in Upper Canada.
-They had a contained area to live in so this would have been very hard,
because you couldn’t expand your property.
-They depended on their own ingenuity for their survival.
-Received little education from neighbors or parents.
-They were subsistent farmers.
-They had to work daily for their necessities.
-Had to visit towns nearby to grind grain or to sawmill their lumber.
-Used physical labor to fell the trees and remove the stumps, if they wanted
something they needed to work for it.
-Later they became elaborate with government and things like that.
Who are the reformers and
what did they oppose?
-They opposed the power of the family compact
-They wanted changes in the government and in the society of Upper
Canada.
-Were angered by the attitudes of the members of the family compact
towards the Americans in the colony.
-Were divided into moderate and radical groups
-Included some radicals who later became rebels
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Family
Compact and
Government in
Upper Canada

Government in Upper Canada
 There was an elected legislative Assembly, appointed Legislative Council and Executive
Council, and s British appointed lieutenant-governor
 There was two political groups: The Tories and the Reformers

Family Compact
 Was a small group of powerful people in the colony of upper Canada
 Along with their friends and supporters were known as Tories
 Did not want people from the U.S. to be part of the government of upper Canada
 Defended tradition and apposed change
 Believed power should be in the hands of a few capable people
 Believed the Church of England should be powerful in the colony
 Were loyal to Great Britain and to the British system of government
Armed Rebellion
in Upper Canada
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.















Armed Rebellion in Upper Canada
The most rebellious were called Radicals
Radicals wanted Upper Canada to have a government like U.S.
British troops left Toronto to defend government of Lower Canada
Thousands of weapons were left unguarded in Toronto
Mackenzie was then ready for an armed rebellion
Mackenzie suggested the rebels seize the weapons, capture Sir Francis Bond Head,
and proclaim a new government
Mackenzie got a petition to collect the names of people in favor of the proposed new
government
He collected 4000 names
Mackenzie led about 800 men down Yonge Street in Toronto
Mackenzie escaped to United States after defeat
He tried to raise and army to liberate Upper Canada
He was imprisoned for 11 months for breaking legal neutrality between Canada and
U.S.
2 rebels, Samuel Louit and Peter Mathews were hung for crime of treason.
Aftermath of the Rebellions
Lower Canada ended up worse the before the rebellion
In Upper Canada, people were afraid to speak out because even moderate reformers
were rebels
Prime minister sent Lord Durham as governor general
Lord Durham










-John George Lambton
-Governor general of British North America
-Sent investigate causes of rebellion
-Interests in educating poor
-Nicknamed radical jack due to Radical Politics
(Plans for major changes)
- Set most of patriots free and exiled leaders o
Bermuda- patriots who fled to the states would
be executed if returned to Canada
-resigned as governor general in 1838
-made 2 recommendations
-Upper Canada and lower become one colony
- New colony needed a responsible government
Act of Union in 1841
Act of Union in 1841











-British government decided to act of Lord Durham’s
recommendation
-Act of Union of 1841, joined upper and Lower Canada
together as a united province of Canada
-First step towards confederation (union of the British
North American Colonies)
-aim: unite the two colonies of Canada into one single
unit, and give the English speaking people control of
the newly named colony
-Act of Union government system
British government
Governor General
Legislative council
Executive council
Legislative assembly
voters
Bibliography


Upper Canada Map
http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/page_attachments/Library/1/3374253_Upper_Canada_map.jpg


armed rebellion in lower Canada
http://canadawiki.org/images/1/16/Montgomerystavern.jpg


Louis Joseph Papineau
http://www.pastforward.ca/perspectives/images/Papineau1.jpg


Geography of Upper and Lower Canada
http://www.antique-atlas.co.uk/maps/9470.jpg


Armed Rebellion In Upper Canada
http://www.ottres.ca/hconline/chapters/5/5images/C3CAROLI.JPG


Lower Canada Map
http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/preconfederation/britishnorthamerica1823/75a.gif


Life In Lower Canada
http://www.unites.uqam.ca/expo/Outils/Lecture/ElliceRD.m.jpg


Lord Durnham
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lbpsb.qc.ca/~history/05a.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lbpsb.qc.ca/~history/m4u3l1.htm&h=257&w=194&sz=21&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=BQ_LW_U5z
yH3TM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=85&prev=/images%3Fq%3DGovernment%2Bof%2BLower%2BCanada%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den


After Math of the rebellion:
http://www.clan-macrae.org.uk/scotland/images/culloden.jpg


Reformers
http://www.republiquelibre.org/cousture/images5/BAS1793.GIF


Upper Canada Government:
http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/English/exhibits/franco_ontarian/pics/ac619857_signing_circ_270.jpg


Life In upper Canada
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=79513&rendTypeId=4


Unrest in Lower Canada
http://www.freewebs.com/historysite78/immigrants.gif


Government of Lower Canada
http://www.canadainfolink.ca/chapais.jpg




The 3 Groups:
Habitants: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1b/Habitants-Cornelius_Krieghoff.jpg/250px-Habitants-Cornelius_Krieghoff.jpg
Merchants http://www.barnstable.k12.ma.us/bhs/SocStud/Turner/images/merchants.jpg
Professional Men http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/63july/images/page35.jpg


The Act of Union in 1841
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=a1ARTA0000029
Canaa a peoples history txtbook. Pgs 130-164