BNA colonies Flashcards
Each colony had it’s own distinct society. Name 3 main things that constitute a culture?
Religion - Geography - Economic Activity - Government - Language - History
What is the basic background of upper and lower Canada?
At first, it was just Quebec (mainly French). After loyalist migration there were French and English there, who have two completely different societies. They wanted to be separate with their own rules and governments. So, they split it apart.
What is the basic background of New Brunswick?
It was Nova Scotia at first. With Loyalist Migration, it was split and New Brunswick was for the loyalists.
Explain lord Durham and the rebellions in BNA in the 1830’s.
BNA is getting upset about the way things are run. They want a democracy, but Britain says no. Life is changing and things add up so that rebellions start. Some were smaller and other were deadly. Something had to be done. Lord Durham was sent over and suggested many ideas such as uniting upper and lower canada to assimilate the French and giving people control over their own issues.
Explain the act of Union.
In 1840’s, Upper and Lower Canada were merged to create Province of Canada and then split into Canada East and Canada West. They had been separated because they hated eachother. Merging them? Bad idea. Things like Lower Canada being loaded down with Upper Canada’s huge dept and huge cultural differences made this difficult. Both sides had 50 votes in government even though Canada East had more people they were underepresented.
What were the political challenges facing the Province of Canada in the 1850’s?
Basically, the French and English sides of Canada have recently been merged and have same government but want different things.They had to make compromises leaving both unsatisfied. Ex: capital would move every 5 years from canada west to canada east. This was resolved when Queen Victoria made Ottawa the capital.
What were the social challenges facing the Province of Canada in the 1850’s?
Class conflict: Elites (mostly wealthy white english or french men) were the only ones able to influence government and did not represent everyone else. Groups not represented included roman catholics, black people, and basically anybody who was not rich. In Canada East (french) elites (english) had business priorities that clashed with the french who wanted to preserve their language and culture.
Women were also very underpriveliged and anglican church had more priveliges than other religions even though anglicans were dropping.
What were the economic challenges facing the Province of Canada in the 1850’s?
Skilled workers having trouble and replaced by women and children in terrible conditions.
Factories were dangerous- low wages and unsafe. People died.
Unions and violent strikes began.
Businesses also faced challenges because they produced too many goods to sell them all in Canada and had to pay transportation costs to export them.
What were the political challenges facing the Province of Canada in the 1850’s?
No reliable transportation- they relied on waterways but canals were seasonal. Transportation was difficult.
What was life like in the growing cities of the province of canada?
Cities had no zoning laws so as population increased building were just thrown up and everything was messy chaos. Fires spread through wood built neighbourhoods. The waste went into the street gutters spreading cholera disease. Live was not pretty.
How did the railway boom affect Canada politically?
Wealthly people building railways were often involved with government. The government would take over railway company depts.
How did the railway boom affect Canada economically?
The railway was a new business- so new jobs!
The needs for steel, lumber, and coal caused for new industries.
Businesses could rely on good/fast transportation to help them.
How did the railway boom affect Canada socially?
Better transportation means cities grow. More jobs and immigration is a result.
Better transportation allows people to look out to other places rather than staying in their local area. This outward attitude created the idea of connecting through confederation.
How did the railway boom affect Canada physically?
Railways are faster + more reliable - no relying on water ways. They also open up places for settlement we couldn’t get to by water.
What are the main factors leading to confederation?
Britain was no longer dependent on its colonies. It was encouraging them to become independent.
The U.S was in a civil war and sometimes threatened BNA. Britain would no longer protect them in the case of an attack, and they thought that if they join forces they could better defend themselves.
Political deadlock meant that nothing could get done in P.o.C government because nobody would agree. A country with a federal government would hopefully fix that.
