Canada Flashcards
Which part of Canada was broadly french ?
Lower Canada !
Outline the political system of upper and lower Canada .
Why did this cause tension / rebellion ?
There was a lieutenant governor who ran the province with an elective council. The elective council could only be removed by the governor, the ‘family compact’ in UC and ‘chateau clique’ in LC. These oligarchies were effectively in control of the legislative council.
There was a political barrier where the people had no real voting power
Tension - no political power !!!
Why were the family compact particularly hated in UC ?
The family compact - anglicans - ensured 1/7th of all Land was clergy reserves for the Anglican Church.
Contrary to British thought, the main religions were actually baptists and methodists !
What were the land - tensions in LC? Why was this complicated?
The Seigneurial land system with landlords who grants land to tennants was increasing the divide between the rich and the poor.
However as the LC French feared British encroachment on their culture, there was an idea to hold onto this system even though it was keeping Canada poor , because it was french not English
Why were the chateau clique particularly resented amongst LC ?
They were english and dominated politics - they proposed uniting upper and lower Canada in 1822 to get an English majority.
This increased racial tension making French Canadians thing their culture was under threat
What did Durham call the family compact ?
Petty insolent Tory clique
What was the racial movement in LC called ?
What did it stand for ?
Who led it and what did he do before the rebellion?
Patriotes
Movement of nationalism rather than social reform
Papineau !
Wrote 92 reform proposals which were rejected
Who led the radical movement in UC?
Why was he radical?
Mackenzie
He had radical ideas like one man one vote !
How did actions from lieutenant governor Bond Head cause tension in upper Canada ?
Sir Francis Bond Head campaigned to get reformers removed from legislative assembly .
This broke tradition.
Mackenzie lost the election and reformers were convinced that they had no more legal means to influence the government do had to rebel !
Further embedded by - no expected election after king’s death
What did Papineau Propose to the British ?
What was the response ?
Significance ?
Proposed 92 proposals for reform
Lord Russell responded back with 10 proposals and rejected Papineau’s who then rejected his
Short term, how did Irish settlers contribute to the rebellions of both upper and lower Canada ?
They were immigrating into Canada and being provided aid by the government.
They were seen as sucking up money that could be spent on Canada , spreading disease.
The cholera epidemics did not help this
What did lieutenant Governer Colborne do to create tension in upper Canada ?
Allocated clergy reserves to 44 Anglican parishes
How was Mackenzie seen as a reformer ?
Attacked by sons of family compact for his newspaper in 1826
Looked to America for inspiration
Advocated for 1 man 1 vote
What did Governor Dalhousie do in 1827? In Canada !
What was the result of this ?
Discontinued a session of parliament without dissolving it , refusing to accept a patriote as speaker of the house
87,000 people signed a petition to end his governorship
Why did Britain not reform the Canadian system ?
The whigs were facing enough difficulty introducing parliamentary reform in Britain let alone Canada !
They thought the problem was taxation not lack of sovereignty
Was Papineau a reformist?
No, just wanted to get British out
Didn’t want to change anything after
Outline the lower Canadian rebellion
2 battles then what happened to Papineau
Papineau wins battle of St Denis initially outnumbering the British 800-300 soldiers
Battle of St Eustache ends with burning down a church with patriotes being shot as they jumped out
Papineau then ran away to USA after defeat
Outline the upper Canadian rebellion
Mackenzie and reformers gather for 4 days in Montgomery’s Tavern
1000 people
The people at the front go to fire and bend down, as they do , the people at the back run away thinking they’ve been shot.
Mackenzie goes to Navy island , asks people to join him
600 people do
British blow up supply ship to them and send it over Niagra Falls
Mackenzie runs away to America
Some border raids afterwards
How did the leaders of the Canadian rebellions contribute to the rebellions failing ?
Hint - their poor leadership and lack of wider support in Canada
LC - Papineau and Nelson lacked any military experience and leadship skills. Evident in Papineau running away after battle. They had no unifying ideology to get people to fight for them, unlike Washington who united the Americans.
UC- Mackenzie lacked military experience and strategy - evident in gathering in a pub and having soldiers run away, and him running away . Radical ideology (1 man 1 vote) made him not widely well received - evident in losing the 1836 election
Why did the Canadian rebellions fail for the reason of lack of foreign help?
America , France and Russia were not willing to take on Britain’s naval power.
America saw nothing in it for them , Canada were not offering to become a state in return for example
Why did the Canadian rebellions fail because of lack of weaponry and opportunity for warfare ?
Lack of weapons and European battle training compared to the British who had canons and were highly trained.
Canada was too cold and small for guerilla warfare tactics
When was the economic depression?
How did this contribute to the rebellion
1830s
Meant more people were suffering increasing demand for socio economic changes
How many died in the lower Canadian rebellion?
1000
How many people died in the upper Canadian rebellion?
325
Was the punishment to the Canadians lenient or harsh after the rebellions?
Why?
Lenient
British wanted to avoid resentment and another rebellion
How were the Canadians punished ?
Lower Canada - 12 executed
Upper Canada - 17 executed - some after border raids
Some sent to VDL
Lower Canada - 58
Upper Canada - 82
What was durham’s nickname
Radical jack
Who was Robert Baldwin ?
What did he do ?
Lawyer in upper Canada
‘Father of responsible government’
Wrote a letter in 1836 asking for responsible government
What was a responsible government ?
A ruling system dependent on support from an elected assembly.
When was the Durham report ?
When was it implemented ?
1839
Implemented
1847
How did Durham convey the mentality of a British supremacist ?
Stressed that the massive racial divisions in lower Canada should be solved with “giving Canadians out english charter”
People “without history or literature”
How did durham’s British supremacist mentality lead to the act of union 1840?
How was this received ?
He advocated for uniting the Canada’s so the French Canadians would become a minority, consequently their identity would be suppressed in favour of British culture.
Received - lower French Canadians worst fears !
What was the act of union?
When ?
How did it fair for lower Canadians ?
Uniting upper and lower Canada
1840
The act was unfair to lower Canada banning the french language and having equal representation of upper and lower Canada despite that lower Canada had proportionately more people
With a responsible government , what was the mother country responsible for ? (3)
Foreign policy
Military
Trade
What was the reaction initially to responsible government ?
Welcomed
However
Problematic with trade as navigation acts were not repealed so trade with America had to go via Britain which seemed counter intuitive prompting smuggling and illegal trading
What was the reaction to the Durham report after 1849?
Navigation acts were repealed so free trade meant that the Canadians could trade with Americans without having to go via Britain
More positive reaction
Where was responsible government implemented after Canada ?
Australia and New Zealand 1850s
The cape 1872
Natal 1893
