the act of union 1840- where it all begins Flashcards
why did durham suggest to unite the 2 Canadas?
he believed it would solve the conflict between the French and the English because the English would be the majority in the legislative assembly and the French would then assimilate.
why was upper Canada in enormous debt?
because of Canal and road construction
who was only able to benefit from custom duties?
lower Canada
a union would promote which type of trade?
domestic
after the act of union, what was the legislative assembly like?
there was only 1 legislative assembly with upper and lower Canada. each region had 42 members
what did lord durham suggest?
a responsible government
what is a responsible government?
a government in which members of the executive council are chosen by the majority party in the legislative assembly
did London accept repsponsible government?
nooooooo
what did the governor and and legislative council have power to do?
they could block bills adopted by the legislative assembly
how did England still have control over the territory?
because the governor and legislative council were chosen by the British so they still had the most power in the colony
how come the French canadiens were still the minority in the legislative assembly?
because some of the reps from the old lower canada were English
what was the official language of canada?
English
after the act of union, politicians were divided in which political groups?
reformers and conservatives
what is protectionism?
an economic policy insituted by the government in order to protect the economy of a country from foreign competition
why did some British people not like protectionism?
because this policy forced British merchants to pay too much for resources that they could get somewhere else
what was abolished?
protectionism, the corn laws
why was abolishing protectionism bad for the colonies?
now they had to compete with foreign markets to sell their stuff to the British
by ending the protectionist policy, its colonies became more…
autonomous economically
who won the majority of the seats in 1848?
the Baldwin Lafontaine alliance
what is ministerial responsibility?
the members of the executive council are chosen from the majority party in the legislative assembly
if a member of the executive council lost support from the legislative assembly, what did they have to do?
that member had to resign
how were members of the legislative council appointed?
from the governor and the executive council would give recommendations
how come the parliament system was still not democratic?
because the governor still had the power to veto
through the Baldwin Lafontaine alliance, what were French reformers able to do?
reestablish French as the language of the legislative assembly
in 1849, the reformn alliance passed laws which were to the advantage of the French canadiens. what were they?
amnesty was granted to the patriots (its a pardon)
law that helped victims of the rebellions. they would receive a sum of money