BELLWORK1. Explain the similarities &

differences between the Canadian colonies and 13 colonies.

2. How were the Chateau Clique & Family Compact similar?

3. Why was there tension between French and English Canadians?

4. THINKER: Why didn’t the assembly/citizens support the Constitution Act of 1791? How would responsible government change this?

The Rebellions of 1837

How failed attempts at change eventually lead to Confederation

Causes of Rebellions of 1837• Both advocated responsible government: embodies

the principles of a parliamentary democracy.– Similar to U.S. “no taxation without representation!”

• Influenced by the republicanism of the United States• Sought to make the legislative/executive council

elective rather than appointed • The rebellion in Lower Canada began first, in

November 1837, and was led by Joseph Papineau• The Lower Canada rebellion inspired the much

shorter rebellion in Upper Canada, which began in December 1837 and was led by William Lyon Mackenzie

Rebellion of Lower Canada

Pages 92-93

Life in Lower Canada• English criminal law & French civil law were used• French-speaking inhabitants included families who

had lived in rural areas for generations & professionals

• English-speaking inhabitants included merchants and businessmen, Loyalists and English-speaking farmers; all of which, lived in land set aside for English-speaking people

• Rural life was difficult: land was scarce as population grew; many forced to move to U.S.

Life in Lower Canada• Society was gradually becoming divided• Throughout 1820’s & 1830’s, there were crop failures

and wheat sold for low prices• More and more English-speaking people were coming

to Lower Canada which threatened French culture, Catholicism and privileges

• Between 1822-1836, the Legislative Council rejected 234 bills proposed by Papineau and the Assembly.

• Discontent was made worse by years of bad crops, little money, a cholera epidemic, support for assimilation, and a slowdown in the timber trade.

What people in Lower Canada wanted• French-speaking professionals: wanted a separate French-

Canadian nation that would keep their traditions, French law, language, Catholicism, and agricultural way of life– Formed a political party called Parti Canadien

• English-speaking professionals: wanted Lower Canada more businesslike, English to be the main language, British civil laws, more harbors/canals for trade (unite provinces)

• English-speaking farmers: Loyalists, unhappy because French language was used in government, Protestant

• Chateau Clique: British loyalists, wealthy, British system of government

• Elected Assembly: Had to own property to be a member or to vote, governor could overturn laws– Leader of reform movement, Papineau, was an elected member of

the Assembly

Did you know!?!?• The Constitutional Act of 1791

defined voters as people with property. It did not say that they had to be men.

• In the 1820’s, a number of women voted in Lower Canada elections.

• Louis-Joseph Papineau’s mother was a widow who owned property, so she was able to vote for her son in 1809.

• There were many complaints about women being able to vote, so in 1829, the Assembly passed a law saying that women could not vote.

• Women did not vote again until 1917.

Rebellion of Lower Canada• Commonly referred to as the Patriots’ War by Quebeckers • Date: 6 November 1837 – 10 November 1838• Location: Lower Canada (Quebec) • Conflict: Divisions between Chateau Clique (English loyalists, fur trade, wealthy,

urban, control of gov) vs. French Patriotes (farmers, rural, angry at ↓ ag. prices) • Result: Military suppression of Patriote rebellion and defeat of American

interventions.• Effects: Unification of Upper and Lower Canada into The Province of Canada

Great Britain Lower Canada

Parties Involved Great Britain

Lower Canadian Loyalists

Patriotes

United States sympathizers

Military Strength 10,000 British soldiers (mid-1838)

23,000 militia

4,100 Patriotes

25,000 Americans

Casualties 32 dead

47 wounded

73 dead, 1600 wounded, 29 executed for treason, 58 deported to Australia

Rebellion of Lower Canada

Flag used by the Patriotes: 1832-1838

Louis-Joseph Papineau• Born in Montreal, Quebec

• Politician, lawyer, landowner, reformist

• Elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada in 1815

• In 1815, he became leader of Parti Canadien (opposed abuses of appointed legislative council)

• Published his demands in 1834 – 92 Resolutions

– resolutions called for an elected Legislative Council & Executive Council

Louis-Joseph Papineau mural by Jean Cartier found in the Papineau Metro station of Montreal.

Reasons the rebellion in Lower Canada failed• Patriotes were not very well armed or organized• Patriotes did not agree among themselves. Some thought

violence was the only way to bring reform, while others believed violence should not be used

• Papineau fled the country, leaving the rebellion with no effective leader

• Roman Catholic Church did not support the Rebellion and warned the inhabitants that anyone who fought in it would be excommunicated

• The Patriotes expected help from the U.S. but were disappointed b/c the president did not want another war with England

Did you know?!?!• Quebec (former Lower

Canada) has the most forests in Canada, the largest dairy industry in the country, and is the biggest producer of maple syrup! Yummm!

• All of Canada’s maple syrup is produced in a 25-day harvest in March.

Were you paying attention?• What was life like in Lower Canada before the

rebellion?• Describe the divisions between the French and

English Canadians. • What role did Papineau play in the rebellion?• What was the outcome of the rebellion?• Why did the rebellion fail?

Rebellion of Upper Canada

Pages 90-91

Life in Upper Canada• Rural life was tough

– Several poor harvests– Farmers upset over lack of government response– Land was given to the Church of England– Long hours; children did not go to school

• Poor roads & education• Religion: many different churches (Methodist, Quaker,

Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Church of England) but the Church of England was the only one that received government money and land

Did you know?!?!?• Next time you bite into a

MacIntosh apple, remember that it was developed in Upper Canada by John MacIntosh, an immigrant who found 20 apple tress in the forest while he was clearing land for his farm.

• He transplanted them, and his son Allan began experimenting so that by 1835, the family had one of the first commercial orchards in Canada.

Life in Upper Canada• Everything in the colony was decided by the “Family Compact”• There was an elected assembly, but a person had to own property to be

a member or to vote for a member• Role of the Governor:

– If Assembly voted for law, he had the right to overturn it– Appointed the Executive Council so his members would always agree

with him– Appointed members of the Legislative Council for life

• High taxes• Ordinary people demanded more rights; especially the right to be

involved in politics• Complaints and the desire for reform spread fast when William Lyon

Mackenzie used his newspaper, The Constitution, to try to persuade people to bring responsible government.

What people wanted in Upper Canada• Average Colonist: suffering; crops failed, economy in downfall,

colony in debt– Even though they were angry, most did not believe in acting

violently to bring change• Moderate Reformers: Reform could take place without violence• Radical Reformers: Mackenzie believed the only way to true

freedom was to do away with the British system of government entirely; ally with the U.S.

• Family Compact: Members belonged to the Executive and Legislative Councils, powerful businessmen, most were related, lived in Toronto, fought in War of 1812, and felt British ways were superior to all others

Rebellion of Upper Canada• Date: 7 December 1837 – 4 December 1838• Location: Upper Canada (Ontario) • Conflict: Divisions between Family Compact (English loyalists, business oligarchy, wealthy,

urban, control of gov) vs. Reformers (Members of elected assembly, farmers, wanted public education, angered over no rep in gov, wanted responsible gov & elections, and ↓ role of church)

• Result: Rebellion was defeated shortly after it began; government victory. • Effects: Unification of Upper and Lower Canada into The Province of Canada; Resistance

lingered until 1838 (became more violent) – mainly through the support of the Hunters’ Lodges, a secret anti-British militia; end British rule in Canada!

Great Britain Upper Canada

Parties Involved Great Britain

Upper Canadian Loyalists

Members of Reform Party

Hunters’ Lodges

Military Strength 1,500 men 800 Reformers

Casualties 12 dead/wounded 400 arrested = 200 fled to U.S., 2 executed, 150 deported to Australia

Rebellion of Upper Canada

William Lyon MacKenzie• Born in Scotland; migrated to Canada in 1820• Journalist, politician, rebel• Colonial Advocate – 1824• Tory-dominated assembly expelled him in

1831 • 1st Mayor of Toronto – 1834• The Constitution – 1836• In 1837, decided violent rebellion was

necessary• On December 12, 1837 he declared himself

leader of the provisional government of the “Republic of Canada”

• His planned invasion of Navy Island failed and he escaped to US

• American citizen in May 1843• Granted amnesty in 1849; returned to Toronto

& advocated annexation • Elected back to the assembly - 1851

Did you know?!?!?• Printing a newspaper in the 1800’s

was hard work!

• Metal type, representing letters, had to be formed into words, words into paragraphs, then placed on the press to be printed

• To put a whole newspaper together took weeks, even months.

• Newspaper publishers, like Mackenzie, did a lot more than set type. He wrote, edited, sold, and delivered the papers as well!

Emanuel Hahn’s "Mackenzie Panels" (1938) in the garden of the Mackenzie House; Toronto. It shows Mackenzie presenting his historic Seventh Report of

Grievances to the House of Assembly of Upper Canada. Names of those executed during the rebellion appear on one of the panels.

Reasons the rebellion in Upper Canada failed

• Rebels were poorly armed and poorly trained• Many of the ordinary people were angry at the

government, but not angry enough to fight them• Mackenzie fled the country and never had the

same influence again• Mackenzie and others expected at least some

support from the U.S., but did not get it

Did you know?!?!• Ontario (former Upper Canada) is

currently home to the longest street in the world!

• Yonge Street starts at Lake Ontario, and runs north through central and northern Ontario to the Ontario – Minnesota border, a distance of over 1178 miles / 1896 kilometres.   

• The Guinness Book of World Records recognized this claim in 1998.

Were you listening?• What was life like in Upper Canada before the

rebellion?• Describe the divisions between the two sides

leading to the rebellion. • What role did Mackenzie play in the rebellion?• What was the outcome of the rebellion?• Why did the rebellion fail?

Discussion

• Describe the similarities/differences between

the Rebellions of 1837.

Similarities • Shared a common constitution based on the principle of a “mixed

monarchy” (combination of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy)

• Angered at non-elected Legislative Councils who were dominated by local oligarchies that controlled local trade and the institutions of state and religion

– Chateau Clique (Lower) & Family Compact (Upper)

• The Atlantic economy was thrown into recession and farmers barely survived debt & crop failures

• Both provinces organized radical, democratic, political unions (Papineau & MacKenzie)

– Formulated boycotts, protests, and eventually, revolt!

Differences• Rebellion in Lower Canada revolved around tensions between English and

French; conflict considered "'racial”• In Lower Canada the wealthy and ultra-conservative Catholic clergy

supported the continuation of a feudalistic, agrarian society– discouraged economic and political liberalization, which upset the rising French-

Canadian middle-class who were fighting for reform.

• Lower Canada rebellion was widely supported by the population, resulting in mass actions over an extended period of time, such as boycotts, strikes and sabotage. – Drew harsh response from government troops and militias (concentrated in

Lower Canada to deal with the crisis); burned entire villages

• In contrast, the Upper Canada Rebellion was not as broadly supported by local populations to begin with, was quickly quelled by relatively small numbers of pro-government militias and volunteers, and so was consequently less widespread and brutal in comparison.

Post-Rebellions (1839-1860)• Events following the rebellions:Events following the rebellions:• Lord Durham’s Report (1839) – pg.93Lord Durham’s Report (1839) – pg.93• Canada becomes a nation (1840-1860): pg.104-7Canada becomes a nation (1840-1860): pg.104-7

– Act of Union (1840)Act of Union (1840)– Reciprocity Treaty (1855)Reciprocity Treaty (1855)– Charlottetown Conference (1864)Charlottetown Conference (1864)– Quebec Conference (1864)Quebec Conference (1864)– London Conference (1866)London Conference (1866)

• For the rest of class, you will be reading about these For the rest of class, you will be reading about these events independently and adding notes to your events independently and adding notes to your worksheet. worksheet.

• Due tomorrow!!!Due tomorrow!!!