Representative Government In the mid-1830s all colonies had
similar governments
Slide 4
The head of the government was either a governor or
Lieutenant-Governor, chosen by the British Government to be their
representative in the colony
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The structure of the representative government looked like
this: King or Queen Lieutenant-Governor or Governor Legislative
Council Executive Council Legislative Assembly Voters
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Lieutenant-Governor or Governor The Lieutenant-Governor had
final say in all decisions The Legislative and Executive Councils
were chosen by the Lieutenant-Governor
Slide 7
Legislative and Executive Councils In Upper Canada the people
chosen to be members of the councils were always men of British
heritage who belonged to the Church of England and were part of the
elite
Slide 8
These men were picked because they were the most loyal to
Britain and would make decisions that were best for Britain
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Newfoundland In Newfoundland the merchants (who controlled the
fishing industry) were chosen; in other colonies, wealthy
professional men and merchants were chosen
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In Lower Canada the councils were chosen from the French
elite
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Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly was also made up
of professional men and rich merchants, but they werent always part
of the elite
Slide 12
The members of the assembly were voted into the assembly by the
voters Their role was to suggest bills that were meant to help all
colonists and to raise money through taxes
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Voters Only males over 21 who were British citizens were
eligible to vote You had to own land or pay a certain amount of
rent for a year-round house in order to vote (property
qualifications
Slide 14
The property qualifications meant that many people could not
vote because, for example, they worked on farms in the summer and
logging camps in the winter and therefore did not have a year round
house First Nations were not allowed to vote because they werent
British citizens Black colonists were allowed to vote but most were
not wealthy enough to meet the property qualifications
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Responsible Government In the late 1830s some people in British
North America began to resent the power of the elite they didnt
think it was fair
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It was the professional people and merchants who had the
education, money, and time to fight for reforms
Slide 17
These people felt that the best way to deal with the problems
in each of the colonies was through empowerment and responsible
government, a government where the elected members (not the
appointed ones) would have the most say in decisions
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People wanted control of local laws, and decisions on how tax
money and other government income was spent
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Most of the people who already had power did not agree with the
idea of responsible government and arguments broke out
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At this time most people tried to follow the teachings of their
Church
Slide 21
The two main churches were the Church of England (Anglican) and
the Roman Catholic Church
Slide 22
Church leaders were public figures who encouraged their members
to take one side or the other on the issue of reform
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In most colonies both churches supported the government
Slide 24
In Newfoundland the Roman Catholic Church supported the
reformers
Slide 25
Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming worked hard for reform because
he believed that Catholics would be treated fairly if they could
elect Catholic politicians who had real power
Slide 26
Newspapers at the time were considered more valuable than they
are today because there were so few other forms of media
Slide 27
The opinions expressed in newspapers were often the opinions of
the owner/editor and did not necessarily contain correct
information
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Letters to the editor and editorials were often very biased
Calling All Patriots A Patriotic Appeal
Slide 29
A rebellion is when the people turn against the government of a
country in a violent way
Slide 30
In 1837, Reformers in Upper and Lower Canada led rebellions to
try and remove the elite from power
Slide 31
Upper and Lower Canada both had their own reasons for wanting
change
Slide 32
Issues in Lower Canada The Reformers (called the Parti
Patriote) were worried about the effects that recent British
immigration would have on their colony. Different groups were
afraid for different reasons:
Slide 33
1. Farmers were afraid new settlers would take all the
remaining land, leaving no land for farmers children. 2. French
Canadians were afraid that they would lose their language and
culture because of British control. The immigrants had brought
cholera with them, which caused an epidemic and killed many
people.
Slide 34
There had been poor harvests and many people were starving.
They didnt feel that the government was doing enough to help their
situations
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The Parti Patriote was supported by French Canadian Farmers and
some Irish immigrants
Slide 36
Louis-Joseph Papineau was the leader of the Parti Patriote in
Lower Canada
Slide 37
Issues in Upper Canada The Reformers were upset with how
government money was being spent
Slide 38
For example, the colony went into debt building canals to help
make shipping easier. This helped only the merchants (who were
already wealthy), but all colonists had to pay taxes to cover the
expenses
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The elite usually got the biggest and best pieces of land, but
they didnt farm itthey kept it until land prices went up and they
could sell it and make more money
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Because of this, new immigrants had to go farther away from
towns to find land
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Many farm families were starving, as in Lower Canada
Slide 42
The Reformers had support from farmers and recent immigrants,
especially the Irish
Slide 43
The event that pushed things over the top happened in 1834 when
the Patriotes in Lower Canada drew up a list of their complaints
for the British Government to consider
Slide 44
Two years later the British Government responded by making the
power of the governor even stronger
Slide 45
In Upper Canada, the governor threatened and bribed people to
make sure that the Reformers would be voted out of the Assembly
which continued to anger the Reformers
Slide 46
Rebellions in Lower Canada The rebellions started on 23
November, 1837
Slide 47
A group of Patriotes defeated the British in a small battle
that started because the government heard that people were thinking
about starting a rebellion
Slide 48
The government started arresting members of the Patriotes, who
started the fight
Slide 49
There were several little battles, but the British troops
easily defeated the Patriotes because they had more weapons and
military training
Slide 50
In November 1838 a second rebellion was started, but the rebels
were quickly defeated
Slide 51
In total, 800 Patriotes were arrested, and their homes were
destroyed
Slide 52
While most of the Patriotes were eventually released from jail,
12 were hanged and 58 were sent to prison colonies in Australia and
Bermuda
Slide 53
Rebellions in Upper Canada When William Lyon Mackenzie realized
that the British soldiers were busy fighting the Patriotes in Lower
Canada, he decided it was time to rebel in Upper Canada (he thought
that the British wouldnt be able to properly defend both areas at
once)
Slide 54
In December 1837 Mackenzie led about 700 men to Toronto
Slide 55
The British Government defended Toronto with a militia (a group
of citizens who are not professional soldiers but act as soldiers
in times of trouble)
Slide 56
The militia defeated the rebels because they had more weapons
and training
Slide 57
880 rebels were arrested, 20 were hanged, 92 were sent to
prison colonies, and 26 were banished from Canada
Slide 58
After the Rebellions In 1838 the British Government appointed
Lord Durham to investigate the situation in Upper and Lower Canada
and to suggest what to do about it
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After 5 months, two of his main suggestion were: Join the two
colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada into one colony called
the Province of Canada Give the Province of Canada responsible
government
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The British government took the first suggestion and in 1841
the Province of Canada was created
Slide 61
Britain did not give the colony Responsible Government at that
time
Slide 62
Achieving Responsible Government Nova Scotia, the Province of
Canada, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland all
achieved responsible government between 1848 and 1855
Slide 63
Responsible government was granted mostly because of changes in
attitude in Britain rather than events that occurred in the
colonies
Slide 64
Traditionally many people in Britain saw the colonies as a good
source of natural resources and a good market for British
goods
Slide 65
The British government wanted to control colonial governments
to control the trade
Slide 66
The colonies were given trade preference in Britain which meant
goods from the colonies could be imported to Britain without being
taxed and were therefore cheaper
Slide 67
In the mid-1800s people in Britain began to feel that the
colonies did not help make Britain but were a drain on the
economy
Slide 68
They did not want to help pay for shipping canals or send
troops for defense
Slide 69
Britain developed free trade with other countries which meant
that all goods entering Britain were taxed the same
Slide 70
Britain could now buy from other countries where some goods
were cheaper
Slide 71
Thus their interest in controlling colonial governments
waned
Slide 72
Political Parties To help fight for responsible government the
reformers formed political parties - a group of people who have the
same ideas about government and become more powerful by working
together
Slide 73
The political parties who wanted responsible government were
called Reformers or Liberals
Slide 74
The people who wanted to keep representative government were
called Conservatives or Tories
Slide 75
In elections each party tried to elect a majority to government
so it would have a strong point of view.
Slide 76
Nova Scotia In Nova Scotia Joseph Howe, who had been elected in
1836, had created a strong Reform party and had been pushing for
responsible government
Slide 77
They received permission in 1847. In the first election in 1848
the Reform Party led by James Boyle Uniacke won a majority by
promising people more say in how money was spent by government
Slide 78
Uniacke became premier of Nova Scotia and chose people elected
to the Assembly as members of the Executive Council rather than
members of the elite as before.
Slide 79
All the other colonies did the same when they achieved
responsible government
Slide 80
Province of Canada The British offered responsible government
to the Province of Canada in 1847 as well but it was not achieved
until 1849
Slide 81
Reformers in Canada East and Canada West had very different
opinions on how to run the government
Slide 82
In 1849 Louis-Hipployte Fontaine from Canada East and Robert
Baldwin from Canada West formed an Assembly that achieved
responsible government
Slide 83
Prince Edward Island The governor chose members of the
Legislative and Executive Councils from landowners who actually
lived on the island
Slide 84
There were few arguments over heritage or religion as most
settlers were British Protestants
Slide 85
The farmers wanted government to force landowners to sell land
to them
Slide 86
Responsible government was not granted at first and the
Assembly refused to pass laws to put pressure on Britain
Slide 87
With the changes in attitude in Britain responsible government
was granted in 1851 with George Coles as premier
Slide 88
Land reforms came much later
Slide 89
New Brunswick In New Brunswick a key issue was who would
control money the government got from the logging industry
Slide 90
Most people agreed on the issue and the Assembly was granted
control even before responsible government
Slide 91
Responsible government was granted in 1854 and Charles Fisher
was the first premier
Slide 92
Newfoundland In Newfoundland there were huge differences of
opinion between the English merchants who were appointed to the
Legislative and Executive Councils and the elected members of the
Assembly
Slide 93
Over half the population was Irish-Roman Catholic while the
merchants were Church of England
Slide 94
Many of them were poor fishers
Slide 95
Most of the people elected to the Assembly were not Church of
England
Slide 96
Roman Catholic and Methodist politicians decided to get
together to fight for reform and responsible government was granted
in 1855
Slide 97
The Reform Party won the first election and Philip Little
became premier