The Impact of the Rebellions of 1837-38 By:Ishan Imagine a party taking place in a courtyard in the early 19th century. Everyone’s having fun, but after a while, the mood darkens as British loyalist forces close in on the courtyard and start a full-blown stone fight just because it was a Canadian political party. This event actually happened right before the 1837 Rebellion! The British loyalists attacked Canadian politicians with stones! After this fight, the Canadian politicians decided to start planning an insurrection big enough to rock British political rule over both Lower Canada and Upper Canada. The attack was later implemented on December 7, 1837. This battle was the first time that ordinary people demanded change. The …show more content…
This was done during the Act of Union, signed in 1841. Both Canadian sides, Lower Canada and Upper Canada, had the same goal of reducing British rule. Each side also believed that they were not strong enough alone and if they did not work together, a responsible Canadian government could not be achieved. This is when the idea of a rebellion began, along with the courtyard fight. Ordinary people living a normal life that had a problem with the taxes and government rule decided to form a group with politicians to try to overthrow the government. An important politician in this was William Lyon Mackenzie, the mayor of Toronto before the rebellions. He had strong thoughts about the government, so he decided that it was time to run them out of office. He led the first rebellion in 1837, then continued as a journalist and a member of the government. When the Act of Union was signed, both sides joined together into the province of Canada. This new province had one goal, and that goal was to have many Canadian politicians leading and to achieve a responsible government. Once it was signed, the countdown to a responsible government began. If a responsible government was achieved, then Canada would actually be united and freed from British …show more content…
This also happened after the Act of Union. There were three social classes in 19th century Canada, the upper class, middle class, and lower class. The upper class were the wealthiest citizens that owned many acres of land and a large estate. They would hire many people in the lower class as slaves that would clean up the house and cook for them. Instead of working on farms, men and women would work in or own businesses in the city. The middle class would have acres of land too, but less than the upper class. The middle had one or two slaves and a large house. They would also work in businesses down in the city. The lower class were just above slaves. They owned acres of land, but significantly less than the middle and upper class. They would have a farmhouse of decent size, and large families to make work on the farm easier. Because of their poverty, they would only work on the farm. The lower class were also expected to build a road in front of their homes. This ranking system was established by the British. The British would charge high taxes, mainly affecting the lower class, who had a hard time affording it. The middle and upper class would not care. The lower class eventually decided to fight along with the angry politicians, known as the Rebels. After the Canadians were met with defeat, the British noticed that the way the colonies were run was not good and had to be fixed to gain the Canadian lower
The British had sent more than 10,000 troops to North America by the end of the French and Indian War. The British felt like they had spent a great deal of money in protecting the American colonists. They were in debt around 140 million pounds. To pay off all of their debt the British decided to increase the enforcement of existing taxes on the Colonists and impose additional taxes. The British issued The Proclamation of 1763 which meant the colonists couldn’t cheat the Indians out of land. They also establish a border in where they could not buy land. This made the colonist mad because it made them feel like the British were interfering and trying to limit their economic growth.
Firstly, the government in both Upper and Lower Canada both were neither representative nor responsible, it was an oligarchy. Even though ‘anyone’ (landowning men) could have been elected as part of the Legislative Assembly, the Legislative Assembly only could suggested ideas. Any suggestions could be vetoed by the councils or the governor, who were all appointed by Britain, making the assembly ultimately have no power in the government. This was a huge issue because the councils were mostly made up of the Family Compact (in Upper Canada) and the Chateau Clique (in Lower Canada). Which leads to the second similarity of the causes, the power structures, the Family Compact and the Chateau Clique. Both of these upper class groups wanted different things than the lower classes. An example is that the Family Compact wanted to build canals instead of roads and the Chateau Clique wanted the
This was a very major event as The Constitution Act is a very difficult thing to edit or change. Up until this point none of the Canadians rights or freedoms was protected. This law is very helpful today as without we would not be as blessed as we are to have certain rights and freedoms if they were never placed into the constitution act.
The most important aspect of this proposal deals with the aftermath of the Canadian insurrections. This will be of extreme to significance to the reader as the aftermath of the rebellion would change the destiny of Canada. After learning of the uprisings in the Canadian colonies the British parliament sent a commission to study the causes. Lord Durham was named governor on May of 1839 and was in placed in charge of establishing an inquiry into the rebellions. From this inquiry came a list of recommendations submitted to the parliament in London (Outlett, 275). Two recommendations in this report became extremely significant to Canadian history.
The top class were always the wise and wealthy. The low class were the slaves and homeless. According to Document F, ¨The rest of us patiently obeyed our vile commanders and bought our provisions at fifteen times the value¨(Document F, Smith). The settlement was divided from the beginning, but the continuing of defined classes made people want to break away from was once was their values. According to Document D, ¨We intend that our town shall be composed of forty families,...
In 1837, the Upper and Lower Canada had rebellion. They have many causes why they started this rebellion. Upper and lower Canada had many reasons why they rebelled. Some reasons are similar to Upper or Lower Canada and some reasons are different to each other.These are the similarities and differences of upper Canada and lower Canada rebellion causes.
When a revolt occurred in American History, there were countless reasons that triggered the public eye to perform acts of violence or open confrontations to the government or a famous ruler. To be more specific, the Bacon’s Rebellion was one of the most famous uprisings in the 1670s and the outcome was being defeated. Nathaniel Bacon, who was a Virginia settler, instigated the issue and wanted to start a rivalry towards the Native Americans. William Berkeley, who was the Governor of the Virginia Colony, was very easy-going about the situation and wanted no tension towards the Native Americans. Bacon believed that the Native Americans was invading Jamestown’s territory area, and he wanted Berkeley to take action by advancing better security. Since nothing was being done on Berkeley’s side of the bargain, Bacon took it upon himself and initiated his opinions to the community. Bacon informed other settlers, servants and slaves to oppose against the Native Americans. Even though this rebellion was about fighting over property, it sparked a lot of additional motives within a one-year period. The revolt had countless cause/effects, and diverse civil rules and beliefs between Berkeley and Bacon. In the 1600’s, events like culture clashing and land rights played a huge role of the riot and molded the background to the Bacon’s Rebellion. Also, the importance of the rebellion encouraged affective outcomes like the Declaration of the People and it becomes one of the first rebellions in the American Colonies.
The Rebellion of Upper and Lower Canada mainly occurred because of land issues, government inequality, and irresponsibility to the people. Power was held by a small group of noble elites, they can veto any law that hurts their status. Mainly controlled by wealthy English aristocrats / businessmen,
The rebellions of Upper and Lower Canada were in the interests of self-government but were doomed to failure from their beginning. Each of these two colonies encountered a great deal of problems right from the institution of the Constitution Act of 1791 and the problems continually got worse until the only choice to some seem to be rebellion. There were several problems that lead to the rebellions of 1837-38. In Lower Canada there was the agricultural crisis that caused a large number of starvations, to the French and English political and social problems within the colony. There were several different reasons that caused the rebellion in Upper Canada but these caused were mainly rooted in
Canada was rushed into Confederation way too soon and has had problems due to this. Although through these past hundred fifty years, Canada has survived and is still going strong. Confederation started on July 1st, 1867 when three British Colonies came together to become four provinces. Although Canada went through Confederation, it is not a confederate association; it is a federal state which is not the supposed meaning of Confederation. Canada has evolved majorly since Confederation back in 1867.
The Whiskey Rebellion showed the government that the people would rise up against the government if they felt it was needed. While not really a bad thing, it did lead to fears of an incident like the French Revolution occurring in the United States.
Due to the bitter rivalries of their mother countries, the two sides also had a strong feels of animosity against one another. This animosity was furthered when the French surrendered New France. This cession of French territory to the British occurred after the French and Indian Wars of the mid 18th century; specifically after the treaty of Paris in February 20th of 1763. The essential annexation brought about much anger within the French. This was illustrated during the highlights of the Patriote movement (the rebellions of 1837 and 1838) and the secession of New France to become British. These events, along with prior rivalry with Britain and its colonies brought forth a substantial amount of Francophone nationalism. Though the rebellion was also caused by famine and poverty on some level, it was the strong French nationalism was the spark that brought about Canada’s first “civil war.”
Most of the colonists rebelled against Parliament’s decisions of passing new laws, they were angered by the creation of the Tea Act, and rebelled by dumping 18,000 pounds of tea into the Boston Harbor, which was known as the Boston Tea Party. The colonists were determined to get their independance from Great Britain, so after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress met to decide what was to be done next. For example, “Americans had a grand cause: fighting for their rights, their independence and their liberty” (American and British Strengths and Weaknesses). This shows that the colonists were not just fighting to win, they were fighting for their freedom, their rights, and their independance from Great Britain. Most of the American military were civilians that were fighting because they wanted freedom and they were determined to do
Unlike upper class they did not necessarily inherit their money but earned it off their own hard work. They could afford their own town house and servants to run the household. Over time these class of people grew more influential and eventually gained the right to vote in 1832. They were below the aristocracy but above the workers.