The British Regime IV: 1837-1848
Population 1. Composition in 1840: A) Inhabitants: 665 400 B) Mainly Francophones, growing Anglophone minority 2. Changes in overall composition: A) 1845: Montreal becomes mainly Anglophone B) 1851: Canada West (Ontario) population bigger than Canada East (Quebec) population
Economy Agriculture 1. Main crops in Lower Canada: wheat, oats, potatoes 2. Target markets (who they want to sell to): locally and Britain 3. Effects on transportation: A) Increased the creation and use of canals and railways. B) Faster to transport AND increased volume
Economy 4. Decline in wheat production in 1830’s: A)Problems: Overpopulation in agricultural land, soil exhaustion on seigneuries (crops are not growing) B) Effects: huge amount of French Canadians leaving for the United States (Massacheusetts & Maine). Why there? Jobs in textile factories. C) Farmers “solutions” to the poor farming conditions: moving to NEW colonization areas (Mauricie, Saguenay and Laurentians). Emigrating to the USA.
Economy 5. Free Trade: A) Britain gets tired of buying things from their colonies. Mainly because they cost way more. B) They abandon their “protectionist” policies in 1847 and adopt a Free Trade policy. They want to find the BEST PRICE instead of protecting their colonies. C) Result: BNA starts looking for a NEW market. What country will they choose?
5. Free Trade: E) Custom duties were abolished on major products. D) BNA signs the Reciprocity Treaty with the US which lasts from 1854-1864. E) Custom duties were abolished on major products. F) Canadians diversify their economy even more to suit American demand