The Structure of Lower and Upper Canadian government in the early 1800s & the rise to the 1837 Rebellions

The Population of Lower and Upper Canada Population of Lower Canada (1814) 335,000 people Population of Upper Canada (1814) 95,000 people *

Social Structure of Lower and Upper Canada Petty Nobility, Seigneur, Clergy (administrators) Bourgeoisie (merchants, lawyers, doctors, notaries) The People (artisans, colonists and habitants)

Social Tensions within Lower and Upper Canada Lower Canada The Château Clique Nationalism

Social Tensions within Lower and Upper Canada (con’t) Upper Canada The Family Compact – A small groups of upper- class officials who made up the Executive Council of U.C. after The Family Compact made no effort to free up land

How government was structure in Lower and Upper Canada Governor Executive Council Legislativ e Council Legislative Assembly

Tensions caused by the governmental structure A disconnect between the Legislative Assembly and the two councils (Executive and Legislative) and the Governor. Demands made by the Assembly were often ignored or vetoed by the councils.

Representative vs. Responsible Government Representative Government Responsible Government Consists of people who are elected by voters to make laws on their behalf Can be voted out if elected representatives fail to please a majority of the people who elected them

Louis-Joseph Papineau & William Lyon Mackenzie William Lyon Mackenzie Louis-Joseph Papineau

A background perspective of William Lyon Mackenzie… Born March 15, 1795, in Scotland, William Lyon Mackenzie came from a very religious household and education. In 1824 he would begin his rise to prominence with his own news paper, the Colonial Advocate. *

Mackenzie’s Colonial Advocate Mackenzie used the Colonial Advocate to strongly criticize the gov’t and the Family Compact. In 1826, the newspaper office was ransacked. Mackenzie was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1828.

A background perspective of Louis-Joseph Papineau… Born October 7, 1786, in Montréal, Louis-Joseph Papineau came from a very political family and well-cultured family. In 1815, he became Speaker for the Legislative Assembly for Lower Canada. *

Papineau’s Parti Canadien Papineau sought to reform government himself. In the late 1810s, Papineau became leader of the Parti Canadien; which, by 1826 was transformed into the more radical Les Patriotes.

Leading up to the Rebellions of 1837… After Mackenzie and Papineau’s request for reform were denied, both insisted on rebelling against the gov’t Both Mackenzie and Papineau worked in unison leading up to the Rebellions Both knew that British troops could not defend both L.C. and U.C. at the same time Both leaders attempted to align their attacks in unison, but failed…