1. The Great Migration and the Push for Democracy
Chapter 7:
The Great Migration and the Push for Democracy

2. The Great Migration P

3. Immigrants pushing for Democracy
British immigrants in British North America began to call for reform to their government system. The reformers wanted change because they wanted to have an impact on the decisions that were being made in their colony.
What decisions do adults in your life make? What decisions are you able to make?
Reformers in North America wanted Britain to give them power to make their own decisions. They wanted complete authority to make the decisions that affected their own lives.

4. Immigrants pushing for Democracy
British North America had a colonial government at this time, which meant that Britain appointed people to make decisions in Canada. In each colony, this would include a governor, and a council that would be responsible for making decisions for the colony. However, each colony did have an assembly that was made up of elected people but they had far less power than the governor and the council.
From there were now waves of people who were leaving Britain in search of better lives. This movement of people from Britain to Canada was known as “The Great Migration”

5. Poverty in Britain:
During the Industrial Revolution, many people lost their jobs, as machines began to replace humans in the workplace. Also, in 1840, a famine (a shortage of food leading to starvation for many people) hit Ireland and many people were forced to leave. Britain wanted to encourage settlers to come to Canada.
Let's examine the political cartoon on p What was the British government trying to say?

6. Opportunity in the Colonies
These new British colonies in Canada provided a place for people to move and start over. Britain would encourage this emigration because it would increase the loyalty in their colonies. These new waves of colonists would put new pressures on the land in North America?
In what ways could these new settlers have a negative impact on the environment?
As more British immigrants came to Canada, they began to clear land for farms.
What type of environmental pressures would this put on Canada?

7. History Happens: Not a Pleasure Cruise
Article on p

8. The Push for Democracy P. 207-209 Who Wants Change? Handout
Respond questions p.209

9. Colonial Government in British North America
Review: There was a colonial government in British North America. A colonial government was a government established in British North America but all of the decisions were controlled by Britain. Each colony had a governor who would report back to Britain with decisions that needed to be made. There was an elected assembly in each colony but they could be over ruled by the governor.

10. What is Democracy? Animation video

11. Colonial Government in British North America
What is a Democracy?
In pairs: Brainstorm 5 characteristics of a democracy.
Discuss as a class and brainstorm as a class on the board characteristics of a democracy.
What are the positives and negatives of a democracy?

12. Democracy
Voters elect the people who have the decision-making power in a democracy. This means that voters have the power to vote for people who will reflect their values and attitudes.
In British North America, the reformers wanted to have more power. They wanted two main things:
They wanted elected assemblies in the colonies and they didn't want the British appointed governors to control the membership of the councils.
The people of British North America wanted the councils not the governors to have control over the local affairs.
If you a reformer in British North America, would you advocate ending British rule altogether or would you rather remain under British control and just change the power structure in British North America?

13. Perspectives on Democracy
Democratically Speaking handout – add because to each statement to add an explanation
NOTE: Jefferson’s ideas about democracy were influenced by the example of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy

14. Different Perspectives on Democracy
Thomas Jefferson: He wrote the American Declaration of Independence that established the United States as a democratic society. He believed in the equality of citizens and no one person had the power to make laws for others. He was a supporter of putting laws to a vote before they were passed. According to him, this was the only way to promote a fair and just society. Who agrees with this perspective? Couldn't a monarch pass laws that are considered fair and just.
John Stuart Mill: He was a British philosopher who was concerned with the Tyranny of the Majority. (one person or group of people hold all the power in society and use this power to promote their own interests. He asked the question, how do you protect the rights of people who disagree with a decision made by the majority? He believed it was wrong to force people to follow the majority's opinion.
Aren't these the ideals that a democracy are built upon? Shouldn't the majority be able to make the decisions in a society? Who are supposed to protect minority rights in Canada?
Alexis de Tocqueville: He was a French speaker who wrote a critique of the U.S. government called Democracy in America. He believed that ignorance and poor judgement could lead voters to make unwise or unjust choices for society.

15. Rebellions of 1837 and 1838
People in both Upper and Lower Canada wanted more democratic government, but did they want it for the same reasons?
Venn Diagram for p

16. Who were the reformers? P. 214-215
The perspective of Joseph Howe is included but he was not part of the Rebellions. He was however an important voice of reform in British North America and part of the general movement towards more democratic government

17. Boycott: when a group of people refuse something as a way to create pressure for change
What are some things that we may boycott in Canada?
Would you every boycott buying something because it was produced in a sweatshop in Asia?
What might be some reasons people may have for boycotting a product?
Why would someone choose to boycott a company?
Which of the following factors would play the largest role in your reason to boycott a company?
1. Working Conditions
2. Wages
3. Human rights factors (child labor)
4. Outsourcing of jobs to other countries
5. Environment factors-Pollution levels

18. Events of the RebellionsP
If you look at the chain of events during the Rebellion in Lower Canada from a Canadien perspective, what stands out? Violence against Canadien settlements
What stands out if you look at it from the British perspective? Armed rebellion against the government

19. History Happens: Les Patriotes Fight British Troops in Lower Canada
After reading the article, fill out Choices and Chain of Events using the next pages in the textbook

20. The Chain of Events Timeline of Key Events in Lower Canada, 1837-1838
Timeline of Key Events in Upper Canada,

21. The Rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada

22. Idea of Citizenship
Citizenship is about who belongs and who doesn’t belong.
In what way does democracy allow more people to belong?
In what other ways can a society express who “belongs”?
P. 222

23. The Durham Report
Britain needed to figure out why these rebellions were taking place in Upper and Lower Canada. Ultimately, they wanted to find a solution that would not only keep the peace in their colonies but also keep all of their colonies under British rule.
In 1838, they set up a Royal Commission in order to investigate how they could maintain peace in the colonies. The leader of the Commission was the newly appointed governor of the colonies Lord Durham.
What recommendations would you make to the British Crown in order to keep the peace in the colonies? Right now, with a partner come up with 3 recommendations in order to keep the peace.

24. Act of Union – p. 224
In 1841, Britain passed the Act of Union based off Lord Durham's recommendations. The Act of Union had the following provisions:
Combined Upper and Lower Canada into a single province of Canada.
Created a legislative council that the governor appointed.
Created an assembly with an equal number of representatives from Canada East and Canada West, although Canada East had a larger population than Canada West.
Made English the official language of government in the new Province of Canada.

25. Act of Union
Respond p. 224

26. Effect of the Act of Union on Canada
Under the Act of Union, Upper Canada was renamed Canada West. Lower Canada was made smaller and renamed Canada East. Both of these regions were combined to form the United Province of Canada. This region would now have one government instead of two separate governments.
What sort of problems could arise from combining these two separate regions and groups of people?
Why do you think Britain still did not allow the people in Canada to govern themselves?
Discuss as a class

27. Pressures on the First Nations
The Durham Report and the Act of Union took aim at the rights of Canadiens, but did not say anything about First Nations. Both of these facts reflect discrimination.
Difference between these two forms of discrimination? (ex. “active” vs “by omission”, “visible” vs “invisible”)
What effects did this “invisible” discrimination have on First Nations peoples?

28. The Lafontaine-Baldwin Alliance
What risks do generalizations about people have?
Britain made a generalizations about English-speaking people and French-speaking people in the Act of the Union that was wrong.
Why did the Act of Union allocate equal numbers of seats in the assembly to English-speaking people from Canada West and to French-speaking people from Canada East?
In what way did this assume that people in Upper and Lower Canada had nothing in common?
What if this assumption was wrong? What did many people in Upper and Lower Canada have in common? How might this have affected the plan of the Act of Union?

29. The Lafontaine-Baldwin AllianceP
The Act of Union's main purpose was to assimilate the French Canadiens and keep Canada East and Canada West firmly under British control. However, we see Canada East and Canada West started a partnership that was seeking a more democratic government. The two sides formed a coalition that basically controlled the assembly in the province of Canada.
Louis Lafontaine came from Canada East and Robert Baldwin came from Canada West. Both leaders were reformers who were seeking a more democratic government, but not a complete break from Britain. Both pressured Britain to take some important steps towards democracy. The following changes were made:
French became an official language of the assembly along with English
They established the University of Toronto in Toronto and the University of Laval in Quebec City.
They secured amnesty for the rebels of
Under the leadership of Lafontaine and Baldwin, Britain granted the Province of Canada self-government in 1838.

30. Build the Big Picture P
Demographic Data Decoder handout

31. Perspectives on The Act of Union