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A. Background of Discontent
From HCO Jr
| 5. Conflict & Change: The Rebellion Years → A. Background of Discontent → B. Lower Canada Rebellion → C. Upper Canada Rebellion → D. Invasion & Aftermath → E. Road to Responsible Government |
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Contents |
Introduction
In 1837 rebellion broke out in both Upper and Lower Canada. Average farmers and people picked up their muskets, or whatever weapons they had, and fought with British soldiers. Many people were unhappy with how the governments in both colonies were working. What happened in Upper and Lower Canada to cause these rebellions? Why did some people fight the government? An important part of studying history is learning why things happened. There were a number of reasons why rebellions started in the colonies. These reasons (or causes) can be put under three different headings: political, social and economic. This chapter will give you the background to these causes.
After the War of 1812
When the War of 1812 ended there was still a lot of fear in Upper and Lower Canada. Many of the people who controlled the governments were afraid that the United States might still try to gain control of the colonies. There was some fear that the United States might try to invade again. However, the biggest fear was that American political ideas would start to affect Upper and Lower Canada. Over time this might cause some of the people to voluntarily join the United States.
What idea was the government afraid of? The idea was called republicanism. The United States was (and still is) a republic. This means that all political power is in the hands of the people. They elect their president, members of Congress, mayors, town councillors, and many other positions. In the United States today, for example, people vote for their judges. People elect their town sheriff, and even dog catchers.
Canada at this time was part of the British Empire. It was part of a constitutional monarchy. This means that some political power was held by the British Crown. The King of England from 1830-1837 was King William IV, after that it was Queen Victoria. Some political power was also held by the British Parliament. People in Britain (and in Upper Canada) could vote, but the people they elected had limited power. In Upper and Lower Canada any law passed by the Legislative Assemblies (the elected body) could be vetoed (or overturned) by the Legislative Council, the Executive Council, or the governor.
Some politically powerful people in both Upper and Lower Canada were afraid that republicanism would slowly start to affect people in the colonies. The people would want more political power. If this happened some of the wealthy families would lose their power and importance.
An example of this is the case of Robert Gourlay. Robert Gourlay was a Scottism immigrant who came to Upper Canada in 1817. When he arrived in the colony he decided to write a book to help new immigrants learn about Upper Canada. He wrote up a questionnaire and held town meetings to gather information from farmers and settlers. As he questioned peoplehe learned that there was a lot of anger about how land in Upper Canada was given to settlers. Gourlay started to speak out against how land was given to settlers by the government of Upper Canada.
When Gourlay began to attack the government he found himself in a lot of trouble. The government took him to court. In 1819 he was banished from Upper Canada. This did not stop Gourlay. In 1822 he published a book about settlement in Upper Canada. Gourlay wrote that the government of Upper Canada was controlled by certain families. This group was known at the time as the Family Compact. Gourlay wrote that these families kept the best land for themselves.
Gourlay is a good example of how scared the government was of new ideas. If too many people listened to Gourlay they might also begin to question the government. If too many people questioned the government they might demand change.
Political Causes
There were specific causes in both Upper and Lower Canada. There was also, however, a general cause of the rebellions in both colonies. The one problem that both colonies faced with the power of the Executive and Legislative Councils in the governments of Upper and Lower Canada.
General Cause: The Executive and Legislative Councils
By the 1820s and 1830s a new type of person was emergying in Upper and Lower Canada. These were wealthy merchants and farmers. They did not belong to the Family Compact (if they lived in Upper Canada). These people did not belong to the Chateau Clique (if they lived in Lower Canada). The Chateau Clique was similar to the Family Compact. They were wealthy men who were close to the governor of Lower Canada. They would meet at the governor's house (called a chateau). They had a lot of political power and influence in Upper Canada.
These new merchants and farmers resented the Family Compact and the Chateau Clique. They believed that they were just as important to the colonies as the other wealthy families. However, because they did not belong to certain families they had very little political power. These new merchants and farmers were elected to the Legislative Assembly, but real power was with the other levels of government.
The problem was the Constitutional Act, 1791. In an earlier chapter you read how the Legislative and Executive councils were appointed by the governors. Men appointed to the councils held their position for life. They could use government money to help their own businesses. They could block any law passed by the Legislative Assembly. By the 1820s the people in the Legislative Assemblies began to resent the councils. Assembly members were elected by men in the colony (women did not have the right to vote at this time). Some Assembly members began to speak out loud that real power should be with the Assembly not with the councils.
Upper and Lower Canada were both oligarchies. An oligarchy is a type of government in which power is held by a small group of people. This small group of people used the government only to benefit themselves and not all the people of the colonies. For example, they spent public money to build roads and canals that their businesses and farms used. Settlers in remote parts of the colonies had horrible roads, but the government did not spend money improving them. They spent very little money on schools for children.
Causes of the Rebellions in Upper Canada
Political Cause #1: Land Reform in Upper Canada
Land was very important in Upper Canada. New settlers needed land to start farming. Everyone wanted the best land they could get. If the land was full of rocks, or a swamp, or if it did not drain well (i.e.: after it rained large puddles formed and did not disappeare) it was not very good for farming.
So much land was set aside that land became very expensive. The Anglican Church and the government did not sell a lot of its land. Soon all the remaining land in a township was owned by farmers. When land became scarce it became more expensive. Farmers discovered that they could not buy more land to expand their farms, or to help their sons start their own farms. It also affected roads. Some settlers and farmers built their own roads to small villages and towns. They needed to get their products to market. However, they could not build their roads through land owned by the Anglican Church or the government. This meant that roads could not travel in a straight line. This made roads longer, and more expensive to build.
Political Cause #2: The Clergy Reserves in Upper Canada
All of the Clergy Reserves were controlled by one church: the Anglican Church (also called The Church of England). In total, the Anglican Church controlled three million acres in Upper Canada. In Upper Canada the leader of the Church of England was Archdeacon John Strachan. He was part of the Family Compact. Reverned Strachan worked to make sure that the Anglican Church did not lose control of this land.
By the 1820s and 1830s there were other religious groups in Upper Canada. Not everyone in Upper Canada was Anglican. Some people were Methodist, Baptist or Presbyterian. Some people, such as the Irish immigrants, were Catholic. They started to resent the Clergy Reserves. They did not think it was fair that one Church was given this land, and sell it to raise money, while other churches were not given any land.
Many of the political reformers in Upper Canada were also Methodist, Baptist or Presbyterian. Reformers began to demand that all of the clergy reserves be sold, and the money spent to fund public education in the colony.
Political Cause #3: Control of Public Money in Upper Canada
Reformers in both Upper and Lower Canada did not like how the government spend public money. The Family Compact and the Chateau Clique both spent public money to help themselves. They improved roads in areas where they had farms and businesses. In Montreal, the Legislative Council spent money to build canals to areas where wealthy businessmen had businesses and factories.
When the Legislative Assembly tried to spend money on public education or roads to help regular farmers this was stopped by the Legislative Council. They vetoed these bills (a bill is a law that is proposed by the government; it it passes it is called legislation). This became very frustrating for the Legislative Assemblies in both colonies.
Upper Canada's Reformers
Today when someone is elected to a provincial government, or to the federal government, they have to give up whatever job they currently hold. When Mackenzie was elected as an MLA he continued to run his newspaper. It was in The Colonial Advocate that Mackenzie wrote many editorials and articles attacking the Family Compact, and how the government of Upper Canada operated. Mackenzie's argued that:
- The Clergy Reserves should be given to the government, and sold to support public education
- The Legislative Council should be elected, not appointed.
- The Executive Council should be appointed, but its members chosen from the majority party in the Legislative Assembly. For example, if the Reformers had the most seats their members would be chosen to sit on the Executive Council.
Mackenzie was accused of being a traitor to Britain for wanting these things. By asking for an elected Legislative Council and an Executive Council that was chosen from the majority party he was coming very close to republicanism.
Not all the Reformers supported Mackenzie. The moderate reformers thought that Mackenzie was hurting their cause. Becoming angry and attacking the Family Compact, they believed, was not the way to change the government. Moderate Reformers were led by William Baldwin and his son Robert Baldwin. They thought that slow change would bring more people around to the Reform movement. Another important moderate was Egerton Ryerson. He was a Methodist minister who supported the Baldwins.
Upper Canada's Tories
The Tories were the people who opposed the Reformers. They did not want the government of Upper Canada changed. They benefited from the way the government worked. Tories were also afraid of the United States. They honestly believed that the if the Reformers were successful it would hurt Upper Canada.
Tories believed that society had to be hierarchical. A hierarchy is a government structure that has certain people at the top levels of government and business. Sometimes this means that the most qualified people are a the top because they have the ability to run government. The Tories believed they should be at the top of government because they did not trust the people below them to be involved in government. Tories did not believe that the average person could be trusted to vote properly and make important decisions that would affect the colony. It was a very prejudiced view of people.
Tories also wanted to keep the connection with Britain. Any sort of reform that seemed to bring Upper Canada closer to the United States was opposed by Tories. They did not trust anyone who wanted any kind of government reformm
The Tories did what they could to stop the Reformers. For example, Mackenzie won a seat in the Legislative Assembly a number of times. Every time he won, however, the Tories found some way to block him and keep him out of the Assembly. All this did was make Mackenzie incredibly angry (he was someone who was known for having a volatile temper).
Radicals and Moderates Split
Eventually the Moderate Reformers could not support Mackenzie and the Radical Reformers. During the 1834 election Egerton Ryerson went so far as to call all Radical Reformers "godless republicans. Mackenzie said that Ryerson and the moderates had joined with the Family Compact.
Despite these problems the Reformers won a majority of the seats in the Legislative Assembly in 1834. The Legislative and Executive Councils both blocked any effort by the Reformers to pass new laws. Mackenzie became so angry that he and the other Radicals wrote a report, The Seventh Report on Grievances. It outlined all the complaints that the Radical Reformers had with the government. Mackenzie even wrote in the report that Upper Canada should elect all government politicians. This was too similar to the American system of government for the Moderate Reformers. Robert Baldwin tried to stop Mackenzie from publishing this report. They thought it would only make the government angry. Mackenzie published it anyway. The Moderate Reformers decided to stop support Mackenzie and the Radicals.
Bond Head was not a popular person. He did not think that he had to consult anyone to run Upper Canada. Eventually even the Tories did not like Bond Head. In 1837, for example, Bond Head tried to spend public money. Both the Tories and the Moderate Reformers tried to stop him. Bond Head dissolved government, and called for another election. Bond Head hoped that enough Tories would win that he would be able to control the government.
Bond Head actively took part in the election even though he was not supposed to do this. Bond Head travelled around Upper Canada trying to convince people to vote for the Tories. When people went to vote they were intimidated to vote for the Tories. At some polling booths it was clear that people cheated. Some people voted more than once. They would vote in one area, and then travel quickly to another polling place to vote again for the Tories.
Bond Head also gave land to people if they agreed to vote for the Tories. Only people
That victory was gained in part by Bond Head's active campaigning, as well as his tactic of granting land to known supporters ("quick enfranchisement"), since only property owners could vote. These tactics radicalized Mackenzie and his followers even further. "The Colonial Advocate was replaced with "The Constitution - an even more vociferous newspaper. The radical Reformers, frustrated in their attempts to bring about change through democratic channels now adopted another course of action – armed rebellion.
Causes of the Rebellions in Lower Canada
Many of the factors that led to rebellion in Upper Canada were the same in Lower Canada. The executive and legislative councils had too much power in Lower Canada. The Legislative Assembly did not have enough control over public money. There was conflict between the elected members of the Assembly and the appointed members of the two councils. However, in Lower Canada there was an additional factor: the growing tension between French and English speakers.
In Lower Canada the majority of the population was French. This meant that most of the MLAs that were in the Legislative Assembly were French. Most of the people on the Legislative and Executive Councils though were English. The Governor of Lower Canada was from Britain.
When the Legislative Assembly was blocked by the other levels of government it was seen by many French-Canadians as proof that their colony was being controlled by the English minority. In Upper Canada elected politicians were angry when one of the two councils spent public money incorrectly. This anger was even greater in Lower Canada. For example, French MLAs might vote to spend money on a rural area of the colony. French farmers in that area might want better roads. However, English members of the council would block that bill. They would spend money to improve roads or caals in parts of Montreal that helped English speaking merchants.
To understand the causes of the rebellion, one needs to understand the French leaders that emerged in Lower Canada. Learning about men like Louis Joseph Papineau and the political party he started, the Parti Patriote, helps us to understand why the rebellions started in Lower Canada.
Louis Joseph Papineau
In 1808 Papineau was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. Many people in the Assembly realized what a capable person he was. Papineau was a very good orator (i.e.: public speaker). By 1815 he was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Papineau was now in charge of the debates and converstations that took place in the Assembly.
Papineau was a constant defender of the French in Lower Canada. For example, in the 1810s he opposed an effort to rejoin Upper and Lower Canada into a single colony. Papineau and many others were afraid of this idea. If the two colonies joined together the French would become a minority again since the English population of Upper and Lower Canada would outnumber the French. Also, there was growing English immigration to Canada. Eventually the French would be greatly outnumbered.
The Parti Patriote
Papineau and the other French Canadian MLAs already belonged to a party, the Parti Canadienne. in the 1830s, however, they changed their name to the Parti Patriote. They saw themselves as French-Canadian patriotes who defended the rights of the French living in Lower Canada. There were some English speaking members of the Parti Patriote. They were reform minded politicans similar to Robert Baldwin in Upper Canada. These English MLAs resented the Chateau Clique and the power it had in Lower Canada.
In the 1830s Papineau declared that he was a republican. From that point on the Parti Patriote tried to reform government in Lower Canada to reflect the majority of the people. Two newspapers were started in Lower Canada: La Minerve and The Vindicator. They were similar to The Colonial Advocate started by William Lyon Mackenzie. Both newspapers had articles and editorials demanding political change in the colony. At different times the men who ran these newspapers were arrested and put in jail for making statements against the government of Lower Canada.
Over time Papineau and other reformers became more radical. In 1832, for example, the Parti Patriote won the election. However, during the election British troops opened fire on a crowd of voters in Montreal and killed three Patriotes. Papineau was very angry about this. He and some other leaders began to talk about the need to respond to this violence. Papineau started to sound like he wanted a revolution. Moderate members of the Patriote party broke away because they could not longer support Papineau.
The Ninety-Two Resolutions
On February 17, 1834, Louis-Joseph Papineau and other MLAs presented a document to the Lower Canada Assembly. It was called The Ninety Two Resolutions. While the document demanded a numer of things it asked to one very important change to the government: responsible government.
Responsible Government meant that the Legislative and Executive Councils should be responsible to the people and the Legislative Assembly. It was the same demand that existed in Upper Canada. The Legislative Council should be elected, and the governor should choose the members of the Executive Council from which ever party had the majority of the seats in the Legislative Assembly. A vote was held, and The Ninety-Two Resolutions was passed by the Assembly.
Papineau's popularity and the popularity of the Parti Patriote continued to grow amongst the French-Canadians. In Britain there was a growing fear that civil war might break out in Lower Canada. Some groups were even forming their own small armies. Three hundred English-Canadians formed the British Rifle Corps in Montreal to oppose the Parti Patriote if a civil war started. The government ordered the group to disband.
Eventually the government of Lower Canada stopped working. The Legislative Assembly would create bills, but they were all blocked by the Legislative Council. When the Legislative or Executive Council requested money from the Assembly to pay for government salaries the Assembly refused to approve new taxes. Things were becoming very bad in the colony. It was only a matter of time before violence broke out.
| Discontent - Gallery | Stories & Texts | Web Links | Vocab | Student Activities | Student Projects |
| 5. Conflict & Change: The Rebellion Years → A. Background of Discontent → B. Lower Canada Rebellion → C. Upper Canada Rebellion → D. Invasion & Aftermath → E. Road to Responsible Government |
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