Province of Upper Canada Student Activities

Draw a diagram depicting the oligarchic government in Upper Canada.

Draw two maps. The first should be of the colony of Quebec before the Constitutional Act of 1791. The second one should be after the Act had been passed.

List the common tools that a UEL family would possess after having lived in Upper Canada for a year. How would they have been obtained?

List the policies of Governor Simcoe that aided in the development of the colony of Upper Canada.

Make a list of the items and products made by the United Empire Loyalists themselves. Take any three of them and sketch them.

Map the pockets of UEL settlement in Upper Canada.

Would you have liked to have been a UEL child? Why or why not?

Make a believable daily schedule for an early United Empire Loyalist settler.

Make a typical United Empire Loyalist meal.

Research the life and legacy of John Graves Simcoe and present the results of your findings to the class.

Why was clearing the land such a difficult and time-consuming process for UEL families? What was the order in which the various tasks related to the process were undertaken?

Find the painting "Simcoe Opens First Assembly 1792." You are Simcoe's speechwriter. Write the speech that he would deliver.

If you could interview Simcoe, what questions would you most want to ask him?

Write either a eulogy for Simcoe or the inscription for his headstone.

Write either a poem or rap song about the trials and tribulations of a typical United Empire Loyalist family.

By looking at a map of UEL settlement in Upper Canada, what significant conclusions can you reach?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of an oligarchic government.

What was the British motivation in passing the Constitutional Act of 1791?

What were the similarities and differences between the typical first UEL home and the second? Why was the second one almost always superior?

What were the three most vital items or products necessary for the survival of a UEL family? Defend your choices with supporting evidence.

Which of Simcoe's policies was the most important in the future of Upper Canada? Why?

Research William Berczy or Thomas Talbot. How important were they in the development of Upper Canada?

Compare and contrast the United Empire Loyalists with the Late Loyalists. Which group played a bigger role in Upper Canada's development? Why?

Debate, either as an entire class or in triads, the following resolution: Resolved that Upper Canada is largely a product of United Empire Loyalists.

Draw a contemporary political cartoon criticizing a policy of Simcoe.

What was the problem with Simcoe's land distribution plan? Explain.

Why did the United Empire Loyalists generally dislike the political system in existence in Upper Canada when they first arrived?

Write a contemporary editorial either supporting or refuting the thesis that Simcoe was "the Father of Upper Canada."

Write a contemporary newspaper article on Simcoe's passage of the 1793 Slave Act.

If slavery legally disappeared in Upper Canada by the 1830s, did it also disappear in reality? Why or why not? Explain your position by citing the supporting evidence.

United Empire Loyalist settlement occurred almost exclusively along waterways. Why?

Was the Constitutional Act of 1791 a wise policy?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of reading portions of Elizabeth's diary? What kind of source is it? What might be done in order to obtain a deeper understanding of her diary?

Why did Upper and Lower Canada have oligarchic governments at this time?

Write a thematic paper with the thesis that the United Empire Loyalists' chief characteristic was self-reliance.