July 1st 1867 marks the date that Canada confederated into a nation dedicated to promote democracy. Canada would be governed by a Parliamentary system consisting of an upper and lower chamber of legislation. The House of Commons, being the lower chamber is made up of elected representatives from across the country, democratically voting upon bills. The upper chamber, the Senate is made up of 105 individuals specifically appointed by the Governor General to represent certain geographical areas across the country. The Senate is primarily responsible for providing a “sober second thought”…
The era of late 1700’s was a period of great change in North America. After the French and Indian war ended in 1963, Great Britain’s control of North America’s east coast caused more interaction between the American colonies and Canada, which was a French colony prior to the war. In 1774, the Continental Congress wrote to the inhabitants of Quebec in an appeal which was entitled, “Appeal to the Inhabitants of Quebec.” In this appeal, the American colonists expressed their great joy that Quebec was now a part of the English colonies, and the main thesis of this appeal was that the inhabitants of Quebec had earned the right to have the same rights as the colonies under a just form of government, and that the best way for them to achieve that was by joining the American colonies. These ideas that the colonists had were very persuasive, and they provided a…
Daniel Shays, a small Massachusetts farmer, was a hero because he started a rebellion. This rebellion started on September 29, 1786 (10 days). This rebellion against the government was called Shays’ Rebellion, which consisted of Shays and a group of farmers fighting against unfair taxes. Daniel Shays was heroic, because he fought against a very unfair government. He fought for not only for himself, but also the people.…
After learning about the rebellion of 1837 and constantly taking notes, I realized the rebellion was not successful in overturning the government but it did unite both Upper and Lower Canada together. This was able to take away any differences of the two cultures, English and French. The impact did not happen immediately as intended though. In fact it caused the government to get back at the reformers and concentrate more on their punishment such as transportation, hanging, flogging and deaths for the rebels, instead of working on fixing the colony. You can tell that Canada had a serious political problem that was in desperate need to be improved.…
People in the rebellions all stood for what they believed in and acted upon and making change, were against the new government's policy and made others realize that there should be a lot of changes to the newly formed government, and the colonist all worked together as a society to make those changes. The government of the 18th century knew they had to make changes to become strong, since they were very new during this time period, but these protest and rebels helped guided them along. The rebellions had long term effects, because the rebels shaped the government to what it is today and it will also still be remembered in the…
The effects of nationalism in Lower Canada had begun gaining popularity after the war of 1812. This was inevitable because the war of 1812 was fought for the survival of British North America. The war united the French and English speaking colonies against a common enemy. This unity allowed the French and English speaking colonies to successfully push the Americans back. "After defeating the Americans, the inhabitants of British North America were left with a sense of pride, which sparked the initial growth of nationalism in the two Canadas" . This growing nationalism caused suspicion of American democratic ideas and republicanism, which further frustrated the Canadas with the British Government. This, in turn, prompted Canadian nationalism to diverge in too two different directions. The first form of nationalism was the rally of Canadians of British descents against the perceived threat from the United States. The second form of nationalism was led by Louis-Joseph Papineau and his Partie Patriote. The Partie Patriote promoted French Canadian culture, rights and interests. However, the views became increasingly radical and the party was divided by a conflict of interest. Nevertheless, Papineau remained at the head of the Partie Patriote. In 1834, the Partie Patriote demanded for a responsible elected Legislative Council/Executive Council before the…
The government from both Canada East and Canada West couldn’t pass any of the laws, because they needed “double majority”. The problem that the French and the English had, were that they were not agreeing on everything. So nothing got achieved. As the Politician of Canada East said: “ We have five colonies and in order to become a great nation they need only to be brought together under one central Government. The matter comes down to this, either we form a British American Confederation or we will be absorbed into the United States of America.” (Doc…
John Lambton, Earl of Durham, was appointed Governor in Chief of the Canadas, sent to investigate the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada in the spring of 1838. Both rebellions had occurred in the previous year of 1837, and were led by Louis-Joseph Papineau (Lower Canada Rebellion) and William Lyon Mackenzie (Upper Canada Rebellion). Britain realizing that change was in order to be able to successfully administer the colonies, delegated Durham with finding the source of the conflict that had led to the revolt. He instead found "two nations warring within the bosom of a single state". Durham first travelled to the United States, so that the rebels who had been operating from the northern states would not have their support any further. Instead of giving the penalty of death to rebels, his treatment of the rebels was very forgiving, absolving many of them of their crimes.…
Bibliography: Francis, R.D., Jones, R., Smith, D.B. and Wardaugh, R., Destinies: Canadian History Since Confederation. 7th Ed. Toronto, Thomson, Nelson, 2012…
Historiography: Definitions; Valid and Invalid Interpretations and Frames of Reference; Fact and Opinion; Role of Historian; Sources of Historical Information; Primary and Secondary Sources; Why study History?…
Opposition leader Robert Stanfelid said: " what I consider to be the small importance Canadians seemed to attach to civil liberties and the willingness with which they were prepared to see the government kick Quebcers around"70…
While you might might hear people rebelling against the government in the news, what you might not know is that this has been occurring worldwide for many years. There are many protests happening all across the globe, but with these protests comes intentions. The intentions of those rebelling against their government might be different from place to place, but the same ideas still remains. People worldwide rebel and protest mainly to incite change within what they believe to be a corrupt system.…
The Lower Canada rebellions that took place in 1837 and 1838 had complicated roots. It would be an over simplification to state that the differences were just between the governor and the assembly or only political. The rapidly growing population had many facets that caused rifts between itself and the ruling government in place. Social differences, economic opportunity, and political perspectives all had roles to play in creating a climate that led to open armed rebellions. These differences led to strong political divisions between the Executive council (as opposed to just the governor) and the Assembly that personified the issues that led to the rebellion.…
Between the years 1860 and 1877 a revolution was brought on in the United States due to constitutional and social developments. Significant constitutional developments such as secession in 1860 and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 play an important role in the road to revolution. Social developments play a smaller role in this revolution. Freed slaves are the root of social developments such as the Black Codes, the Freedman’s Bureau, and the Ku Klux Klan. Politics and states’ rights, black suffrage, and civil rights issues all combine to create a revolution. However, while certain constitutional developments during this time period have proven to be revolutionary, the social developments of this era have proven to be exactly the opposite.…
In 1756, the British launched an offensive into Canada, but rather than focus all their forces on Montreal and Quebec, they foolishily spread out their forces and tried to attach many places at one time. The British blunders destroyed their reputation as an invincible fighting force. This new attitude would boost the confidence of the colonials in the coming revolution. Even though the British army would eventually defeat Montreal in 1760, their reputation was forever tarnished. The euphoria caused by the ending of the war would increase the confidence of the colonials. They believed that they had a respectable military capability. This bolstered confidence along with the coloneials new found opinion of the not'so-invincible Britsh army would come back to haunt the British. The only thing needed to ignite the revolution was a few minor sparks. The British had little respect for the amateur colonial military efforts and forbid any colonial of having a rank above captain. The British also had low opinions of all the colonists in general. This enraged the colonists. They were resentful that the British did not acknowledge their hard work in making an empire for…