The Rebellions of 1837

Constitution Act of 1791 The Constitution Act of 1791 gave the British colonies a new form of government Each colony had its own governor and elected assembly Can you name the colonies? Governor General (Appointed by Britain) Lieutenant Governor (Appointed by Britain) Executive Council (Appointed by the governor) Anglophones in both Upper and Lower Canada Legislative Council (Appointed by the governor) Legislative Assembly (Elected by voters) Upper Canada: Majority Anglophone Lower Canada: Majority Francophone Only people who owned a certain amount of property were allowed to vote. This was mostly wealthy men.

Colonial Government Although voters were able to elect the members of the Legislative Assembly, it had little actual power The real power was held by the governor and the two councils (Executive and Legislative) These members were usually friends and relatives of the governor In Lower Canada they were known as the Chateau Clique In Upper Canada they were known as the Family Compact Both passed laws that favoured their own interests What do you think of this kind of governing? Is it fair? Why or why not?

Reformers Many of the colonists thought that this form of governing was highly unfair Why should a British appointed governor and his friends make all the decisions? These people were called reformers Why were they called this? They demanded that the government change the way things were run Of course, change did not happen

Voting Today we vote by using a secret ballot This means that no one knows who someone voted for unless they choose to share that information In the past, however, voting was done differently Voters went to polling stations and voted for a candidate publicly This led to corruption and bribery Some people tried to influence the way people voted They could tell if they followed through or not If they didn't they would be beat and tormented Voting remained public until 1874

SOAPSTone! “William Lyon Mackenzie Describes an Election Campaign” Read the following primary source in a group and complete the SOAPSTONE for it Highlight any key or important information We will be discussing it after – so be prepared to say something!

Perspectives Activity You will be randomly drawing a role, it will either be from Upper Canada or Lower Canada It will then tell you what kind of person you are, like a farmer or merchant and provide a brief description of how your group feels Discuss with other people with the same role and expand on your perspective – be prepared to argue it! I will play the role of Governor General Harris and in your groups you will have to convince me that reform (change) is necessary

Ninety-Two Resolutions By the 1830s many people had had enough with the lack of change Louis Joseph Papineau led a group of reformers called the Patriotes in Lower Canada In 1834 they presented the Ninety-Two Resolutions to the assembly They wanted sweeping reforms put in place They then won 75 percent of the votes in an election They believed that now the Governor and Britain would have to listen to them They waited for a response to the Resolutions until 1837 All of the demands were rejected

Rebellion in Lower Canada Papineau travelled throughout the colony urging Lower Canadians to take up arms and fight Fighting finally broke out in November of 1837 at Saint- Denis with a victory for the Patriotes However, British forces soon overwhelmed the rebels at Saint-Charles and Saint- Eustache The uprising had been crushed Papineau fled to the United States

Seventh Report on Grievances The same unrest was occurring in Upper Canada too William Lyon Mackenzie led the reformers and in 1834 he issued the Seventh Report on Grievances It was a list of their demands They decided to take up arms to make sure they got what they wanted

Rebellion in Upper Canada On December 5 1837 Mackenzie led 700 rebels on a march toward Toronto Only a few were armed with rifles; most were armed with pikes and pitchforks At the first clash with government supporters, the rebels fled to Montgomery Tavern Other violent clashes broke out around the colony, however They were put down by British troops The rebellion was over in just a few days Mackenzie fled to the United States like Papineau

Impact of the Rebellions These two rebellions may seem to be minor events Only a few hundred people took part But they actually had a very lasting impact In Lower Canada, the Francophone colonists felt incredibly wronged This feeling did not disappear with the crushing of the Rebellion In Upper Canada it became apparent that many people agreed with the goals of the reformers Britain would have to face the fact that reform was necessary, or there may be a larger rebellion or even a revolution next time

Comics We have TWO comics to read! I will need a few volunteer to take on roles

Homework - SOAPSTone! Read the primary source “The Upper Canadian Rebellion, 1837” Complete the SOAPSTone chart for it To be completed and handed in with your Chapter 6 package