1. The Rebellions Of
In Lower Canada

2. British North America

3. Causes of the Rebellions
1) Lack of say in the government
the governor and councils had all the power
2) Upper Class ruled the colonies
Family Compact (Upper Canada) and Chateau Clique (Lower Canada) acted with their own best interests in mind- didn’t care about the fate to the average person
3) Unfair distribution of LAND
Crown reserves (1/7 of the land for government)
Clergy reserves (1/7 of the land for Anglican Church)
Land was often untouched and blocked road development

4. Causes of the Rebellions
4) Government funded CANALS instead of ROADS
this development benefited businesses (Family Compact and Chateau Clique) because they used the canals to move goods that were being bought and sold the farmers needed roads for their line of work
5) Lack of funding for farmers, lack of focus on farming conditions
6) ONLY LOWER CANADA
French colonists worried about the lost of their culture and language

6. Who Were The Rebels of 1837-38 in Lower Canada?
The Rebels were people who did not like the way the British were ruling them, and they wanted major changes in Lower Canada.
These people were often called Les Rébels de in Quebec.

7. Some Of The Issues That Needed To Be Resolved
The Government in Lower Canada favored the business interests of the English over the farming interests of the French population.
The French in Lower Canada were also concerned about losing their French culture and language, and the privileges given to the Anglican church when most of the population were Catholic.

8. The Château Clique
Another big reason why the French were not happy was because of the Château Clique.
The Château Clique was a group of wealthy Englishmen and leading English merchants in Lower Canada. They were the British landed gentry and they believed that the British should control everything.
The Chateau Clique is similar to the Family Compact in Upper Canada.

9. What Made the Rebellions Rebel
During the 1820’s nervousness was rising and the Rebels demanded change, but the Government stayed firm, this meant a lot of problems for the Government.
The Canadiens wanted to have a responsible Government so they wrote the 92 resolutions, but after that Lord Russell demanded 10 resolutions of his own and discarded any type of responsible Government
This answer from Lord Russell expanded the gap of the Canadiens and the British in Lower Canada.

10. Louis Joseph Papineau The leader of the Patriotes from 1820 – 1860.
His goal was to seek a responsible Government.
Papineau was first the leader of the Parti Canadien which held most of the seats in the Legislative Assembly.
The Parti Canadien often quarreled with the Governor because they did not support taxes for building canals and roads.
Then in 1832 the Reformers split into two and there was one side which was led by John Neilson and the other group led by Papineau, this group was named the Patriotes.

11. The Patriotes
After the Reformers split into two the Patriotes could still have power over the assembly.
The Patriotes then accepted a bill that called for an elected Legislative Council in Lower Canada.
With the bill being approved the Patriotes thought that this bill would help getting a responsible government.
To even further its demands for having a responsible government, the Patriotes approved a list of ninety-two resolutions.

12. In Reaction To Lord Russell's Rejection of the 92 Resolutions
The Patriotes held a public meeting at St. Charles they voted to defy British “oppression.”
Delegates then thought about how to fix this issue, and a couple of resolutions were to refuse British goods, and banks. Another resolution might have been to become apart of America or become there own nation.
However, the Patriotes still refused to approve taxes which the government needed.

13. The Government’s Response
In reply to the Patriotes not approving the taxes, the government decided to use the money anyways.
This angered the Patriotes because it dishonored the Constitutional Act.
So then in October of 1837 there was a big meeting at St. Charles to plan their battle of British rule.
At the meeting Papineau told fellow people to use the existing political system to get what they want, but he was the only one behind that and others wanted to revolt.

14. The Revolt
The Patriote newspaper then wrote a call for a armed rebellion.
But even though they announced a rebellion the rebels did not have the time to plan, and a organize a good rebellion.
However, the Catholic Church asked the Canadiens to stay loyal to the British Crown but to no avail.
With the Canadiens not cooperating the Doric Club attacked the Patriotes, and then on November 6 of 1837 the Doric Club also attacked the Fils de la Liberte.
They even attacked Papineau’s home.
The Fils de la Liberte was a group which held strong republic views, the group involved Papineau’s son and other Patriotes.
The British Governor was now scared of having a rebellion so then all meetings and marches were expelled, and after the Doric attacks a warrant was issued for the arrest of Papineau for the charges of treason .

15. After the Warrant was Issued
After the British troops were sent to arrest the revolutionaries, the British troops were trained and they had everything they needed to fight.
However, on the other hand the Patriotes were not well-supplied and they did not even have a good leader.
But the British were too much for the Patriotes and they fell to them in December 1st of 1837 because they outnumbered them two to one.
So the war was a bit one sided but the Patriotes had one moment of success and that was at St. Denis on November 22 of 1837
Many of the Patriotes leaders escaped including Papineau who went to the United States. .

16. The Aftermath
After the Patriotes way out, there was still extreme dislike between the Canadiens and British.
Even though the Patriotes were mostly gone, there was still Canadiens who killed the British.
An example was at St. Eusteche the British found one of there dead soldiers.
In response the British burned down many homes, and the Doric Club and Orangemen drove families out into the snow while the British commanders did nothing to stop them.

17. The Rebellions of
In Upper Canada

18. Why Were There Rebellions In Upper Canada In 1837-38?
The news of chaos in Lower Canada reached the people of Upper Canada in October of 1837.
Many people in Upper Canada agreed with the Lower Canadian rebels about the need for change in the government.
The Upper Canadian rebels were in favor for the American Revolution and felt a similar revolution was needed in Upper Canada.

19. William Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie was the leader of the rebellions in Upper Canada.
He shared many of the same ideas of the Patriotes in Lower Canada.
He used his newspaper The Colonial Advocate, to demand change against the British Government and Family Compact.
He was a supporter of the American Revolution and the republic it created, so he went out to accomplish the same thing in Upper Canada.

20. A Call For Support
On November 27th, 1837 Mackenzie published a handbill in an attempt to get supporters for an armed revolt in Upper Canada.
The handbill essentially asked for brave Canadians who do not agree with the way England is running Canada to stand up and rebel .

21. Montgomery’s Tavern
Montgomery’s Tavern was where the Upper Canadian rebels met before the attack on Toronto.
This was where they came up with their plan of attack on Toronto.

22. Attack On Toronto Mackenzie’s plan was a joint attack.
One group of rebels would march on Toronto and another group would march on Hamilton.
They would take over the armory in Toronto along with 4000 guns, arrest governor Bond Head, and announce independence from Britain.
After that they would create a republican form of government.

23. The Outcome Of The Battle At Toronto
Mackenzie’s brave plan ended in shameful defeat at the battle of Montgomery's farm.
Before he and the rebels marched down Yonge Street a group of about 30 men had planned to attack them.
As they marched they were attacked and the group of 800 rebels started to run away.

24. Mackenzie’s Escape
After Mackenzie’s embarrassing defeat he took off to Rochester, New York, in the United States.
From there he and a party of rebel exiles took over a Navy island in the middle of the Niagara River on December
Mackenzie ran off because he was a wanted man with a One Thousand Pound Reward.

25. The Rebellions of 1838
In 1837 the Rebellions were quickly defeated by the British.
But in 1838 more battles were fought after 1837.
During 1838 there was a guerrilla army that carried out attacks along Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
This guerrilla army was known as the Patriot Hunters.
These members battled against the Tory by burning homes and barns even murdering inhabitants.

26. What Happened In Lower Canada in 1838?
There was also an uprising in Lower Canada in 1838, the group here that started the trouble was the les Freres Chausseres.
Les Freres Chasseurs organized uprising in February of 1838 and a in November.
This uprising began with seizure of seigneury of Beauharnois.
But waiting for them were the Loyalist Caughnawaga natives and they attacked the rebels and captured them.
This group was led by Robert Nelson, and his group had supporters throughout Lower Canada.

27. What Happened to Robert Nelson?
He was in the United States with money and arms for the rebels.
So in the end the Rebels of Lower Canada were once again doomed to defeat.
So after the capture of Nelson the rebels were defeated because of short of arms and ammunition.
After Loyalists spotted Nelson and the Caughnawaga captured the rebel leader.

28. What happened in Upper Canada and Lower Canada?
Two of the rebels in Upper Canada named Peter Matthews and Samuel Lount were hanged.
In Lower Canada martial law was declared and also the elected Assembly was banned after the rebellions of 1837.
After that a new governor general who was known as Lord Durham was sent to the colony to get rid of the “Canadian Problem.”

29. Punishing the Rebels
Captured rebels were imprisoned. Many were issued the death penalty for taking up arms against the government.
Many of the arrested reformers were shipped to Tasmania in Australia to work as slaves on plantations, farms and government projects.
Many of Australia’s early colonialists were transported convicts

30. Lord Durham’s Report
Britain sent Lord Durham (aka John George Lambton) to the Canadas in May 1838 to investigate the causes of the rebellions
Durham did not bend to the Chateau Clique or the Family Compact and he pardoned many of the captured rebels
This caused a lot of controversy because the rebels who caused damage to homes, businesses etc. were not punished for their actions

31. Lord Durham’s Recommendations
Upper and Lower Canada should be united to become ONE COLONY
this would give the English a huge majority in the colony
The new colony should have RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT
the Executive Council members would be chosen by the leader of the largest group in the Legislative Assembly rather than the Governor
the governor would sign into law any bills recommended by the Executive Council

32. Act of Union 1841
The British only acted on ONE of Lord Durham’s recommendations
In 1841, Upper and Lower Canada joined together
they were now called the UNITED PROVINCE OF CANADA
now called CANADA EAST (Lower Canada) and CANADA WEST (Upper Canada)
Canada East and Canada West had the same number of seats in the Legislative Assembly
However, the Executive Council and Legislative Council still had VETO POWER over the (elected) Legislative Assembly’s laws

33. Rebellion Losses Bill
The purpose of this bill was to pay the people of Canada East (Lower Canada) for property that was damaged during the Rebellions
The Executive Council and Legislative Council did NOT like this bill
LORD ELGIN (the Governor of the Colony at the time) did NOT like it either, but he passed it because the majority of the people in the Legislative Assembly approved the bill
This was the first time that the desires of the people (through the Legislative Assembly) were listened to by the government.
Even though the Executive Council, Legislative Council, and the Governor did not like the bill, it was passed anyway