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20 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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a) What created the need for government reform in UC and LC?
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The government is UC and LC was run indirectly from Britain. Power was in the hands of a small group of wealthy and influential men called the Family Compact. The Governor (Britain’s representative) did whatever the Family Compact wanted. The Family compact and land speculators owned or had control of most of the good farmland. Many immigrants were forced north to poor farmland.
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- What are responsible government and representative government?
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Representative government is a government made up of officials elected to office by the people.
Responsible government is a government subject to the votes of the people. They can be voted out of office if they fail to please a majority of people who elected them. |
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- what is oligarchy and the Family Compact?
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Oligarchy is rule by a small, select group of people. The Family Compact was an oligarchy - a small group of upper-class officials who made up the Executive Council of UC after 1812. They had control over the government, over who got government jobs, and over the spending of tax money. They were snobs and did not interact with those outside their group. They all knew each other, were often related and even dressed alike. Those who held the best land in UC were members of the FC.
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- what was the structure of government of the government of UC
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1791 The Constitutional Act divided UC from LC and gave it an elected law-making Legislative Assembly, a Governor and two councils (executive council and the legislative council). Since all male citizens who owned property could elect Assembly members, the government appeared to be democratic.
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- how powerful were the Governor and his two appointed councils
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The actual power was in the hands of the governor and the two councils he appointed. They could veto any laws passed by the Assembly. Since the councils, whose members came from the Family Compact, had different priorities from those of ordinary colonists, they used their veto power often. They could shut down projects, ignore land speculation etc.
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b) A list of grievances in UC:
- what were the main annoyances for people in UC |
Land – land speculators and absentee landowners overpriced or tied up prime land
Roads – crown and clergy reserves blocked the building of roads that would connect communities and farmers with their markets. People knew the Family Compact was to blame and were very angry. |
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- what did Robert Gourlay do and what happened to him
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Robert Gourlay was a land agent and surveyed farmers about life in UC. When he discovered how angry the farmers were, he drew up a list of grievances. With the colonists, he made a petition demanding change. Hew was arrested and then sent out of the colony. The government did not want change.
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- why did the Family Compact hate William Lyon Mackenzie
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MacKenzie was a very argumentative man and often disagreed with moderate reformers (Ryerson and Baldwin) who wanted to bring about change through negotiation. Mackenzie took a much more aggressive approach. He started a newspaper called the Colonial Advocate and published articles that strongly criticize the government and Family Compact. Angry FC members ransacked his offices and smashed his printing press but instead of backing down, he sued. He wanted radical change. He was elected to Legislative Assembly in 1828 and became one of the most important leaders of the reform movement.
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what was MacKenzie’s newspaper called
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“The Colonial Advocate”
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The situation in LC:
- how did the French feel about the English minority |
LC also had serious political problems which were worsened because the ruling class in LC was English and the majority of the population was French. With language and cultural roots dating back to Champlain, French Canadians had never completely adjusted to British rule. LC was exposed to the democratic ideals of both the French and US revolution, French found rule without democracy intolerable.
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- who was the Chateau Clique and who supported them
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The Chateau Clique was the wealthy elite who controlled LC, mostly made up of English speaking merchants. They were LC equivalent to FC. It controlled government and business. It included merchants and officers. It was also supported by the church hierarchy and wealthy French Canadian landowner – both of whom had a lot of support in LC. Some of the future rebellion leaders came from these seigneurial families. Seigneurial system: the system of landholding in New France, seigneurs were given estates and responsibilities to settle the land and oversee its administration.
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- who sold out the poor French speaking colonists
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Although less than 25% of the population, the English speaking minority in LC had most of the wealth and power. Many colonists believed that the church and seigneurs had sold them out to the English. There was also an attempt to unite LC and UC in 1822 and make English the official language.
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- what lead to the economic problems in LC
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Although LC did not have the land problems of UC, the amount of usable land was limited and soil was becoming less fertile. Wheat crops began to fail and the only alternative was to import it from UC. This resulted in a huge economic deficit. Farmers could only grow enough to feed their families and the agricultural economy failed. Many turned to forestry. It employeed many but not everyone had a share in the profits. Seigneurs now wanted forests not farms so farmland was limited and this created dissatisfaction among the rural population.
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D) Nationalism:
- What things did the French fear about the British government? |
The French mistrusted the English. They needed to protect their language and their religion. And they also feared Britain may be trying to get rid of the “French Problem” by bringing in more English speaking immigrants to the colony. The more English came, the more of a minority the French became politically and socially. In 1832 an immigrant ship brought the cholera epidemic to LC and the French thought that Britain was trying to kill them off.
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- How did feelings of Nationalism create tension in LC?
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Nationalism is the “devotion to the support of one’s culture and nation, sometimes resulting in the promotion of independence.” This created tension between the English and French.
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- What other frustrations existed in LC?
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Most French Canadians were also frustrated by the undemocratic nature of their government. Most were struggling to pay taxes (some of this paid government jobs that they could not have), and yet received no voice in return.
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- What were the three issues that became the focus of reform in LC?
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1 – discrimination against the French
2 – lack of representation in government 3 – taxes |
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- Who was leading the rebels in LC?
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Louis-Joseph Papineau was the leader of the radical reformers, a public speaker, seigneur and a lawyer. He had also originally supported the British rule. He had originally been optimist that the British would bring about good change. In 1815 he became Speaker for the Legislative Assembly for LC. He also became leader of the Parti Canadien, which lobbied for reform.
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- Who were the other members of the rebellion
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Wolfred Nelson, an English doctor, was mayor of Montreal and later became a leader of the rebel Patriots.
Edmund O’Callaghan, the Irish publisher of the radical newspaper, The Vindicator, also joined the Patriots. They all believed that the Assembly should have control of the government’s budget, and they wanted a democratic system. |
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- What were the 92 resolutions and what did they result in
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After British soldiers shot protestors in Montreal, Papineau and other reformers submitted “Ninety-Two Resolutions” to the governor. Those resolutions were demands for major changes in the colonial government. Lord John Russell, in charge of the Colonial Office in Britain, replied three years later with “Ten Resolutions” that denied the rights of the Assembly. After 30 frustrating years of attempting political reform, Papineau and his Patriotes openly rebelled against the governemt.
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