Discontent in Lower Canada

Roots of Discontent During the 1830s, there was a growing reform

movement in Lower Canada. Eighty percent of the citizens in Lower Canada

were French speaking, and the French population had never completely adjusted to the British conquest.

Many people were growing increasingly dissatisfied with how the colony was being governed.

Groups in Lower Canada

The male-dominated society of Lower Canada consisted of three primary groups of people at this time:

1. The French-speaking habitants or tenant farmers who worked long narrow farms and paid rent to a seigneur.

2. The English-speaking merchants who were rich and powerful and made money from the export of goods.

3. The French-speaking professionals who were educated men such as lawyers and doctors.

*Each of these three groups had special concerns that they

believed the government should address.

The Habitants The French-speaking tenant farmers continued to

live like they had for the past 150 years (following the seigneurial system), but change was beginning to threaten their lifestyle.

Population growth filled up available farmland; their farms became smaller and smaller.

Extreme poverty became common after 1810 due to numerous crop failures and poor wheat prices.

The habitants were angry that the British government was attempting to raise their land taxes while leaving business revenues untouched.

The Habitants In addition to the

agricultural crisis they were facing, the habitants were fearful that the huge number of English-speaking newcomers threatened their language, Roman Catholic religion, and agricultural way of life.

The Merchants The English-speaking

merchants made their money from the exports of fur and timber, as well as wheat from habitants’ farms.

They wanted improvements, such as harbours, canals, and roads, all of which were to be paid by government taxes.

The Professionals The French-speaking professionals were

educated people (mostly lawyers and doctors). They wanted to be the leaders of the colony and

believed they spoke for all of the French-speaking population. They saw the British as a cultural threat.

They wanted a separate French Canadian nation that would preserve the French Canadian way of life including the French language, Roman Catholic religion, and traditional agricultural lifestyle.

Government in Lower Canada The Governor in Lower Canada

was English-speaking hence the council members he appointed were also usually English-speaking.

These English-speaking officials usually had interests and concerns that differed from those of the French-speaking habitants and professionals.

The group that held the most power in the Lower Canada government was the Château Clique.

Government in Lower Canada: The Château Clique The Château Clique controlled both the

Executive and Legislative councils, and dominated the business and social life of Lower Canada.

Members of the Château Clique were either of British background or allied with the British; they favoured the British system of government and wanted more English-speaking settlers in the colony.

Government in Lower Canada:The Parti Canadien

Some of the people who wanted to preserve the French ways in Lower Canada formed the Parti Canadien (later called the Parti Patriote).

They viewed new ideas as negative and change as a threat and were almost exclusively French.

Their leader Louis-Joseph Papineau was a long time member of the Legislative Assembly.

They referred to the French-speaking population of Lower Canada as the Canadiens.

In general . . . . The French-speaking and English-speaking people

wanted different things for Lower Canada. The French-speaking people were afraid that Great

Britain might be trying to fix its “French Problem” by bringing in more immigrants who would permanently transform their colony.

The control of the colony was ultimately in the hands of an English-speaking oligarchy.

The reform movement of the French-speaking population focused on discrimination against the French, unequal taxation, and lack of focus within the government.

Discontent in Upper Canada

Roots of Discontent People in Upper Canada were also upset that their Legislative Assembly

had little power; as in Lower Canada, the real power in the colony was held in the hands of the Governor and Councils.

The Governor, likewise, had the right to appoint all officials, and farmers and their families were not included among these privileged few.

Another source of discontent among the people of Upper Canada was the unfair way that land was granted to settlers; huge areas of the best land were given to government officials and as well as made into clergy reserves. The result was that less than 10% of the colony was producing crops.

The people of Upper Canada were also angry because they needed roads to be improved so they could transport their goods to market, but the government did not repair the roads and instead spent a lot of money pleasing the merchants by constructing canals.

Finally, farmers felt that the government granted money to everyone but them; while bankers and merchants grew prosperous, farmers struggled just to keep their farms.

Government in Upper Canada Just as Lower Canada had its elite group of

powerful people called the Château Clique, Upper Canada also had an elite known as the Family Compact.

Members of the Family Compact were also members of the Executive and Legislative Councils, and thus had the power to stop or veto any laws passed by the Legislative Assembly that they did not like.

Government in Upper Canada:The Family Compact

There were two political groups in Upper Canada: the Tories led by the Family Compact and the Reformers.

The Family Compact took for themselves and their friends, and gave themselves jobs, land, and work contracts.

Since they were mostly of Loyalist descent, the Family Compact did not want Americans to be part of the government of Upper Canada and even wanted Americans to have their land taken away from them.

They defended tradition and opposed change and were loyal to the Church of England, Great Britain, and to the British system of government.

Government in Upper Canada:The Reformers The Reformers opposed the power of the Family

Compact and wanted changes in the government and society of Upper Canada.

They were angered by the attitudes of the members of the Family Compact towards the Americans in the colony.

The Reformers wanted to make Upper Canada more democratic.

In general . . . The lack of voice in

government, the lack of access to influential positions, the unfair distribution of land grants, and the lack of money to improve farming conditions were all of great concern to the majority of people in Upper Canada.