8) Tensions in Lower Canada Flashcards

1
Q

What led to the development of a society in Lower Canada that made them split into two groups?

A

The arrival of several Irish, Scottish and English immigrants led to them having to chose between French Canadien and British.

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2
Q

What is nationalism?

A

A political ideology of independence for a country.

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3
Q

What facilitated Canadien nationalism?

A

The Catholic religion, French civil law and public use of French language.

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4
Q

What is a popular assembly?

A

A meeting of leaders of a political party with members that agreed with their ideas.

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5
Q

What did popular assemblies do?

A

They praised characteristics particular to the Canadien nation.

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6
Q

What did the British advocate for?

A

Imperialism, a policy of extending a country’s power, the implementation of their cultural values, and assimilation in terms of language, religion and politics.

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7
Q

What two political parties was the population split into?

A

Parti Canadien and Tori Party

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8
Q

What were their political relationships?

A

Their relationships were peaceful between 1812 and 1815 but disagreements between language, culture and politics resumed until 1830.

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9
Q

What did political debate among the legislative assembly resume over?

A

Canal financing, customs duties and subsidies.

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10
Q

Canal financing

A

Because there was an increase in trade, businessmen had to look for an effective mode of transportation, constructing canals was the solution, so British bourgeoisie implemented canals in Upper Canada.

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11
Q

What did the elected officials of Parti Canadien agree to?

A

That canals needed to be built, but they would only allow the government to finance the development of canals in Lower Canada, not Upper Canada because they believed it would only profit the British.

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12
Q

What did Parti Canadien allow?

A

That Upper Canada continue to invest in agriculture, because it benefited the population of Canada as a whole. They wanted canals to be what Lower Canada benefitted from.

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13
Q

What is a custom duty?

A

A tax collected on incoming imported goods as they cross the boarder.

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14
Q

Custom duties

A

Since Lower Canada had several ports, customs on imported goods were a key source of revenue for the government of Lower Canada.

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15
Q

How was this a disadvantage for Upper Canada?

A

They didn’t have any ports.

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16
Q

What did Upper Canada do about that issue?

A

They thought it was unfair that Lower Canada was making too much money, so in 1817, an agreement was made that Upper Canada would get 20% customs duties collected in Lower Canada.

17
Q

How did Lower Canada feel about this?

A

They were opposed to the idea, so it ended after 2 years. Upper Canada was deprived from a major source of making money.

18
Q

What are subsidies?

A

Money gained from the Legislative Assembly’s power of taxation.

19
Q

What were subsidies used for?

A

Normally they were used to help fund the development of infrastructure like canals and prisons, but in 1820 the governor George Ramsey wanted subsidies to fund the deficit (amount owed to institutions after borrowing money) instead of projects.

20
Q

How did the Legislative assembly feel about this?

A

They agreed as long as they could oversee the spending, but George Ramsey refused to be accountable to the Legislative assembly’s spending.

21
Q

What were the demands of the Canadiens?

A

They wanted a more important role within the government of Lower Canada, they demanded for a reform of their political institutions because the British were in a minority and controlled the political system.

22
Q

The creation of Parti Patriote.

A

In 1826, the Parti Canadien became Parti Patriote. They were led by Louis-Joseph-Papineau, who was the speaker of the legislative assembly, they kept demanding for more democratic institutions. The Parti Patriote was evolved into a more radical position.

23
Q

Reformist position of Parti Patriote

A

They wanted to transform existing institutions while maintaining political ties with London, they were influenced by Liberal ideas. They negotiated with the British government and used Legal methods. They created newspapers and organized popular assemblies.

24
Q

Radical position of Parti Patriote

A

They wanted to transform existing political institutions. When this failed, they demanded the independence of Lower Canada. They used weapons and confronted the British government. They created newspapers and organized popular assemblies.

25
Q

Louis-Joseph Papineau

A

He was a politician, seigneur and lawyer. He was elected speaker of the assembly in 1815. He became the leader of the Parti Canadien, instead of Pierre-Stanislas Bédard. He fought to democratize Lower Canada’s political institution.

26
Q

What caused tensions to risen in the 1830’s?

A

Poor harvests, the British wouldn’t give new seigneurial territories, an increase in seigneurial dues between 1820 and 1830, the reservation of land in the Eastern townships for British immigrants and violence committed by British soldiers during political rallies.

27
Q

What did the Canadiens count on considering what happened?

A

They counted on the Legislative assembly to improve their living conditions, but their bills were never able to be passed into a law because it favoured the Canadiens.

28
Q

What did Louis-Joseph Papineau do?

A

He wanted peaceful, non-violent protests. He established boycotts on British products.

29
Q

What is a boycott?

A

When a group of people refuse to purchase products for political reasons.

30
Q

Republicanism in Lower Canada

A

The Canadiens were disappointed with the British constitutional monarchy, so they began to look at other models of government, particularly the American system of republicanism. The Patriotes kept questioning the role of the British monarchy and demanded political changes.

31
Q

What was adopted in 1834?

A

The Patriotes wrote an official document called the 92 resolutions. It stated that the British parliamentary system favoured the British.

32
Q

What were some of the resolutions demanded?

A

Members of the legislative council should be elected, not appointed, the legislative assembly manage the governors budget, more canadiens in public administration, protection of French language and civil law and ministerial responsibility.

33
Q

What is ministerial responsibility?

A

Members of the executive council are elected by the majority of members of the legislative assembly

34
Q

What did Governor Aylmer do?

A

He opposed the 92 resolutions and dissolved the legislative assembly. Elections were held in 1834 and voters of Lower Canada supported the Parti Patriote. 78 of 84 members were elected on the Legislative assembly.

35
Q

What did the British government do because of Aylmer’s reaction?

A

They replaced him with governor Gosford. Great Britain hoped he would solve the tension.

36
Q

The Russell Resolutions

A

It took 3 years for the British parliament to respond to the 92 resolutions. They adopted 10 of them. The mother country rejected all the other demands and authorized the colonial administration to stop the Legislative assemblies subsidies.