The British Empire: A source for good or evil? January 2014 | Page 19

Case study about the Lower Canada Rebellion
The Lower Canada Rebellion is the name of the conflict between the rebels of
Lower Canada (Quebec) and British settlers in the Canada. This rebellion lasted from
1837 to 1838. After the conquest of the Lower Canada by the British Empire, a
governor was named by London and he had all the power in the country. The
Legislative Assembly of Canada succeeded to get the legislative power but the
governor still had the executive power, and thanks to his wealth, he could control the
economy of the Canada, so when elections were organized, he could buy all the votes.
But two political party were formed: the Canadian party, with the native people, and
the English Party, supported by the governor. In the 1830s, the same fact occurs in
the Province of Upper Canada. All this tensions brought the battles of 1837 and 1838.
After this war, Lord Lambton, first Earl of Durham, was nominated Governor
General and high commissioner of British North America.
Lord Durham was born on 1792 and died in 1840. He
wrote the Report on the Affairs of the British North
America (or Durham Report). You have an extract from
this report:
“…I expected to find a contest between a government
and a people: I found two nations warring the bosom of
a single state; I found a struggle, not of principles but
of races; and I perceived that it would be idle to
attempt any amelioration of laws and institutions until
we could first succeed in terminating the deadly
animosity that now separate the inhabitants of Lower
Canada into the hostile divisions of French and
English.…The difference of language produces
misconceptions yet more fatal even than those which it
occasions with respect to opinions; it aggravates the
national animosities by representing all the events of
the day in utterly different lights.”
Durham Report, 1838

JASPARD Nolwenn
BEAUDEAU Anouk

Questions :
Q1) How does Lord Durham see the
problems in the Canada?
Q2) What are both conflicts about
which Lord Durham speaks?
Q3) Which element(s) produce(s)
misconceptions?
==> Do a summary of the situation and
the Lower Canada Rebellion

Sources :
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/struggle_democracy/citizens_empire.ht
m
http://www.iiipublishing.com/blog/2011/04/blog_04_05_2011.html
Wikipedia : Women's right to vote in Britain - The lower canadian rebellion