PowerPoint presentation by Ruth Writer, Western Michigan University

1. British North America
1787-1867
Britain and Early Canada:
Post Conquest, Unrest and Responsible
Government
© Ruth Writer

2. TWO NATIONS BORN at ONCE
 United States of America
 British North America
REVOLUTION V. EVOLUTION

3. Loyalists
 Thousands did not support rebellion—Now what…
 Issues
 Economic relations with Britain
 Patriotism—loyal to king—good citizens
 Family ties
 Natives [Iroquois] allied with Britain
 Location, location, location
 Demography—Age and race
 Persecution
 Sense of tradition
 Conservatives

4. Migration Routes
 Western Nova Scotia/became New Brunswick
 Cape Breton Island and PEI
 Eastern Townships of Quebec
 Western Quebec/Ontario
 Iroquois
 Black Loyalists
Sherman, George. The Canada Connection in American History:
A Guide for Teachers. Plattsburgh: Center for the Study of Canada,
SUNY Plattsburgh, 1992.

6. Preparation for Loyalists BUT…
 Land grants
 Confusion
 Dilemmas with francophone population
 British governor sympathetic with USA
 Still hardships
 Suspicious

7. Constitutional Act of 1791
a.k.a. Canada Act
 Direct result of American Revolution
 BNA divided into 2 colonies @ Ottawa R.
 Lower Canada—Francophone
 Upper Canada—Anglophone
 British and French centers separated
 French Catholics given voting rights, civil law
 Government outline
 No democracy
 Some self government

8. New Map of Canada 1791
https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/confederation/023001-5003-e.html

9. Canada at turn of century--1800
 Maritimes—Newfoundland, NS, NB, PEI [St. John]
 Lower Canada [Quebec]
 Upper Canada [Ontario]
 Rupert’s Land—Hudson Bay Company
 Jay’s Treaty 1794—Ohio Valley & Great Lakes
 Metis population growing due to movement
west by fur traders

10. War of 1812
Second War of Independence
 USA = 8,000,000
 BNA = 500,000
 Impressment of sailors—no brainer
 Tecumseh—Battle of Tippecanoe 1811
 June 1, 1812, Declaration of War
 Could not attack Britain but BNA close enough
 Not all in USA agreed—i.e. New England

11. Classic Routes of Invasion
 St. Lawrence
 Lake Champlain
 Detroit
 BTW--US record was 3-19-1 according to
Canada
 Won Lake Erie, Lake Champlain, New Orleans

12. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Anglo_American_War_1812_Locations_map-en.svg

13. http://www.eighteentwelve.ca

14. Major Battles
 Queenston Heights [Niagara region] Oct. 1812
 Detroit—surrendered without shot Aug. 1812
 Lake Erie—Oliver H. Perry in October 1813
 York [Toronto]—took Royal Standard--1813
 Washington—August 1814
 Baltimore and Fort McHenry—Sept. 1814
 New Orleans 1/8/15—Oops

15. Laura Secord
 Loyalist family from Massachusetts
 1795 to Upper Canada
 Married UEL member
 Walked 19 miles—June 1813
 Warned British of attack
 Heroine of Canada
http://laurasecordhistory.blogspot.com/
http://www.eighteentwelve.ca/?q=eng/Topic/43

16. Treaties
 Treaty of Ghent—December 24, 1814
 At the end of War of 1812—a draw
 Battle of NOLA followed
 U.S. and Canada never at war again
 Disputes resolved peacefully
 Rush Bagot Agreement—1817
 Limited development of navy on Great Lakes
 Disarmament agreement
 Future differences resolved with negotiation

17. Rebellions of 1837
 War of 1812 developed BNA national spirit
 Disagreed with lack of democracy
 Loyalists who fled north--hope of new society
 Lower Canada—Louis Joseph Papineau
 Upper Canada—Wm. Lyon Mackenzie

18. Upper Canada
 Family Compact controlled wealth
 Control politically
 Welland Canal built with favoritism in play
 Church of England got privileges
 Rejected reform
 William Lyon Mackenzie—leader of rebels
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca

19. Lower Canada
 Chateau Clique ruled Lower Canada
 Anglophone elite
 Influence over governor
 Poverty among habitants
 Govenment called for end of francophone rights
 Call for union of Upper and Lower Canada
 Louis Joseph Papineau and Habitants
http://www.librairiemonet.com/blogue/tag/rebellion-des-patriotes/
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/qc/manoirpapineau/natcul/natcul2.aspx

20. Rebellions
 Both rebellions were armed
 Both groups of rebels too weak
 Meeting of leaders in brewery in 1837—WAIT
 Papineau defeated in Lower Canada
 Mackenzie defeated at Yonge St. Rebellion
 Both fled to USA and became heroes to north
 Trials with some hanged others exiled
 LOST BATTLES BUT WON WAR

21. Durham Report
 Fact finding team sent 1838
 Lord Durham—aristocrat, short visit, parties
 Friend of reform
 Three recommendations
1. End conflict between Anglo/Franco
2. Step toward blending cultures yet bilingual
3. Democratic responsible government
 Rebels failed but did influence history

22. Preview of BNA in 1850s
 Population
 Natives
 Religion
 Education
 Economy
 Transportation
 Boundary Issues

23. Population at 2,500,000
 Natural increase
 Revenge of the cradle
 Immigrants
 Loyalists
 Scots to Cape Breton
 Irish—potato famine in 1840s
 Blacks—loyalists and fugitives later
 Germans—Lunenburg, NS
 Other Europeans

24. Underground Railroad
 [separate presentation]

25. Natives
 Disease—smallpox, measles, consumption
 Diet and alcohol
 Disruption of life--War
 Distribution of land—taken by whites
 Depression—emotional toll
 From 4-5 million in 1492 to ½ million by 1700

26. Religion
 Vital to every day life
 Christians in vast majority
 Catholics—Francophones, Acadian, Irish
 Separate parishes across street—French and Irish
 Protestant
 Anglican in Upper Canada
 Presbyterians [Scots] in Cape Breton
 Baptists

27. Education
 Churches shaped education in Catholic areas
 Formal education only for rich at first
 Ryerson—reformed education
 Methodist minister
 Schools open to all regardless of wealth
 Higher education religious based
 No separation of church and state in Canada
 Tax supported church schools

28. Economy
 Primary activities—worked with hands
 Fishing—Grand Banks
 Fur trade—western reaches, exploration
 Forests—New Brunswick, Ottawa River
 Farming—subsistence also wheat, tobacco
 Trade and banking
 Business in large urban areas
 Factories—ships, mills, textiles, beer, glass,
paper, potash, leather

29. Fishing and Sealing near the
Grand Banks
http://www.waughfamily.ca/Russell/sealfishery.htm
http://www.frenchshore.com/en/discoverconche.htm

30. Fur Trade
 Continued into western regions
 Manitoba and prairies plus HBC
 Metis population growth

31. Clearing the land
 One acre per year the norm
Jefferies, C.W. The Picture Gallery of Canada—Volume 2. Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1942.

32. Threshing and Winnowing
 Subsistence first
 Wheat sold eventually
 Hard work—entire family
 Few horses or oxen
Jefferies, C.W. The Picture Gallery of Canada—Volume 2.
Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1942

33. Lumbering
 New Brunswick
 Ottawa River
 On to Michigan

34. Transporation
 Water—still best
 Steam, sail, canoes
 Canals built
 Lachine—1825 at same time as Erie
 Welland—1829 around Niagara Falls
 Rideau—1832—south of Ottawa for protection
 Roads—poor, dirt, logs, gravel
 Rail—1836 near Montreal
 Winter best travel on land—sleds, sleighs

36. Boundary Issues
 New Brunswick/Maine
 Maine a state in 1820 no worry re: boundary
 Aroostook War—1839
 Loggers wanted trees
 Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842
 Western boundary
 54-40 or fight
 49th parallel except Vancouver Island in 1846

39. Trade with US
 1848 suggestion of union with USA
 No favored trade status with Britain
 No real support for union with USA
 Still fear
 1859—dropped tariffs
 Farm
 Fish—rights to both in coastal waters
 Forest
 Minerals

40. Resources
 http://www.eighteentwelve.ca/?q=eng/Topic/43