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Chapter 7: The Great Migration and the Push for DemocracyWords to know! immigrationemigrationdemographic changeunemploymentfaminereformercolonial governmentadvisedemocracyrepublictyranny of the majoritycholeraepidemiccrop failureamnestyoutspokenrebellionroyal commissionassimilatecoalitionamnestyself-governmentdemographicanglophonefrancophoneoppressionconquestALWAYS!!!! Read and try the Read and Respond questions, as well as the History Happens sections!Remember*** BNA before 1840 was mainly Canadiens (Francophone), but waves of immigrants from Britain arrived by 1850.What Triggered the Great Migration?1) Poverty in Britain-life was not good for those in Britain at the time. Many lost their jobs due to the industrial revolution (machines replaced men), and therefore lost their homes and farms. Many jobs were also lost when the Napoleonic wars ended and there was no need for the materials these jobs were providing for the war. -famine in Ireland also forced many people to look for opportunities elsewhere.2) Opportunities in the colonies-Britain encouraged emigration. a) It was easier on the country to have people leave, than to deal with citizens who were homeless, jobless, starving, and dying. b) Britain also saw it as an opportunity to increase the number of British people living in BNA, therefore making the loyalty of the colonies favour the British. What Impacts did the Great Migration Have?1) More farms2) More British People-during the 1820s-30s, colonists wanted change to the government of BNA (REFORM)What did the reformers want?-change!-they wanted Britain to give them the authority to make decisions in their own lives, separate from the British government (remember, they are no longer living in Britain, they are in BNA, the colonies in North America).So, who had the power in BNA then?-Britain still did. They appointed people to make decisions in BNA (colonial government)-the appointed people included:-governor-members of the colony’s council-each colony also had an assembly. They were different because the colonists voted for these people, they weren't appointed by Britain.-they had less power, and could not make decisions. They could only really advise the governor and council about issues. The final say always was in the hands of the governor and council. So what is the difference between a Colonial Government and a Democracy?-in a democracy, the voters choose who will make decisions for them, they are not told who will run their government, as in a Colonial Government. -in a Democracy, voters have a lot of power.Back to what Reformers wanted….-reformers wanted to vote, and to choose who would be in charge of the colonies. -some reformers wanted to remain loyal to Britain, while others wanted to break free of them completely and become their own republic like the U.S. (republics are not ruled by a monarch-king or queen)So, this push for change to government, along with the issue of remaining loyal to Britain or not, created a lot of challenges. How did people live together (coexist) in a situation like this? To answer this, we have to understand a few things first…What was the “situation’ in Lower Canada?*** remember, Lower Canada is primarily French-speaking Canadiens***-Governor appointed council (english) vs. colonist elected assembly (francophone)-as you can see above, the government system in Lower Canada was mixed. The British appointed a wealthy English Governor and council, and the colonists voted for Francophone citizens to make up the assembly. (think about the relationship between the British and the French here, and why this may be tough).-fights sometimes broke out between the French and English voters. Sometimes the fighting became so bad, British soldiers would be called in to break up the fighting, and people were shot. -a cholera epidemic killed nearly five thousand people. This angered colonists. The cholera virus was brought over from Britain and the colonists believed Britain should have stopped emigration until the epidemic was over. -many farmers (mainly french) suffered crop failures four years in a row. This led to starvation.Ok, so now you have an idea of coexistence in Lower Canada. What about Upper Canada?-the “coexistence” of different groups included: wealthy English families that made up the council and governor, a group called the Reform Party, and people from the U.S. who had moved to Upper Canada.-just like in Lower Canada, Britain appointed wealthy English people to form the Council and Governor. -The government system is still the same, with the Governor, council, and assembly. -a party (political group) called the “Reform Party” won a majority of the seats in the assembly in 1834. Much of this group was made up of Americans who moved north for the good land.-Britain was worried that this Reform Party would seek independence from Britain and perhaps join the U.S.-by 1836 (two years later), the Governor “rigged” the votes to ensure the voters chose a party he favoured, not the Reform Party.-Upper Canada also suffered from crop failures.Three Important Reformers!1) Louis-Joseph Papineau (Lower Canada)2) William Lyon Mackenzie (Upper Canada)3) Joseph Howe (Nova Scotia)Why are they important? Papineau-Britain rejected a petition (written by the Parti patriote) to reform government, Papineau organizes rallies -Britain moved troops to Lower Canada, leaving Upper Canada without troops-troops/government tries to arrest the leaders of the Parti patriote and Papineau, who escaped to the countryside but prepare to fight.-Parti patriote win the battle against the British troops at Saint-Denis, but lose at Saint-Charles. These troops return to Saint-Denis and burn it.-British troops capture Saint-Eustache while Papineau and Patriote leaders flee to the U.S. British troops burn many Canadien settlements-Patriotes in the U.S. organize a second rebellion, the British defeat them and attack many more Canadien settlements. -THIS ALL HAPPENED IN LESS THAN A YEAR! March 1837-1838Mackenzie-after hearing about Saint-Charles (above), Mackenzie begins to organize a rebellion -Mackenzie leads a disorganized attack on York (Toronto). Ends in confusion-the government organizes volunteers in Upper Canaa to fight Mackenzie and his followers. Mackenzie flees to the U.S.-Mackenzie continues to organize rebellions on Upper Canada from the U.S.Howe-Nova Scotia was the first colony in BNA to move toward a more democratic government under Howe.So, it seems like a lot of BNA colonists want change, but the government of Britain is resisting this change. The colonists of BNA were fighting in order to affect change in their government. This is what the rebellions were. How did Britain respond to the rebellions?-Britain had already lost the thirteen colonies. They were worried that they would also lose Upper and Lower Canada also. They decided they needed to investigate why these rebellions were happening.-Britain set up a royal commission, lead by Lord Durham, governor of the Canadas. The royal commission was to investigate the issues in Upper and Lower Canada.-The result of their investigations led to some recommendations entitled, “The Durham Report”1) Recommendation 1- join Upper and Lower Canada together. The province of Lower Canada had to be ruled by a more vigorous English Majority2) Recommendation 2-Britain should have less of a role in the colonies, and the colonists should have more power to govern themselves3) Recommendation 3-assimilate (this means to make them change to fit British culture)the Canadiens because they are a people without history or literature, and no worthy culture to protect. Yikes! It seems like Lord Durham kind of understood what the BNA colonists wanted. How do you think the French felt? After Lord Durham made these recommendations, what happened? Did Britain listen to his words, or take a different approach?-yes, Britain did agree with Durham, and passed the Act of Union in 1841What was the Act of Union?-combined Upper and Lower Canada into one single province. The Province of Canada-created a council that the governor appointed (not different than before)-created an assembly with the same about of people from Canada East (Lower Canada) and Canada West (Upper Canada)…although Canada East had a bigger population -Made English the official language of government in the Province of CanadaWait a minute, what about the First Nations people? They were still living on these lands at the time. What about them? -Well, the British continued to treat the First Nations people as if they were lower class citizens. -The Mississauga Nation (Anishinabe) lived on the land where present day Toronto is located. Before the British came, the Mississauga moved around the area with the cycle of the seasons, to hunt, fish, farm, and survive. When the British settled, they took the land from the Mississauga. This forced the First Nation tribe to stop moving about the large area, and stay in one area. Eventually, their way of life (hunting, gathering, tracking, etc) and the skills they possessed for living on the land as nomads was lost. They became farmers and settled in one area. -The British, however, were growing in size with the emigration from Britain, which was forcing the Mississauga off the land.-The Mississauga petitioned the British for the right to own their own settlement under British Law. The British then offered them Manitoulin Island (a rocky island in Lake Huron that the British did not want). -The Mississauga knew they could not survive here. They only knew how to farm and there would be little hunting on a small island. Nothing would grow in the rocky soil, which would lead to their starvation and death.-Eventually, the Mississauga decided to move to land offered to them by another First Nation’s group, the Haudenosaunee people at Grand River.Back to the Act of Union. If the Act of Union still left Britain in charge of the Province of Canada, that means the British king and queen, as well as the British Prime Minister and Government were in charge of Britain and Canada. But, I know that today, we have a different Prime Minister than Britain. So what happened between then and now? How did things change, and how did we get our own Prime Minister or Government in Canada?-Introducing Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine!!!!-While many from Canada East (French) and Canada West (English) still remained divided in their views on British government, some people came together with similar ideals despite their cultural differences. -Baldwin was English, from Canada West, and Lafontaine was French, from Canada East-These were two men who wanted change. They were reformers who wanted the Province of Canada to have their own government, but not completely break away from Britain. They formed an alliance, along with their followers, to enact change in the Province of Canada.-They were very successful in their efforts:-they pressured the British to recognize French as an official language of the assembly-they established Université Laval in Québec City-they established the University of Toronto-they secured amnesty (a pardon) for the rebels (like Mackenzie, Papineau, and Howe)-Britain granted the Province of Canada self-government in 1848-The Rebellions Losses Bill in 1849What exactly was the Rebellions Losses Bill?-Well, if you recall, when Mackenzie, Papineau, and Howe were rebelling against the British, the British responded by setting fire to Saint-Denis and many other settlements (both French and English)-The English settlements had already received compensation (meaning the towns were rebuilt and restored), but the French settlements were not. Lafontaine and Baldwin wanted the new government of the Province of Canada to also help the French.-The government, if you also remember, was made up of representatives from both Canada East and Canada West. The English speaking conservatives of Canada West were not happy. They said helping the French would reward traitors. -As with all issues in the government, it was put to vote. The assembly voted on whether to help the French out or not. In the end, the assembly voted to help the French.-The English conservatives of the assembly were not happy, as you can imagine. They protested to Lord Elgin (British governor of the colony) to overthrow the decision.-Lord Elgin believed in democracy, and believed that in a vote majority ruled. Even though he, himself, did not want to help the French, he did not overthrow the decision and eventually the French settlements were restored. -As a result, Lord Elgin was attacked in the streets and fire was set to the Parliament buildings in Montreal. This did not change Lord Elgin’s mind at all.

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