Lower Canada

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Bas-Canada
Province of Lower Canada
British colony

1791 – 1841

Flag of Lower Canada

Flag

Location of Lower Canada
Map of Lower Canada (green)
Capital Quebec
Language(s) English, French
Religion Protestantism, Roman Catholicism
Government Constitutional monarchy
Sovereign
 - 1791-1820 George III
 - 1837-1841 Victoria
Lieutenant-Governor See list of Lieutenant-Governors
Legislature Parliament of Lower Canada
 - Upper house Legislative Council
 - Lower house Legislative Assembly
Historical era British Era
 - Constitutional Act of 1791 December 26, 1791
 - Act of Union 1840 Feb 10, 1841
Currency Canadian pound

The Province of Lower Canada (French: Province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791-1841). It covered the southern portion of the modern-day Province of Quebec, Canada, and the Labrador region of the modern-day Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Contents

[edit] History

The Province of Lower Canada was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791 from the partition of the British colony of the Province of Quebec (1763-1791) into the Province of Lower Canada and the Province of Upper Canada.

Lower Canada consisted of part of former French colony of New France, populated mainly by French Canadians, which was ceded to Great Britain after that empire's victory in the Seven Years' War, also called the French and Indian Wars in the United States. Other parts of New France ceded to Britain became the Colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

[edit] Rebellion

Like Upper Canada, there was political unrest and a rebellion challenged the British rule of the predominantly French population. After the Patriote Rebellion was crushed by the British army and Loyal volunteers, the 1791 Constitution was suspended on March 27, 1838 and a special council was appointed to administer the colony.

The provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada were combined as the United Province of Canada in 1841, when the The Union Act came into force. Their separate legislatures were combined into a single parliament with equal representation for both constituent parts.[1]

[edit] Constitution

Constitution of Lower Canada in 1791
Constitution of Lower Canada in 1791

The Province of Lower Canada inherited the mixed set of French and English institutions that existed in the Province of Quebec during the 1763-1791 period and which continued to exist later in Canada-East (1841-1867) and ultimately in the current Province of Quebec (1867-).


[edit] Population

Population of Lower Canada, 1806 to 1841
Year Census estimate [2]
1806 250,000
1814 335,000
1822 427,465
1825 479,288
1827 473,475
1831 553,134
1841 650,000

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Catholic Encyclopedia: Act of Union".
  2. ^ Censuses of Canada. 1665 to 1871, Statistics of Canada, Volume IV, Ottawa, 1876

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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