What was the Durham Report

1
What was the Durham Report?

• Lord Durham was sent to the Canadas in 1838 to
  investigate the causes of the rebellions and to
  find solutions to the political problems plaguing
  Upper and Lower Canada.
• In February 1839, in a report made to the British
  parliament, Lord Durham infuriated the French
  when he referred to them as inferior to the
  English and "as a people with no history and no
  literature".
• In the report he explained that he expected to
  find a conflict between a government and a
  people, but instead found two nations at war
  within the same state.
• It was a war based on race, not on principles. In
  his opinion, Canada was a land of two hostile
  groups the French and the English.

2
Durham's Recommendations

• to unite Upper and Lower Canada to make the
  French a minority
• to assimilate or anglicize the French majority in
  Lower Canada
• to grant responsible government

Remember these key recommendations To
assimilate the to the same Anglicize to make
English
3
Consequences of Durham's Recommendations

• Upper and Lower Canada were united in 1840
• Responsible government was granted in 1848

I came, I saw, I fixed, I left. French are nasty
people!
Lord Durham
4
Assignment 1Answer the following questions on
Lord Durham. All answers can be determined by
information in the 3 previous slides.

• 1. WHAT EVENT PROMPTED BRITAIN TO SEND DURHAM TO
  CANADA ?
• A)    The rebellions in Upper and Lower
  Canada               C)    The agricultural
  crisis
• B)    The abolition of the preferential
  tariff                         D)    The cholera
  epidemic 
• 2. In the decade between 1830 and 1840, Lower
  Canada experienced a period of political unrest.
• WHAT SOLUTION DID ENGLAND PROPOSE TO RESOLVE THE
  SITUATION?
• A) "It is by military force we are to govern the
  province. It will be too hard a task for me to
  govern in the civil way a great populated
  country, of a different religion, different
  language different manners and customs."
• B) "In our confederation there will be Catholics
  and Protestants, English, French, Irish and
  Scotch and each by its efforts and success will
  add to the prosperity, the might, and to the
  glory of the new federation."
• C) "Such a union would at once decisively settle
  the question of races it must henceforth be to
  first and steady purpose of the British
  government to establish an English population,
  with English laws and language, in this province,
  and to trust its government to none but a
  decidedly English legislature."
• D) "The first and most obvious remedy that
  presents itself, is to deprive them of the
  constitution that is of that representative part
  of the government which was unquestionably
  prematurely given them." 
• 3. WHICH TWO OF THE FOLLOWING WERE
  RECOMMENDATIONS CONTAINED LORD DURHAM'S REPORT TO
  THE BRITISH AUTHORITIES ?
• 1. Legislative union of Upper and Lower
  Canada                    4. Recognition of
  French civil laws2. Free trade with
  Britain                                           
                  5. Economic union with the
  United States3. Assimilation of French Canadians
•   A) 1 and 3                 B) 1 and
  4                 C) 3 and 5                    
  D) 4 and 5 
• 4. After the Rebellions of 1837-1838 in the
  Canadas, the British government sent Lord Durham
  to investigate the problems. In the report Durham
  recommended that Britain follow a policy of
  assimilation towards the" Canadiens."
• WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING REFLECTS THE AIM OF THE
  BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO ANGLICIZE THE FRENCH?

5
What political changes took place in the 1840's?

• Following Lord Durham's report Great Britain
  issued the Act of Union in 1840.
• The act United Upper Canada and Lower Canada into
  the Province of Canada.
• It gave the united colony one legislative
  assembly with 42 elected members from Canada
  West, formerly Upper Canada, (population 400,000)
  and 42 elected members from Canada East, formerly
  Lower Canada, (population 600,000).

6
What political changes took place in the 1840's?
continued

• combined the debts of the two colonies despite
  the fact that Lower Canada's debts were less.
• made English the only official language in the
  assembly.
• rejected Lord Durham's proposal for responsible
  government however, an alliance between Robert
  Baldwin, leader of the reformers in Canada West 
  and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, leader of the
  moderate reformers in Canada East, brought in
  responsible government by 1848.

Lafontaine
Baldwin
7
What is Responsible Government?

• Responsible government requires that government
  ministers should be elected members of the
  legislative assembly, not appointed by the
  governor
• If the government cannot keep a majority it must
  resign. It is the basic principle upon which
  Canada's parliament and provincial governments is
  based.
• The government is directly responsible to the
  elected members of parliament or the legislature.
  

8
How was Responsible Government achieved?

• In the 1848 election, the Reformers led by
  Baldwin and Lafontaine won a large majority of
  the seats in the legislative assembly. 
• Lord Elgin, the new Governor of Canada, asked
  them to form the government. 
• Baldwin and Lafontaine appoint an executive
  council or cabinet from members of their own
  party and this council, with the approval of the
  assembly, was to make government policy.

9
Test for Responsible Government

• In 1849, the Rebellion Losses Bill, which would
  compensate persons who had suffered property
  damage in Lower Canada during the rebellion, was
  approved by the executive council (cabinet) and
  passed by the legislative assembly.
• Lord Elgin, although personally against the bill,
  signed it on the grounds that under responsible
  government he was bound to follow the advice of
  the executive council.

10
Reactions

• To show their displeasure English Tories (Chateau
  Clique), who were against the principles of
  responsible government and against the Rebellion
  Losses Bill, burned down the Parliament buildings
  in Montreal.
• In the same year the Tories and English
  commercial interests issued the Annexation
  Manifesto advocating the annexation of Canada by
  the United States.

Burning Parliament
11
Assignment 2Answer the following questions on
Act of Union. All answers can be determined by
information in the 3 previous slides.

• 1. WHICH TWO OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS APPLY TO
  THE ACT OF UNION?
• 1.    The Act granted responsible
  government.2.    The Act allowed for
  representation in the united assembly based on
  population.3.    The Act united Upper and Lower
  Canada.4.    The Act united all of the British
  North American colonies.5.    The Act combined
  the debts of the two Canadas.
• A)    1    and    3                B)    1   
  and     5                C)    2    and   
  4                D)    3    and    5
• 2. In his report, Lord Durham proposed several
  solutions to the problems of Upper and Lower
  Canada. One of them, the union of the two
  Canadas, was applied in 1840.
•  
• WHICH OTHER SOLUTION WAS APPLIED ALMOST TEN
  YEARS AFTER THE UNION  ACT?
• A)    The federal union of all the British North
  American coloniesB)    The assimilation of
  French Canadians through English
  immigrationC)    The establishment of
  responsible governmentD)    The use of English
  as the official language in the assembly of the
  United Province of Canada
• 3. UNDER RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT WHO IS
  RESPONSIBLE TO WHOM ?
• A)     The executive council to the legislative
  councilB)     The executive council to the
  legislative assemblyC)     The legislative
  council to the governorD)     The legislative
  assembly to the legislative council
• Go to the next slide to complete this assignment

12
Assignment 2Answer the following questions on
Act of Union. All answers can be determined by
information in the 3 previous slides.

• 4. DURING WHICH CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD WAS
  PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN CANADA CHARACTERIZED BY THE
  FOLLOWING STATEMENTS?
• The majority of the representatives in the
  Legislative Assembly were of British origin
• The Clear Grits demanded that the number of
  representatives in the Legislative Assembly be
  proportional to the population represented (Rep
  by Pop)
• The Legislative Assembly obtained responsible
  government from Britain
• A)    Royal Proclamation (1763-1774)             
          C)   Constitutional Act (1791-1840)B)   
  Quebec Act (1774-1791)                            
        D)   Union Act (1840-1867
• 5. Through the Act of Union, Britain united Upper
  and Lower Canada in a single province,     the
  Province of Canada.
• WHAT WAS BRITAIN'S OBJECTIVE IN UNITING UPPER AND
  LOWER CANADA ?
• A)    To ensure that the majority of
  representatives in the Legislative Assembly of
  the Province of Canada were Canadiens
• B)    To ensure that the majority of
  representatives in the Legislative Assembly of
  the Province of Canada were English speaking
• C)    To save on the cost of administering the
  colony
• D)    To give the Legislative Assembly of the
  Province of Canada responsible government