Province of Canada

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United Province of Canada British colony ←

←
1841 – 1867 →

Flag

Map of the United Canada showing the two constituent parts. Canada West in orange and Canada East in green Capital Kingston 1841 - 1843
Montreal 1843 - 1849
Toronto 1849 - 1852
Quebec 1852 - 1856
Toronto 1856 - 1858
Quebec 1859 - 1866
Ottawa 1866 - 1867 Language(s) English, French Government Constitutional monarchy Queen Victoria Governor General See list of Governors General Premier See list of Premiers Legislature Parliament of Canada - Upper house Legislative Council - Lower house Legislative Assembly Historical era British Era - Act of Union February 10, 1841 - Democratization 11 March 1848 - BNA Act July 1, 1867 Population - 1860-61 est. 2,507,657 Currency Canadian dollar (fixed to US dollar)

The Province of Canada or the United Province of Canada was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of 1837.

The Province of Canada ceased to exist at Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, when it was redivided into the modern Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

1 History
2 Capitals
3 Responsible Government
4 Legislative deadlock
5 Accomplishments
6 Population
7 See also

History

Before 1841, the territory roughly corresponding to Southern Ontario in Canada belonged to the British colony of the Province of Upper Canada, while the southern portion of Quebec and the Labrador region of Newfoundland and Labrador belonged to the colony of the Province of Lower Canada. One of the cultural differences between Upper and Lower Canada was that the first was primarily anglophone, whereas the latter was francophone. The Act of Union (1840), passed July 23, 1840 by the British parliament and proclaimed by the Crown on February 10, 1841, merged the two colonies by abolishing the legislatures of Upper and Lower Canada and replacing them with a single legislative assembly.

While this new legislature maintained equal representation for both of the former colonies, the democratic nature of Lower Canada's elections were fundamentally flawed. Despite the francophone majority in Lower Canada, most of the power was concentrated on the anglophone minority, who exploited the lack of a secret ballot to intimidate the electorate.

The area that had previously comprised Upper Canada was designated "Canada West", while the area that had comprised Lower Canada was designated "Canada East". After the British North America Act was passed by British Parliament, the Province of Canada ceased to exist. Subsequently, Canada West and Canada East were renamed the Province of Ontario and the Province of Quebec, respectively.

Capitals

The location of the capital city of the Province of Canada changed six times in its 26-year history. The first capital was in Kingston. Notably, the capital moved from Montreal to Toronto in 1849 when rioters protesting the Rebellion Losses Bill burned down Montreal's parliament buildings. In 1857, Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the permanent capital of the Province of Canada, initiating construction of Canada's current parliament buildings. The first stage of this construction was completed in 1865, just in time to host the final session of the last parliament of the Province of Canada before Confederation.

Chronology

Kingston 1841 - 1843
Montreal 1843 - 1849
Toronto 1849 - 1852
Quebec 1852 - 1856
Toronto 1856 - 1858
Quebec 1859 - 1866
Ottawa 1866 - 1867

Responsible Government

The Act of Union (1840) made no provision for responsible government (i.e., government responsible to the elected legislature instead of the colonial office); in fact, it explicitly gave the governor general of the province the authority to reject any bill passed by the elected assembly. Early governors general of the province were closely involved in political affairs, maintaining a right to make Executive Council and other appointments without the input of the legislative assembly, and even manipulating election results using intimidating mobs at polling stations. At this time, secret ballot had not been introduced, so the democratic nature of this colony was fundamentally flawed.

However, in 1848 Governor General James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, appointed a cabinet nominated by the majority party of the Legislative Assembly, the Baldwin-Lafontaine coalition that had won elections in January. Lord Elgin upheld the principles of responsible government by not repealing the Rebellion Losses Bill, which was highly unpopular with some English-speaking Tories who favoured imperial over majority rule.

Legislative deadlock

As Canada East and Canada West each held 42 seats in the Legislative Assembly, there was legislative deadlock between English, mainly from Canada West, and French, mainly from Canada East. Initially, the majority of the province was French, and demanded "rep-by-pop" (representation by population), which the anglophones opposed.

Once the English population, rapidly growing due to immigration, exceeded the French, the English demanded rep-by-pop. In the end, the legislative deadlock between English and French led to a movement for a federal union which resulted in the broader Canadian Confederation in 1867.

Accomplishments

Amongst its accomplishments, the United Province of Canada negotiated the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 with the United States, built the Grand Trunk Railway, improved the educational system in Canada West under Egerton Ryerson, reinstated French as an official language of the legislature and the courts, codified the Civil Code of Lower Canada in 1866, and abolished the seigneurial system in Canada East.

Longstanding municipal reform was another important achievement. Originally, local government in Canada West operated mainly at the district level, until 1849, when a system based on counties was introduced. In 1841, elected district councils were introduced; prior to that time, officials were appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor.

Population

Year Population (Lower) Canada East Population (Upper) Canada West 1841 n/a 455,688 1844 697,084 n/a 1848 765,797-786,693 estimates 725,879 1851-52 890,261 952,004 1860-61 1,111,566 1,396,091

Source: Statistics Canada website Censuses of Canada 1665 to 1871.[1]

v • d • eFormer Coloniesand Territories in Canada Norse: Helluland• Markland• Vinland Portuguese: Labrador• Newfoundland• Nova Scotia French: New France (Acadia • Canada • Terre Neuve) Scottish: Nova Scotia• Cape Breton• Red River Colony Spanish: Nootka Sound (Fort San Miguel) English and British: Newfoundland• Rupert's Land• Nova Scotia• Quebec• Lowerand Upper Canada• New Brunswick• Prince Edward Island• Cape Breton• United Canada • New Caledonia• Columbia District• Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands• Colony of Vancouver Island• Colony of British Columbia• Stikine Territory• United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia• North-Western Territory

v • d • e British Empireand Commonwealth of Nations

Legend
Current territory · Former territory
* now a Commonwealth Realm · now a member of the Commonwealth of Nations

Europe

18th century
1708-1757 Minorca
since 1713 Gibraltar
1782-1802 Minorca

19th century
1800-1964 Malta
1807-1890 Heligoland
1809-1864 Ionian Islands
1878-1960 Cyprus

20th century
since 1960 Akrotiri and Dhekelia

North America

16th century
1583-1907 Newfoundland

17th century
1607-1776 Thirteen Colonies
since 1619 Bermuda
1670-1870 Rupert's Land

18th century
Canada (British Imperial)
   1763-1791 Quebec
   1791-1841 Lower Canada
   1791-1841 Upper Canada

19th century
Canada (British Imperial)
   1841-1867 Province of Canada
   1849-1866 Vancouver Island
   1858-1871 British Columbia
   1859-1870 North-Western Territory
   1862-1863 Stikine Territory
*Canada (post-Confederation)
   1867-1931 Dominion of Canada1

20th century
*Canada (post-Confederation)
1907-1934 Dominion of Newfoundland2

1 In 1931, Canada and other British dominions obtained self-government through the Statute of Westminster. 'Dominion' remains Canada's legal title; see Canada's name.
2 Remained a de jure dominion until 1949 (when it became a Canadian province); from 1934 to 1949, Newfoundland was governed by the Commission of Government.

Latin America and the Caribbean

17th century
1605-1979 *Saint Lucia
1623-1883 Saint Kitts (*Saint Kitts & Nevis)
1624-1966 *Barbados
1625-1650 Saint Croix
1627-1979 *St. Vincent and the Grenadines
1628-1883 Nevis (*Saint Kitts & Nevis)
1629-1641 St. Andrew and Providence Islands3
since 1632 Montserrat
1632-1860 Antigua(*Antigua & Barbuda)
1643-1860 Bay Islands
since 1650 Anguilla
1651-1667 Willoughbyland (Suriname)
1655-1850 Mosquito Coast (protectorate)
1655-1962 *Jamaica
since 1666 British Virgin Islands
since 1670 Cayman Islands
1670-1973 *Bahamas
1670-1688 St. Andrew and Providence Islands3
1671-1816 Leeward Islands

18th century
1762-1974 *Grenada
1763-1978 Dominica
since 1799 Turks and Caicos Islands

19th century
1831-1966 British Guiana (Guyana)
1833-1960 Windward Islands
1833-1960 Leeward Islands
1860-1981 *Antigua and Barbuda
1871-1964 British Honduras (*Belize)
1882-1983 *St. Kitts and Nevis
1889-1962 Trinidad and Tobago

20th century
1958-1962 West Indies Federation

3 Now the San Andrés y Providencia Department of Colombia.

Africa

18th century
1792-1961 Sierra Leone
1795-1803 Cape Colony

19th century
1806-1910 Cape Colony
1816-1965 Gambia
1856-1910 Natal
1868-1966 Basutoland (Lesotho)
1874-1957 Gold Coast (Ghana)
1882-1922 Egypt
1884-1966 Bechuanaland (Botswana)
1884-1960 British Somaliland
1887-1897 Zululand
1888-1894 Matabeleland
1890-1980 Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
1890-1962 Uganda
1890-1963 Zanzibar (Tanzania)
1891-1964 Nyasaland (Malawi)
1891-1907 British Central Africa
1893-1968 Swaziland
1895-1920 British East Africa
1899-1956 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

20th century
1900-1914 Northern Nigeria
1900-1914 Southern Nigeria
1900-1910 Orange River Colony
1900-1910 Transvaal Colony
1906-1954 Nigeria Colony
1910-1931 South Africa
1911-1964 Northern Rhodesia (Zambia)
1914-1954 Nigeria Protectorate
1915-1931 South West Africa (Namibia)
1919-1960 Cameroons (Cameroon) 4
1920-1963 Kenya
1922-1961 Tanganyika (Tanzania) 4
1954-1960 Nigeria
since 1965 British Indian Ocean Territory

4 League of Nations mandate.

Asia

18th century
1757-1947 Bengal (West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh)
1762-1764 Philippines
1795-1948 Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
1796-1965 Maldives

19th century
1819-1826 British Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore)
1826-1946 Straits Settlements
1839-1967 Colony of Aden
1841-1997 Hong Kong
1841-1941 Kingdom of Sarawak (Malaysia)
1858-1947 British India (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Burma)
1882-1963 British North Borneo (Malaysia)
1885-1946 Unfederated Malay States
1891-1971 Muscat and Oman protectorate
1892-1971 Trucial States protectorate
1895-1946 Federated Malay States
1898-1930 Weihai Garrison

20th century
1918-1961 Kuwait protectorate
1920-1932 Iraq4
1921-1946 Transjordan4
1923-1948 Palestine4
1946-1948 Malayan Union
1946-1963 Sarawak (Malaysia)
1948-1957 Federation of Malaya (Malaysia)

4 League of Nations mandate.

Oceania

18th century
1788-1901 New South Wales

19th century
1803-1901 Van Diemen's Land/Tasmania
1807-1863 Auckland Islands6
1824-1980 New Hebrides (Vanuatu)
1824-1901 Queensland
1829-1901 Swan River Colony/Western Australia
1836-1901 South Australia
since 1838 Pitcairn Islands
1840-1907 *Colony of New Zealand
1850-1901 Victoria (Australia)
1874-1970 Fiji5
1877-1976 British Western Pacific Territories
1884-1949 Territory of Papua
1888-1965 Cook Islands6
1888-1984 Sultanate of Brunei
1889-1948 Union Islands (Tokelau)6
1892-1979 Gilbert and Ellice Islands7
1893-1978 British Solomon Islands8

20th century
1900-1970 Tonga (protected state)
1900-1974 Niue6
1901-1942 *Commonwealth of Australia
1907-1953 *Dominion of New Zealand
1919-1949 Territory of New Guinea
1949-1975 Territory of Papua and New Guinea9

5 Suspended member.
6 Now part of the *Realm of New Zealand.
7 Now Kiribati and *Tuvalu.
8 Now the *Solomon Islands.
9 Now *Papua New Guinea.

Antarctica and South Atlantic

17th century
since 1659 St. Helena

19th century
since 1815 Ascension Island9
since 1816 Tristan da Cunha9
since 1833 Falkland Islands11

20th century
since 1908 British Antarctic Territory10
since 1908 South Georgia and
the South Sandwich Islands10, 11

9 Dependencies of St. Helena since 1922 (Ascension Island) and 1938 (Tristan da Cunha).
10 Both claimed in 1908; territories formed in 1962 (British Antarctic Territory) and 1985 (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands).
11 Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April-June 1982.