Upper and lower canada
Upper and lower canadaDifferences between Upper Canada and Lower Canada
There are many differences and similarities between Upper and Lower Canada. It is important to note from the beginning that the two have a different history.
Upper Canada was founded from people primarily from Britain. It was a nation of merchants. Commerce was the number one concern of the leaders of Upper Canada. Lower Canada in contrast was made up of mainly French people, they were farmers and lived a life very different of people of Upper Canada. The Catholic Church was very important in their lives . The religion in Upper Canada was mostly Protestant, it did not have the power the Roman Catholic Church had on its people. In Lower Canada the Catholic Church worried about violence and also worried about losing large gifts of lands tried to stop the rebellion ( some claim that this involvement led to the failure of the rebellion). In churches people would be reminded that blue was for heaven and red for hell in reference to blue the colors of the conservative Tories
The rebellion in Upper Canada was fueled by a desire to gain independence from Britain. The assemblies had very little powers comparing to the Colonial Office and governors. The rebels felt they should follow the example of the American to the South. In Lower Canada some of the same reasons may be true but here there is more conflict, the French feel there leaders are spending their money on roads and canals for the English merchants. They feel dominated by English leaders and are afraid to lose their culture. The similarities are found in the unhappiness of the people of both Canadas with the political structure, but the differences are much bigger. In Lower Canada, it is a conflict of people wanting to keep their way of life, their religion, their language and wanting to make their own decisions. This is shown by the force of the French rebellion. A professor in the province of Quebec shows us the force of the rebellion in Lower Canada:
99 condamn�s � mort ; 8 exil�s aux Bermudes ; 58 en
Australie ; 7000 combattants en 1837 ; 7750 en 38 ; 325
personnes mortes sur le champs de bataille ; 3 villages
ras�s ; 1700 prisonniers ; environ 3000 r�fugiers aux
�tats-Unis, 12 pendus et suspension de la constitution et
des libert�s d�mocratiques pour quatre ans. 1700
prisonniers dans un Bas-Canada de 630 000 habitants
c'est, en proportion de la population, comme si on avait
incarc�r� 17 000 personnes lors des �v�nements d'octobre
1970, soit 30 fois plus. Voil� qui donne la juste mesure �
ces �v�nements. La plus vaste op�ration polici�re de
l'histoire du Qu�bec.
Les Patriotes : � quoi �a sert. C'est en tout cas un v�ritable
mod�le de mobilisation populaire, sans �gal dans notre
histoire, qui a conduit ce peuple, vaincu par la Conqu�te, 70
ans plus t�t, � se soulever d'un bloc, au p�ril de son
existence, pour r�clamer certains droits ma foi tr�s �lev�s.
Bien que confin� au district de Montr�al, cette mobilisation
fut massive et intense, en particulier au sud de la province
o�, dans des villages comme L'Acadie ou Napierville, la
majorit� des hommes adultes auraient particip� � des
affrontements arm�s. Si on oublie la p�titions sign�e par 87
000 personnes en 1834 en faveur des 92 R�solutions, les
milliers de personnes qui participent aux grandes
assembl�es populaires, on a le nom de plus de 6400
individu participant � des activit�s partisanes comme telles :
comit�, associations, d�l�gu�s � des conventions et pas
moins de 10 000 hommes participant de fait aux actions
arm�es.
The uprising in Upper Canada was a short lived wish to gain independence from Britain, in Lower Canada it was a revolution of a people beaten seventy years before. We see some of the same problems today in Canada, people in English Canada wonder why we have a Queen and maybe we should not , but in Quebec what the patriots were fighting for, the need to keep culture and language, people are still fighting for. In French Canada, there are patriots in the last century and today. This is a very big difference.