The Structure of Lower
and Upper Canadian
government in the early
1800s & the rise to the
1837 Rebellions
The Population of Lower and
Upper Canada
 Population of Lower Canada (1814)
 335,000 people
 Population of Upper Canada (1814)
 95,000 people
*http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/98-187-x/4064809-eng.htm
Social Structure of Lower and
Upper Canada
Petty Nobility,
Seigneur, Clergy
(administrators)
Bourgeoisie
(merchants, lawyers,
doctors, notaries)
The People (artisans, colonists
and habitants)
Social Tensions within Lower and
Upper Canada
 Lower Canada
 The Château Clique
 Nationalism
Social Tensions within Lower and
Upper Canada (con’t)
 Upper Canada
 The Family Compact – A small groups of upperclass officials who made up the Executive Council
of U.C. after 1812.
 The Family Compact made no effort to free up
land
How government was structure in
Lower and Upper Canada
Governor
Executive
Council
Legislative
Council
Legislative Assembly
Tensions caused by the governmental
structure
 A disconnect between the Legislative Assembly and
the two councils (Executive and Legislative) and
the Governor.
 Demands made by the Assembly were often
ignored or vetoed by the councils.
Representative vs. Responsible
Government
Representative
Government
Responsible Government
Consists of people
who are elected by
voters to make laws
on their behalf
Can be voted out if
elected
representatives fail
to please a majority
of the people who
elected them
Louis-Joseph Papineau & William
Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie
Louis-Joseph Papineau
A background perspective of
William Lyon Mackenzie…
 Born March 15, 1795, in Scotland, William Lyon
Mackenzie came from a very religious household
and education.
 In 1824 he would begin his rise to prominence with
his own news paper, the Colonial Advocate.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lyon_Mackenzie
Mackenzie’s Colonial Advocate
 Mackenzie used the Colonial Advocate
to strongly criticize the gov’t and the
Family Compact.
 In 1826, the newspaper office was
ransacked.
 Mackenzie was elected to the
Legislative Assembly in 1828.
A background perspective of
Louis-Joseph Papineau…
 Born October 7, 1786, in Montréal, Louis-Joseph
Papineau came from a very political family and
well-cultured family.
 In 1815, he became Speaker for the Legislative
Assembly for Lower Canada.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Joseph_Papineau
Papineau’s Parti Canadien
 Papineau sought to reform
government himself.
 In the late 1810s, Papineau
became leader of the Parti
Canadien; which, by 1826 was
transformed into the more
radical Les Patriotes.
Leading up to the Rebellions of
1837…
 After Mackenzie and Papineau’s
request for reform were denied, both
insisted on rebelling against the gov’t
 Both Mackenzie and Papineau worked
in unison leading up to the Rebellions
 Both knew that British troops
could not defend both L.C. and
U.C. at the same time
 Both leaders attempted to align their
attacks in unison, but failed…