Confederation+-+Main+Ideas

In preparing this year's Confederation project, Canadian History through Historical Voices, use this space to brainstorm and arrange the major events, and people involved in this period in our history. Below a link to a page to further plan the voices and stories that will be used to present these ideas, define how they relate to the overall story of Confederation. This introductory information will be used to storyboard the narrative of our audio-drama.


 * Refer to the 2009-2010 [|Discussion of the Victorian Era], as well as its Review of this Chapter for the final exam - Building a Nation**

__//**[|Louise's awesome Bubbl.us covering ALL the notes below about the Confederation.]**//__

Please embed your Prezi, or Slideshow above the heading to your chapter.

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**Conrad, Louise, Sara, Daniel**
The colonial governments of 1791, 1849**,** and our present form of government. The [|Reign of Queen Victoria] and the influences of British [|society in colonial society] and government. Relevance of recent American Revolution on early Canadian government. Both Canadas during these years would appoint a governor to rule Lower Canada, and a lieutenant governor to rule Upper Canada. They were usually appointed for 2 year terms. The colonial covernment was a "layered" type government. There were very distinct levels of power. The governor would appoint 2 councils. A legislative (one that has power to halt projects), there was a 15-member Legislative council in Lower Canada and a 7-member one in Upper Canada (based on population). There was also an executive, which acted as advisors to the governor. Some key people in the Colonial Gov't were George Brown, George-Etienne Cartier, Alexander Galt and John A. MacDonald. More info on the structure of the Colonial Government. With so many people coming into the "newly settled land" This posed a problem for the people living there because they wanted to be free from British rule but Britian wasn't about to give the colonies and share their land!
 * Hierarchical, Unfair, Imbalance, Favoritism,**

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**Immigration and Social Classes in Upper Canada**
At this time, the rulers of Upper Canada were the British government and the rich. Of course, you already knew that. There were also slaves who had come up from America through the underground railway, the poor, who had come over from Europe as human cargo, and the women, who were trying to make a difference in the land they lived in, but had not succeeded - yet. Throw in the French, who were trying hard to keep their language, culture, and religion in a country that was getting more and more English, and the Natives, who were struggling to keep their land theirs - oh, and the children (I almost forgot about them. But that's a good thing, right? After all, children should be seen and not heard.) - and what do you get? A big mess of culture, opinions, and rebellion.
 * Alvin, Lexi, Kelsey, Iris, Chelsea, Leanne, Immy**
 * // refuge, opportunity //**

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**Grievances Against the British (Upper Canada)**
The British wouldn't give Upper Canada the kind of democracy that America had. Radicals (group of people unhappy with current government) wanted to see an end to British rule.
 * Michelle, Mahalia, Macguire, Victor** **<(0.0)> Derek, Clayton, Jonathan, and Sepher**

William Lyon Mackenzie used his newspaper to demand the end of the Family Compact (current government which involved several families having all of the social, economic and political power). He started an armed rebellion in 1837 because he was so unhappy about the amount of land given to the Anglican church and the way the Family Compact was running things. Because of him writing articles about these topics, people ended up trying to kill him and there was even an incident where a his printing press was thrown into a lake. (click to read more)

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**Grievances Against the British (Lower Canada) **
The Canadiens of Lower Canada resented the British for many reasons. They were afraid of being assimilated into the British culture because of the many new immigrants from Britain. These new immigrants were also taking jobs and occasionally bringing diseases. But one of the main reasons was that increasing technology in travel and communication meant that the Canadiens were learning of different political ideas like those in the U.S.The Canadiens, however, were not allowed in the government because of the English oligarchy.
 * Albert, Emily, Megan, Stephanie**

One of the main leaders of the reform movement in Lower Canada was Louis Joseph Papineau. He was a charismatic lawyer who was one of the main voices speaking for the people and their rights. In 1834, the assembly he was leading (the more radical group of reformers, the Patriotes) demanded to have all the same rights the British Parliament members had.

The //Chateau Clique// was a group of Canadiens who wanted to be assimilated into the British way of life. They were the opposite of the rest of the Canadiens, who heartily disliked the British.

**Jason, Jonathan, Kelly, Rebecca, Andrew**
====The Rebellions of 1837 was separated into two parts: the rebellion in Upper Canada, and the rebellion in Lower Canada. These rebellions were brought forth by Canadian reformers fighting against British rule. The rebellions began due to John Russell denying the submission of the "92 Resolutions", as well as denying the unification of Upper and Lower Canada. The "92 Resolutions" was a document that demanded complete change in the way the colony was governed. At first, they tried to reform within, but the Chateau Clique and Family Compact couldn't be weakened. They then decided to accomplish this through more violent methods. Revolts were planned in both Upper Canada and Lower Canada to try to spread out the British forces. The Catholic Church supported Britain in the war in Lower Canada, and thus the rebels were weakened. If the Church had supported the Canadian rebels, they might have been more successful. The British easily defeated the Patriote forces, and the revolt ended quickly. In Upper Canada, the leaders wanted to copy America. This alienated them from English immigrants, who thought of America as the enemy. The appointment of Francis Bond Head created a loyalty to Britain stronger than ever. This led to the defeat of the rebels' reform movement and to more violent means of rebellion. The rebels started fighting after the Governor sent forces to assist Lower Canada, but couldn't convince other rebels to join them. Also, the lack of military experience and poor planning led to defeat at Montgomery's Tavern. Mackenzie escaped from this defeat to the US, and continued his rebellion from America, but ultimately, the Rebellions of 1837 were a failure.==== media type="custom" key="7861781"
 * Insurrection**

**Durham Report**
[|The Durham Report], or the Report on the Affairs of British North America, was an evaluation of the state of British North America, specifically the goverment and the rebellions, and included his proposed solution. It was written in 1839 (following the Rebellions of 1837) by the [|Earl of Durham], a British representative and the governer general of Canada for four months. The Earl proposed that lower and upper Canada be combined into one state, with both a parliment to handle matters of the entire state and internal governments for colonies to handle their own problems. He suggested that elected officals, versus those apponited by the Governer General, should be given the power that they deserve.
 * Toren, Jen S., Jen A., Richard, Zoe,**
 * Critique, Devolution, Power**

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**Meghan, Donya, Raiya, Veronica, Jenna, Elleni**
Existing governmental and economic structure. Various views toward the Union of Canada (Maritimes, business owners, farmers, French-Canadians, former rebels). Lord Elgin, and the Rebellion Losses Bill, the Annexation Manifesto. Fenian Raids. The road to Confederation was not smooth. There were bumps along the way - bumps that occured in the form of uprisings, protests, raids, and rebellions. Different groups of people had their own opinions about Canada's Union. In Upper Canada, groups of people were Clear Grits, the Tories, and the Liberal-Conservatives. They were mostly all political parties, each striving for something different. John A. MacDonald and George Brown both helped to bring together Canada, and shape it into the Canada today. Lower Canada was mostly inhabited by French-Canadians, after the English settlers complained that living there was "too French". The political groups in Lower Canada were the Parti rouge and the Parti Bleu. The Parti rouge was formed by radical French-Canadians who were inspired by Louis-Joseph Papineau, leader of the previous Parti patriote. They were rivals with the Parti Bleu, who was based on the reformist views of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine. The Parti Bleu later formed an alliance with the Tories of Upper Canada, eventually creating the Conservative Party of Canada.
 * Upper Canada -** Clear Grits, Tories, Liberal-Conservatives, George Brown, John A. MacDonald.
 * Lower Canada -** //Parti rouge, Parti Bleu,// Joseph Papineau, the Catholic Church.
 * CLASH!** **Pigheadedness**

Opinions. We each have one, and during an event like the Confederation, it is expected that differences in opinion will rise. On a nation-wide scale, the Maritimes had difficulty following the progressing change, due to things like pride and the belief that they were the best. On a smaller scale, there were farmers, business owners, the French Canadians that had to live through different versions of the Confederation. Each with their own pros and cons, and day to day lifestyle. In this section, we take a look at the different voices of confederation, who thought what and how they learned from it.

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**Conferences and the Great Coalition**
Narrator: A nation can be formed through many ways. Unlike the violent American Revolution in the south, Canadian independence came peacefully, through debate and eventual agreement. To get right in on the discussions Canadians were having, our associate has managed to get a job as a butler in the house of a well-off merchant.
 * Liam, Kraemer, Sherwood,** **Owen**

Conclusion: There’s nothing like a good debate to bring out the sides in an issue. And there’s nothing quite like a good compromise between the sides to settle everything. Violence, after all, is not the Canadian way.  ﻿ Our conclusion to the whole thing:

**Favoritism,** **//opportunity,//** **Insurrection, Devolution, and Compromise. These were the fundamental reasons of Canadian Confederation, and for better or for worse, built the country to what it is today.**