Lower Canada

Province of Lower Canada Province du Bas-Canada
1791–1841
Flag
Status	British colony
Capital	Quebec City
Common languages	French, English
Government	Château Clique oligarchy under a Constitutional monarchy
Sovereign
• 1791–1820	George III
• 1820–1830	George IV
• 1830–1837	William IV
• 1837–1841	Victoria
Lieutenant-Governor and Executive Council of Lower Canada
Legislature	Parliament of Lower Canada
• Upper house	Legislative Council
• Lower house	Legislative Assembly
Historical era	British Era
• Constitutional Act of 1791	26 December 1791
• Act of Union 1840	10 February 1841
Area
1839	534,185 km2 (206,250 sq mi)
Population
• 1839	700,000
Currency	Canadian pound
Preceded by Succeeded by Province of Quebec (1763–1791) United Province of Canada Colony of Newfoundland
Today part of	Canada  ∟Quebec  ∟Newfoundland and Labrador

The Province of Lower Canada (French: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current-day Province of Quebec, Canada, and the Labrador region of the modern-day Province of Newfoundland and Labrador (until the Labrador region was transferred to Newfoundland in 1809).

Lower Canada consisted of part of the former colony of Canada of New France, conquered by Great Britain in the Seven Years' War ending in 1763 (also called the French and Indian War in the United States.) Other parts of New France conquered by Britain became the Colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

The Province of Lower Canada was created by the "Constitutional Act of 1791" from the partition of the British colony of the Province of Quebec (1763–91) into the Province of Lower Canada and the Province of Upper Canada. The prefix "lower" in its name refers to its geographic position farther downriver from the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River than its contemporary Upper Canada, present-day southern Ontario.

The colony/province was abolished in 1841 when it and adjacent Upper Canada were united into the Province of Canada.

Rebellion

Main article: Lower Canada Rebellion

Like Upper Canada, there was significant political unrest. Twenty-two years after the invasion by the Americans in the War of 1812, a rebellion now challenged the British rule of the predominantly French population. After the Patriote Rebellion in the Rebellions of 1837–38 were crushed by the British Army and Loyal volunteers, the "1791 Constitution" was suspended on 27 March 1838 and a special council was appointed to administer the colony. An abortive attempt by revolutionary Robert Nelson to declare a Republic of Lower Canada was quickly thwarted.

The provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada were combined as the United Province of Canada in 1841, when The Union Act of 1840 came into force. Their separate legislatures were combined into a single parliament with equal representation for both constituent parts, even though Lower Canada had a greater population.

Constitution

Constitution of Lower Canada in 1791

The Province of Lower Canada inherited the mixed set of French and English institutions that existed in the Province of Quebec during the 1763–91 period and which continued to exist later in Canada-East (1841–67) and ultimately in the current Province of Quebec (since 1867).

Population

Main article: Population of Canada

Lower Canada was populated mainly by Canadiens, an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to French colonists who settled in Canada from the 17th century onward.

Population of Lower Canada, 1806 to 1841

Year	Census estimate
1806	250,000
1814	335,000
1822	427,465
1825	479,288
1827	473,475
1831	553,134
1841	650,000

Transportation

Traveling around Lower Canada was made mainly by water along the St. Lawrence River. On land the only main route was the Chemin du Roy or King's Highway, built in the 1730s by New France. The King's Highway remained as an alternate means of travel until the challenge of steamboats (1815) and trains on land (1850s) began to challenge the royal road.

Challenged by boats and trains, the royal road's importance waned after the 1850s and would not re-emerge as a key means of transportation until the modern highway system of Quebec was created in the 20th century.

See also

• The Canadas
• Upper Canada
• French colonial empire
• French and Indian War
• Province of Quebec (1763–91)
• Former colonies and territories in Canada
• Canada East, period after the Act of Union (1840)
• List of lieutenant governors of Quebec
• Ottawa River timber trade
• Timeline of Quebec history
• National Patriots' Day
• Republic of Lower Canada

Further reading

• Robert Christie. A History of the Late Province of Lower Canada, Quebec City: T. Cary/R. Montreal: Worthington, 1848–1855 (Internet Archive: All 6 volumes)
• François-Xavier Garneau. History of Canada : from the time of its discovery till the union year, Montreal : J. Lovell, 1860 (Internet Archive: All 3 Volumes)

External links

• Media related to Lower Canada at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of Lower Canada at Wiktionary
• Lower Canada from The Canadian Encyclopedia