Lower Canada (French: 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 modern-day province of Quebec, Canada, as well as the Labrador region of the modern-day province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
History
Lower Canada was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791 from the partition of the British colony of the Province of Quebec (1763-1791) into the Provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada. Lower Canada consisted of part of the former French colony of New France, populated mainly by French Canadians, which was ceded to Great Britain after that empire's victory in the Seven Years' War, also called the French and Indian Wars in the United States. Other parts of New France ceded to Britain became the Colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
Rebellion
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Like Upper Canada, there was political unrest and a rebellion challenged the British rule of the predominantly French population. After the Patriote Rebellion was crushed by the British army and Loyal volunteers, the 1791 Constitution was suspended on March 27 1838 and a special council was appointed to administer the colony. Lower Canada, Upper Canada and their legislatures were abolished in 1841 with the coming into effect of the The Union Act, passed on July 23, 1840. The act abolished the legislatures of Lower Canada and Upper Canada and united them in the unified political entity of the Province of Canada.
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 1763-1791 period and which continued to exist (and evolve) later in Canada-East (1841-1867) and ultimately in the current Province of Quebec (1867-).
Population
Population of Lower Canada, 1806 to 1831
| Year |
Census estimate [1] |
| 1806 |
250,000 |
| 1814 |
335,000 |
| 1822 |
427,465 |
| 1825 |
479,288 |
| 1827 |
473,475 |
| 1831 |
553,134 |
| 1841 |
650,000 |
Notes
- ^ Censuses of Canada. 1665 to 1871, Statistics of Canada, Volume IV, Ottawa, 1876
See also
View More Summaries on Lower Canada
