Lower Canada

Province of Lower Canada
Province du Bas-Canada
British province
1791–1841
Flag
Map of Lower Canada (green)
Capital		Quebec
Languages		French, English
Religion		Roman Catholicism
Government		Constitutional monarchy
Sovereign
•	1791–1820	George III
•	1837–1841	Victoria
Lieutenant-Governor and Executive Council of Lower Canada		See list of Lieutenant-Governors
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
Population
•	1839 est.	700,000
Density
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 modern-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, populated mainly by Canadiens, which was ceded to Great Britain after that Empire's victory in the Seven Years' War, also called the French and Indian War in the United States. Other parts of New France ceded to 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 the adjacent Upper Canada were united into the Province of Canada.

Rebellion

Main article: Lower Canada Rebellion

Like Upper Canada, there was significant political unrest. 22 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 1837-1838 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 if Lower Canada had more 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 (1867–).

Population

Main article: Population of Canada

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-emerged as key means of transportation until the modern highway system of Quebec was created in the 20th Century.

See also

• The Canadas
• French colonial empire
• French and Indian War
• Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
• 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