History
From 1791 to 1841, the territory roughly corresponding to Southern Ontario in Canada belonged to the British colony of the Province of Upper Canada, while the southern portion of Quebec and the Labrador region of Newfoundland and Labrador belonged to the colony of the Province of Lower Canada (until 1809, when Labrador was transferred to the colony of Newfoundland). Upper Canada was primarily Anglophone, whereas Lower Canada was Francophone. The Act of Union 1840, passed July 23, 1840, by the British parliament and proclaimed by the Crown on February 10, 1841, merged the two colonies by abolishing the parliaments of Upper and Lower Canada and replacing them with a single one.
While this new legislature maintained equal representation for both of the former colonies, the democratic nature of Lower Canada's elections was fundamentally flawed. Despite the Francophone majority in Lower Canada, most of the power was concentrated on the Anglophone minority, who exploited the lack of a secret ballot to intimidate the electorate.
The area that had previously comprised Upper Canada was designated "Canada West", while the area that had comprised Lower Canada was designated "Canada East". The Province of Canada ceased to exist when the British North America Act passed by the British Parliament was proclaimed July 1, 1867.
Read more about this topic: Province Of Canada
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Considered in its entirety, psychoanalysis won’t do. It’s an end product, moreover, like a dinosaur or a zeppelin; no better theory can ever be erected on its ruins, which will remain for ever one of the saddest and strangest of all landmarks in the history of twentieth-century thought.”
—Peter B. Medawar (1915–1987)
“The basic idea which runs right through modern history and modern liberalism is that the public has got to be marginalized. The general public are viewed as no more than ignorant and meddlesome outsiders, a bewildered herd.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
“Regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized—the question involuntarily arises—to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)