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Birth Lower Canada Birth, Marriage, Death in the UK Lower Canada
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Lower Canada
Bas-Canada
Province of Lower Canada |
| British colony |
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1791 – 1841 |
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Flag
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Map of Lower Canada (green) |
| Capital |
Quebec |
| Language(s) |
English, French |
| Religion |
Protestantism, 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 |
December 26, 1791 |
| - Act of Union 1840 |
Feb 10, 1841 |
| Currency |
Canadian pound |
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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.
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Rebellion
- 3 Constitution
- 4 Population
- 5 See also
- 6 References
- 7 Further reading
- 8 External links
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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 (1763-1791) into the Province of Lower Canada and the Province of Upper Canada.
Lower Canada consisted of part of 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.
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Main article: Lower Canada Rebellion
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.
The provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada were combined as the United Province of Canada in 1841, when the The Union Act came into force. Their separate legislatures were combined into a single parliament with equal representation for both constituent parts.[1]
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 later in Canada-East (1841-1867) and ultimately in the current Province of Quebec (1867-).
Population of Lower Canada, 1806 to 1841
| Year |
Census estimate [2] |
| 1806 |
250,000 |
| 1814 |
335,000 |
| 1822 |
427,465 |
| 1825 |
479,288 |
| 1827 |
473,475 |
| 1831 |
553,134 |
| 1841 |
650,000 |
- the Canadas
- Canada East, period after the Act of Union (1840)
- List of Lieutenant Governors of Quebec
- Timeline of Quebec history
- National Patriotes Day
- ^ "Catholic Encyclopedia: Act of Union".
- ^ Censuses of Canada. 1665 to 1871, Statistics of Canada, Volume IV, Ottawa, 1876
- 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)
- Lower Canada from The Canadian Encyclopedia
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Quebec portal |
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Canada portal |
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Dictionary definitions |
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Textbooks |
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Quotations |
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Source texts |
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Images and media |
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News stories |
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Learning resources |
Former Colonies and Territories in Canada |
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| Norse |
L'Anse aux Meadows • Norse colonization of the Americas
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| French |
New France • Acadia • Canada • Terre Neuve
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| Spanish |
Fort San Miguel (Nootka Sound)
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| Russian |
Russian America
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| American |
Oregon Country
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| English, Scottish, and British |
Newfoundland • Rupert's Land • Nova Scotia • Quebec • Lower and Upper Canada • New Brunswick • Prince Edward Island • Cape Breton • United Canada • New Caledonia • Columbia District • Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands • Colony of Vancouver Island • Colony of British Columbia • Stikine Territory • North-Western Territory • Red River Colony • United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia •
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British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations |
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Legend
Current territory · Former territory
* now a Commonwealth Realm · now a member of the Commonwealth of Nations
Europe
|
18th century
1708–1757 Minorca
since 1713 Gibraltar
1782–1802 Minorca
|
19th century
1800–1964 Malta
1807–1890 Heligoland
1809–1864 Ionian Islands
1878–1960 Cyprus
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20th century
since 1960 Akrotiri and Dhekelia
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North America
|
17th century
1607–1776 Virginia
1610–1907 Newfoundland
since 1619 Bermuda
1620–1691 Plymouth Colony
1629–1691 Massachusetts Bay Colony
1632–1776 Maryland
1636–1776 Connecticut
1636–1776 Rhode Island
1637–1662 New Haven Colony
1663–1712 Carolina
1664–1776 New York
1665–1776 New Jersey
1670–1870 Rupert's Land
1674–1702 East Jersey
1674–1702 West Jersey
1680–1776 New Hampshire
1681–1776 Pennsylvania
1686–1689 Dominion of New England
1691–1776 Massachusetts
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18th century
1701–1776 Delaware
1712–1776 North Carolina
1712–1776 South Carolina
1713–1867 Nova Scotia
1733–1776 Georgia
1763–1873 Prince Edward Island
1763–1791 Quebec
1763-1783 Florida
1784–1867 New Brunswick
1791–1841 Lower Canada
1791–1841 Upper Canada
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19th century
1818–1846 Columbia District / Oregon Country1
1841–1867 Province of Canada
1849–1866 Vancouver Island
1853–1863 Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands
1858–1866 British Columbia
1859–1870 North-Western Territory
1862–1863 Stikine Territory
1866–1871 Vancouver Island
and British Columbia
1867–1931 *Dominion of Canada2
20th century
1907–1949 Dominion of Newfoundland3
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1Occupied jointly with the United States
2In 1931, Canada and other British dominions obtained self-government through the Statute of Westminster. "Dominion" remains Canada's legal title; see Canada's name.
3Gave up self-rule in 1934, but remained a de jure Dominion until it joined Canada in 1949.
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Latin America and the Caribbean
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17th century
1605–1979 *Saint Lucia
1623–1883 Saint Kitts (*Saint Kitts & Nevis)
1624–1966 *Barbados
1625–1650 Saint Croix
1627–1979 *St. Vincent and the Grenadines
1628–1883 Nevis (*Saint Kitts & Nevis)
1629–1641 St. Andrew and Providence Islands4
since 1632 Montserrat
1632–1860 Antigua (*Antigua & Barbuda)
1643–1860 Bay Islands
since 1650 Anguilla
1651–1667 Willoughbyland (Suriname)
1655–1850 Mosquito Coast (protectorate)
1655–1962 *Jamaica
since 1666 British Virgin Islands
since 1670 Cayman Islands
1670–1973 *Bahamas
1670–1688 St. Andrew and Providence Islands4
1671–1816 Leeward Islands
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18th century
1762–1974 *Grenada
1763–1978 Dominica
since 1799 Turks and Caicos Islands
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19th century
1831–1966 British Guiana (Guyana)
1833–1960 Windward Islands
1833–1960 Leeward Islands
1860–1981 *Antigua and Barbuda
1871–1964 British Honduras (*Belize)
1882–1983 *St. Kitts and Nevis
1889–1962 Trinidad and Tobago
20th century
1958–1962 West Indies Federation
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4Now the San Andrés y Providencia Department of Colombia
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Africa
|
18th century
1792–1961 Sierra Leone
1795–1803 Cape Colony
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19th century
1806–1910 Cape Colony
1816–1965 Gambia
1856–1910 Natal
1868–1966 Basutoland (Lesotho)
1874–1957 Gold Coast (Ghana)
1882–1922 Egypt
1884–1966 Bechuanaland (Botswana)
1884–1960 British Somaliland
1887–1897 Zululand
1888–1894 Matabeleland
1890–1980 Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
1890–1962 Uganda
1890–1963 Zanzibar (Tanzania)
1891–1964 Nyasaland (Malawi)
1891–1907 British Central Africa Protectorate
1893–1968 Swaziland
1895–1920 East Africa Protectorate
1899–1956 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
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20th century
1900–1914 Northern Nigeria
1900–1914 Southern Nigeria
1900–1910 Orange River Colony
1900–1910 Transvaal Colony
1906–1954 Nigeria Colony
1910–1931 South Africa
1911–1964 Northern Rhodesia (Zambia)
1914–1954 Nigeria Protectorate
1915–1931 South West Africa (Namibia)
1919–1960 Cameroons (Cameroon) 5
1920–1963 Kenya
1922–1961 Tanganyika (Tanzania) 5
1954–1960 Nigeria
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5League of Nations mandate
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Asia
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18th century
1757–1947 Bengal (West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh)
1762–1764 Philippines
1795–1948 Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
1796–1965 Maldives
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19th century
1819–1826 British Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore)
1826–1946 Straits Settlements
1839–1967 Colony of Aden
1841–1997 Hong Kong
1841–1941 Kingdom of Sarawak (Malaysia)
1858–1947 British India (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Burma)
1882–1963 British North Borneo (Malaysia)
1885–1946 Unfederated Malay States
1891–1971 Muscat and Oman protectorate
1892–1971 Trucial States protectorate
1895–1946 Federated Malay States
1898–1930 Weihai Garrison
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20th century
1918–1961 Kuwait protectorate
1920–1932 Iraq5
1921–1946 Transjordan5
1923–1948 Palestine5
1946–1948 Malayan Union
1946–1963 Sarawak (Malaysia)
1948–1957 Federation of Malaya (Malaysia)
since 1965 British Indian Ocean Territory
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5League of Nations mandate
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Oceania
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18th century
1788–1901 New South Wales
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19th century
1803–1901 Van Diemen's Land/Tasmania
1807–1863 Auckland Islands6
1824–1980 New Hebrides (Vanuatu)
1824–1901 Queensland
1829–1901 Swan River Colony/Western Australia
1836–1901 South Australia
since 1838 Pitcairn Islands
1841–1907 Colony of New Zealand
1851–1901 Victoria
1874–1970 Fiji7
1877–1976 British Western Pacific Territories
1884–1949 Territory of Papua
1888–1965 Cook Islands6
1888–1984 Sultanate of Brunei
1889–1948 Union Islands (Tokelau)6
1892–1979 Gilbert and Ellice Islands8
1893–1978 British Solomon Islands9
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20th century
1900–1970 Tonga (protected state)
1900–1974 Niue6
1901–1942 *Commonwealth of Australia
1907–1953 *Dominion of New Zealand
1919–1949 Territory of New Guinea
1949–1975 Territory of Papua and New Guinea10
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6Now part of the *Realm of New Zealand
7Suspended member
8Now Kiribati and *Tuvalu
9Now the *Solomon Islands
10Now *Papua New Guinea
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Antarctica and South Atlantic
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17th century
since 1659 St. Helena
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19th century
since 1815 Ascension Island11
since 1816 Tristan da Cunha11
since 1833 Falkland Islands12
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20th century
since 1908 British Antarctic Territory13
since 1908 South Georgia and
the South Sandwich Islands12, 13
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11Dependencies of St. Helena since 1922 (Ascension Island) and 1938 (Tristan da Cunha)
12Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April–June 1982
13Both claimed in 1908; territories formed in 1962 (British Antarctic Territory) and 1985 (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands)
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