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.
History
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.
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, 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 1763–1791 period and which continued to exist later in Canada-East (1841–1867) and ultimately in the current Province of Quebec (1867–).
Population
See also
