The
Province of Upper Canada (French:
province du Haut-Canada) was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of
Ontario in
Canada. Upper Canada officially existed from 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841 and generally comprised present-day
Southern Ontario. Its name reflected its position higher up the river or closer to the headwaters of the
St. Lawrence River than that of
Lower Canada or present day
Quebec.
Upper Canada included all of modern-day southern Ontario and all those areas of northern Ontario in the
pays d'en haut which had formed part of
New France, essentially the watersheds of the Ottawa River, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior. It did not include any lands within the watershed of
Hudson Bay.
It passed from French control into British control with the
Treaty of Paris (1763). It was incorporated into the
Province of Quebec by the
Quebec Act of 1774. Upper Canada became a political entity on 26 December 1791 with the
Parliament of Great Britain's passage of the
Constitutional Act of 1791. The act divided the Province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada. The division was effected so that
Loyalist American settlers and British immigrants in Upper Canada could have English laws and institutions, and the French-speaking population of Lower Canada could maintain French civil law and the Catholic religion.
The colony was administered by a
lieutenant-governor,
legislative council, and
legislative assembly. The first lieutenant-governor was
John Graves Simcoe. On February 1, 1796, the capital of Upper Canada was moved from Newark (now
Niagara-on-the-Lake) to
York (now
Toronto), which was judged to be less vulnerable to attack by the Americans.
Local government in the Province of Upper Canada was based on districts. In 1788, four districts were created:
Additional districts were created from the existing districts as the population grew until 1849, when local government mainly based on
counties came into effect. At that time, there were 20 districts; legislation to create a new Kent District never completed. Up until 1841, the district officials were appointed by the lieutenant-governor, although usually with local input. A Court of Quarter Sessions was held four times a year in each district to oversee the administration of the district and deal with legal cases.
War of 1812 (1812–1815)
During the
War of 1812 with the United States, Upper Canada was the chief target of the Americans, since it was weakly defended and populated largely by American immigrants. However, division in the United States over the war, a lacklustre American militia, the incompetence of American military commanders, and swift and decisive action by the British commander,
Sir Isaac Brock, kept Upper Canada part of British North America.
Detroit was captured by the British on August 6, 1812. The Michigan Territory was held under British control until it was abandoned in 1813.
Major battles (or attacks) fought on territory in Upper Canada included;
- Burning of Newark, December 10, 1813
Many other battles were fought in American territory bordering Upper Canada, including the
Northwest Territory (most in modern day Michigan),
upstate New York and naval battles in the
Great Lakes.
The
Treaty of Ghent (ratified in 1815) ended the war and restored the
status quo ante bellum between the combatants.
Dissidents and 1837 Rebellion
After 1800 there emerged a dissident faction that questioned the direction and handling of the colony by the Tories, including both colonial and imperial officials. The leaders were
Robert Thorpe,
Joseph Willcocks,
Robert Gourlay, and especially,
William Lyon Mackenzie. They challenged the establishment about taxes, land policy, the privileges of the Anglican Church and the Family Compact, appropriations, and freedom of the press. They claimed that all citizens and not just the enfranchised were entitled to a voice, but they did not form a political party; there were no parties. In 1831 the Tories expelled Mackenzie from the Assembly, and the conflict escalated. Their brief
armed rebellion in 1837 failed. Officials blamed American influence, "In this country unfortunately the settlement of American citizens has been too much permitted and encouraged, and thus in the bosom of this community there exists a treacherous foe... in many parts of the Province the teachers are Americans.... These men are utterly ignorant of everything English and could not if they tried instruct their pupils in any of the duties which the connection of the Province with England casts upon them." [Rea] The oligarchic
Family Compact was defended by Tories who explained, "The Radicals, Revolutionists or Destructives was composed of all the American settlers and speculators in land, some of the more simple and ignorant of the older class of farmers, and the rabble of adventurers who poured in every year from the United States or from Britain, to evade the laws of their respective countries." [Rea]
Lord Durham's support for "responsible government" undercut the Tories and gradually led the public to reject what it viewed as poor administration, unfair land and education policies, and inadequate attention to urgent transportation needs. Finally there emerged responsible government under
Robert Baldwin and
Louis LaFontaine by the late 1840s.
Land settlement
Land had been settled since the French regime, notably along the
Detroit River and the
St. Lawrence River. Land speculators also contributed to this by buying land cheap and selling it for expensive prices. However, impetus to land settlement came with the influx of
Loyalist refugees and military personnel in 1784 after the
American Revolution. As a result, prior to the creation of Upper Canada in 1791 as a separate colony, much land had been ceded by the First Nations to the Crown in accordance with the
Royal Proclamation of 1763. This land was surveyed by the government of the
Province of Quebec, particularly in eastern Ontario along the St. Lawrence River, as the
Western Townships, while the
Eastern Townships were in Lower Canada.
Rudimentary municipal administration began with the creation of districts, notably Western (including present day
Brantford), Eastern, Gore (including present day
Hamilton) and Home (including present day
Toronto).
The
Act Against Slavery passed in Upper Canada on July 9, 1793.
Organized settlement tracts were laid out with portions set aside for the
clergy reserves, one exception was the
Talbot Settlement on the north shore of Lake Erie, which was set up in 1804.
These land tracts expanded in reach well beyond the St. Lawrence – Lake Ontario – Lake Erie shores after the war of 1812. In 1828, Britain appointed Upper Canada's first chief agent of emigration,
A.C. Buchanan. His title reflected the centrality of Britain's perspective on migration in the colonies at the time, especially since most new arrivals in Upper Canada were from the United Kingdom.
British regiment soldiers who were veterans of the war were offered free land, and some remained despite the harsh winters. Unlike the period prior to the war, immigration was now directed at Europe and more specifically to the
United Kingdom and
Ireland, not from the United States, which was the largest source of immigration before the war. Very cheap or even free land was offered with advertisements to entice immigrants to settle there, even those in financially meagre circumstances. Passage could be obtained across the Atlantic on returning empty lumber ships for little fare. During the early 1830s, the population increased more than 10% of its total each year. In the 1820s many German-speaking
Mennonite immigrants came to the Grand River region of Upper Canada from Pennsylvania, they were joined as well by many German speaking
Amish immigrants. This region was sometimes called "Little Pennsylvania", however this term is no longer used today. Many of their descendants continue to speak a form of German called
Pennsylvania German.
It is estimated that thousands of escaped slaves entered Upper Canada from the United States, using the
Underground Railroad.
Upper Canada ceased to be a political entity with the
Act of Union (1840), when, by an act of the British Parliament, it was merged with Lower Canada to form the united
Province of Canada. This was principally in response to the Upper and Lower Canada rebellions of 1837 and 1837–38, respectively. At
Confederation in 1867, the Province of Canada was re-divided along the former boundary as the provinces of
Ontario and
Quebec.
The name 'Upper Canada' lives on in a few historical forms, most notably the
Law Society of Upper Canada, Upper Canada Lumber,
Upper Canada College,
Upper Canada Mall (in
Newmarket, Ontario), and the
Upper Canada Brewing Company.
When the capital was first moved to Toronto from Newark (present-day
Niagara-on-the-Lake) in 1796, the
Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada were located at the corner of Parliament and Front Streets, in buildings that were burned by U.S. forces in the War of 1812, rebuilt, then burned again by accident. The site was eventually abandoned for another, to the west. In 2001, some remnants of the original Parliament building were found. Today, there is an ongoing fight by preservationists and historians who propose the government develop and interpret the historic site. Currently the government leases most of the site.
Population
(see
United Province of Canada for population after 1840)
Source: Statistics Canada website Censuses of Canada 1665 to 1871.
Numismatic history
See
Coins of Upper Canada.
Canada West
Canada West was the western portion of the
United Province of Canada from February 10, 1841, to July 1, 1867.
[ ] Its boundaries were identical to those of the former Province of Upper Canada.
The area of Canada West covered all of modern-day
Southern Ontario and all those areas of
Northern Ontario in the
pays d'en haut which had formed part of
New France, essentially the watersheds of the
Ottawa River,
Lake Huron, and
Lake Superior.
Canada West was a political entity and a geographic way of referring to the former Province of Upper Canada, following its merger into the United
Province of Canada. Canada West was given 42 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Canada, exactly the same number as
Canada East.
The area was named the Province of Ontario under the
British North America Act of 1867.
The population of Canada West grew substantially during the period it existed, mostly due to unprecedented immigration and a high birth rate. In 1841 it was 455,000 but grew to approximately 1,500,000 people at the time of
Confederation in 1867.
Censuses were conducted in 1851 and 1861 and the population in those years was 952,004 and 1,396,091 respectively.
See also
