LOYALISM

AFTER THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

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Of the almost 30 distinct British colonies, only 13 chose to rebel. Who didn’t rebel, and why not?

the British West Indies. They only produced one product-SUGAR; but it was very costly to produce and did not bring in much revenue on a world market. BUT- an act of Parliament guaranteed their profits in Britain.

WHO DIDN’T REBEL?

 the newly-arrived merchant group in Quebec-they stood to maximize profits by provisioning the British occupation armies and the people of the fur trade

French clergy and ruling seigneurs-had more to gain from staying British than by joining with the separatists

WHO DIDN’T REBEL? Newfoundland-fishing station- many of

these people still sailed out of Britain   the small population of Ile. St. Jean

(PEI)- had mostly just arrived from Britain (remember the Peace of Paris) and were enjoying the benefits of farming the rich soil

Nova Scotia was largely a British naval base and had many British-born settlers who had arrived within one generation

WHO DIDN’T REBEL?

    40,000+ individuals in the actual rebelling colonies. -15,000 people sailed or travelled to NS and Acadia; another 15,000 went to the Bay of Fundy which ultimately separated from NS and became New Brunswick (interestingly, Cape Breton Island was given separate provincial status, too, but this was later changed-1820) and 10,000 loyalists settled in Quebec.

The loyalists who settled in Quebec hoped to find freehold land tenure, British laws, the Protestant religion, and representative government. Of course, they didn’t find these.

Why not?

So in 1791 the Constitution Act divided Quebec into 2 provinces: the upper part west of Montreal (Upper Canada) and the eastern “down river” part (Lower Canada).

UPPER CANADA was not populated by the French under the seigneurial system, so*     British civil and criminal law was instituted*     land was granted in freehold*     elections were held*     the established religion became CHURCH OF ENGLAND (Protestant-“Anglican”)  

However, in LOWER CANADA, where fewer loyalists settled, there existed a “dualism” which existed side-by-

side, and is still visible today:

LOWER CANADABritish loyalists

o Smaller populationo British criminal lawo Land given in

freeholdo Elective

governmento British minority felt

it was superior

French Habitants

o Greater populationo French civil lawo Land use-

seigneurial systemo No elective

governmento Thought by British

to be inferior