Building A Nation1814 - 1867

Who had/has power in Canadian society?

Essential Questions

• Who had power in 19th century Upper Canada?

• Who has power today in contemporary Canadian society?

• Has there been a change in who holds and exercises power?

Who has power?

1. What is power?

2. Working silently, make a list of the names of people or groups that have power in society

3. In pairs, compare your lists, and prepare to share your answers with the class

Overview

• Pioneer life in Upper and Lower Canada

• The structure of early society, including political, economic, and cultural elements

• The growing demand for reform

The story so far...

• In the early 19th century British North America was a vast, sprawling land, populated largely by First Peoples

• The British faced an immense problem trying to administer the remaining parts of the continent after the loss of the American colonies

The story so far...

• Immigrants from the United States and from Great Britain (particularly Scotland and Ireland) changed not only the physical landscape, but also the social, economic, and political fabric

• These changes often happened slower than the new arrivals would have liked, or in a way different from the way they wanted

The story so far...

• Settlers were promised land

• However, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s held most of the territory

• The entrenched position of powerful elites in both Upper and Lower Canada made it difficult for settlers to develop the lands they had been promised

The story so far...

• The Family Compact in Upper Canada and the Château Clique in Lower Canada were well organized oligarchies

• They strongly resisted any efforts that threatened their privileged positions

• Oligarchy: a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution

The story so far...

• Most of the later immigrants were from the lower middle or lower class

• They were further segregated from the ruling class by ethnic and religious differences

The story so far...

• If you did not belong to the “right” church, send your children to the “right” school, or move in the “right” social circles, you would find yourself excluded from all levels of power

• Change from within the existing system was not possible because it lacked true representation of the people

Look at the picture on page 9

1. Describe everything you can about the three young women

2. Do you think these women were typical of young women in Canada at the time (early 1800’s)? Why or why not?

3. What kind of lives do you think they led?

4. What do you think would have been the goals of these women?

The Family Compact• Wealthy

• Anglican

• Conservative

The Family Compact

• Developed after the War of 1812, and remained powerful until Upper and Lower Canada were united in 1841

• In Lower Canada, its equivalent was the Château Clique

• Canadian Members of the Family Compact were described as adherents of "rabid Toryism" by Charles Dickens during his visit to North America

The Family Compact

• The Family Compact controlled the government through the Executive Council, the advisors to the Lieutenant Governor

• The popularly elected Legislative Assembly was left with little real power

• Members of the Family Compact ensured their conservative friends held the important positions in the colony through political patronage

The Problem of Land

• Almost everyone who came to Upper Canada had some interest in farming

• Many settlers arrived to find that all the good land was already taken by absentee landowners and speculators

• Many felt misled by advertising campaigns in Europe that promised good, cheap farmland

The Problem of Land

• Many members of the Family Compact were land speculators, and profited from the scarcity of prime land

• By keeping land in reserve they were able to drive prices up

• Land problems were at the root of the dissatisfaction felt towards the colonial government, and a major cause of the Rebellion of 1837

Does the “Family Compact” exist today?

Working with the concepts of continuity and change to make a historical comparison, compose a

paragraph that argues either for or against the existence of a “Family

Compact” in our society today.

Please DOUBLE SPACE your answer!