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The Quebec Act
Guy Carleton persuaded the British Parliament to pass the Quebec Act, which recognized French civil and religious rights. This act also preserved the seigneurial system and extended Quebec. -
American Revolutionary War
The Americans asked the French Canadians to join their rebellion against the United Kingdom. But the French remained neutral, and decided to not participate in the Revolutionary War. An American invasion of Canada in 1775 failed. -
The United Empire Loyalists
After the Revolutionary War many people from the American Colonies remained loyal to the United Kingdom. About 40,000 of them moved to Canada during and after the war. These colonists became known as United Empire Loyalists. -
Creation of New Brunswick
The United Empire Loyalists who moved to Nova Scotia after the American Revolutionary War demanded a colony of their own. The British government created the colony of New Brunswick out of western Nova Scotia for the Loyalists. -
Trading Company Rivalries
The North West Company was trading north and west of the Great Lakes and the Hudson's Bay Company already had trading posts in that area. There was a great rivalry between the two companies. -
Explorers of the West
The North West Company sent explorers across the unknown western lands. Alexander Mackenzie reached the Mackenzie River in 1789 and the Pacific Ocean in 1793, Simon Fraser followed the Fraser River to the Pacific Ocean in 1808 and David Thompson mapped the west and navigated the full length of the Columbia River in 1811. -
Constitutional Act of 1791
The British divided Quebec into two colonies, Lower Canada and Upper Canada. The Lower Canada colony was along the the lower St. Lawrence River and Upper Canada was along the Great Lakes and upper St. Lawrence River. Lower Canada mostly consisted of French Canadians, the government mainly focused on French civil law, Catholicism and the seigneurial system. English speaking Canadians lived in Upper Canada, their governement focused on traditions of English law and property systems. -
Red River Colony
Scottish colonizer Lord Selkirk sent a group of Scottish and Irish immigrants to establish a settlement on the Red River in Manitoba. This settlement became known as the Red River Colony. -
Canadian Immigrants
After the war of 1812 Canada began to retrieve large numbers of immigrants from England, Ireland and Scotland. French Canadians were aprehensive about the the new English-speaking people, and many of the French believed that the British government wasnted to destroy the French heritage in Canada. -
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company took over the North West Company and gained control of almost all Canadian territory west of the Great Lakes. -
Responsible Government
Leaders in some Canadian colonies pushed for responsible government (self government). In the system of responsible government the executive is responsible to elect an assemboly. -
Province of Canada
In 1838 Queen Victoria sent Lord Durham to investigate the rebellions between Upper and Lower Canada. He suggested that the British Parliament pass the Act of Union. This took place in 1841 and united the two Canadian colonies into one, the Province of Canada. -
Canadian Railways
Canadian colonies expanded trade with the United States, railways linked more and more towns to the colonies and became busy transportation routes. These developments and the rapid growth of fishing, flour-milling, lumber and textile industries brought prosperity to the Canadian colonies. After the American Civil War, the demand for Canadian goods greatly increased. -
Dominion of Canada
Once the United Kingdom gradually granted all the colonies responsible government, during the 1860's some colonial leaders argued that Canada needed a strong central government. They started the movement for confederation of the Canadian colonies which led to the formation of the Dominion of Canada. -
British North America Act
In March 1867 the British Parliament passed the British North America Act, this act established the Dominion of Canada, which took effect on July 1, 1867. The new Dominion had four provinces-New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. Ontairio was formerly Upper Canada, and Quebec Lower Canada. The British North America Act provided that other provinces could join the Dominion. John A. Macdonald leader of the Liberal-Conservative Party became Canada's first prime minister.
