001065 UNIVERSITY D OTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES THE ENGLISH V13.»POINT ON THE PROPOSED UNION OF 1822 TO UNITE THE PROVINCES ^F LOV.EK AND UPPErt CANADA by Robert P. Burns Thesis presented to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ottawa as partial fulfilment of the reoauirements for the degree of Master of Arts 0£LA6/Si/0 -> % % \^1 •HI .v V*7 •vXVcA Ottawa, Canada, 1966 ^ UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UMI Number: EC55933 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform EC55933 Copyright 2011 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 UNIVERSITE D OTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter page INTRODUCTION v I.-CONSIDERATIONS ON THE QUESTION OF UNION: 1788-1821 1 II.-PREPARATION OF THE UNION BILL AT THE COLONIAL OFFICE • . 59 III.-THE CANADA BILL OF 1822 IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 132 IV.-REACTIONS TO THE UNION BILL OF 1822 IN THE CANADAS 182 CONCLUSION 280 Appendix 1. A BILL (AS AMENDED BY THE COMMITTEE) FOR UNITING THE LEGISLATURES OF LOwER AND UPPER CANADA 289 2. MP OF UPPER CANADA USED AT THE CuLONIAL OFFICE DURING THE PREPARATION OF THE CANADA GOVERNMENT AND TRADE BILL OF 1822 311 UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE D OTTAWA - ECO LE D ES GR ADU ES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis was prepared under the direction of Professor A.R. Vanasse, M.A., Ph.D., of the History Department of the University of Ottawa. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE DOTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES CURRICULUM STUDIORUM Robert P. Burns was born August 29, 1937. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Ottawa in 1959. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE D OTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES INTRODUCTION Among the first arguments in support of a united Canada were those put forth before the division of the province of Quebec into Lower Canada and Upper Canada in 1791. After 1791 a number of the English in Lower Canada sought persistently to extricate the English minority from the power of the Canadian majority in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. They suggested three ways by which the Canadian power in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada could be weakened. One was to grant political representation to the English in the Eastern Townships of the province of Lower Canada. Another way was the cessation of the Legislative Assembly. A third means suggested was the union of the legislatures of Lower Canada and Upper Canada. In 1822, the proposed Union to unite the provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada v/as discussed in the British cabinet, at the Colonial Office, in the House of Commons, among the inhabitants of Lower Canada, among the people of Upper Canada, in the legislature of Lower Canada and in the legislature of Upper Canada. This thesis proposes to show that whenever the English discussed the question of Union, there emerged differing opinions on the merits of Union. It is necessary to explain some of the terms used in this thesis. The term Canadian was the term most UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE D OTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES INTRODUCTION vi frequently used in sources to refer to that group in Lower Canada that was not English. The term Canadian was also sometimes interchanged with that of French and French Canadian. In this thesis Canadian was used most frequently. The term English referred to all those who were not French. The English divided Lower Canadian society into English and Canadian. The inhabitants of Upper Canada were considered to be all English. In Lower Canada the English were divided into the English in the seigneuries and the English in the townships. To make the distinction clear, the former was written in the thesis as English in the Seigneuries and the latter as English in the Townships. The term bureaucrat referred to an individual who held an executive position in a government and depended on that government for his livelihood. The term nativist referred to an individual who sought to assimilate the Canadians into English society. The term separatist referred to the English in Upper Canada who opposed the Union of Lower Canada and Upper Canada. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE DOTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES CHAPTER I CONSIDERATIONS ON THE QUESTION OF UNION: 1788-1821 On May 16, 1788, the British House of Commons passed 1 a motion which allowed Adam Lymburner , agent of that section of the population of the province of Quebec desirous of having a House of Assembly, to be heard at the bar of 2 the House of Commons in support of a petition from Quebec which had been drawn up on November 24, 1784 and forwarded to Britain» Thereupon, Lymburner was admitted and he read a paper pointing out the defects of the system of laws then administered in the province of Quebec and the need for a remedy. 1 Adam Lymburner, who was born in 1745 at Kilmarnock, Scotland and died in 1836 in London, England, settled in Quebec in 1776 to take over the business of his brother, John, who had been lost at sea. In the province of Quebec, he became an influential member of the British minority in the colony. Having taken an active part in the movement for the repeal of the Quebec Act and for the establishment of a House of Assembly, Lymburner was sent as a delegate to London to put his views before a committee of the House of Commons. He presented the case of the British merchant in the colony and all who desired a new form of government. When he learned that the Imperial Government had decided to divide Quebec, he considered the plan to be ominous. He predicted, among other things, that the ill-advised step would hinder the economic development of the St. Lawrence Valley. 2 P.A.C., Series Q, MG 11, Vol, 62 A, pt„ 1. Papers Respecting Lower Canada and Newfoundland 1790-1792, ppl 309-318. LZ~9 _J UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE D'OTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES CONSIDERATIONS ON THE QUESTION OF UNION: 1788-1821 2 In the debate that followed after he had withdrawn, the conclusions reached were that the petitions from Quebec merited the serious and immediate attention of the House of Commons, but that nothing could be done until a sufficient body of information had been transmitted from Quebec to enable the House of Commons to determine upon the merits of the subjects contained in the petitions. As a result, the House of Commons dropped the debate and decided that Parliament would consider the petitions from Quebec early in the subsequent session. In an effort to obtain the necessary information the 3 Colonial Secretary, Lord Sydney , requested a detailed report on the Quebec situation from Governor-General 4 Dorchester . Sydney confided to Dorchester that it was 3 First Viscount Sydney, Thomas Townshend (1733-1800). He entered Parliament in 1754; was lord of the treasury in 1765; appointed war secretary in 1772 and then home secret­ ary in 1783. The office of home secretary then included the colonies. Lord Grenville replaced him as Secretary of State in 1791. 4 First Baron Dorchester, Guy Carleton (1724-1808). Carleton was born at Strabane, county Tyrone, Ireland on September 3, 1724. On May 21, 1742, he was commissioned an ensign in Lord Rothe's regiment and by 1757 was a lieut­ enant-colonel. On the expedition against Quebec in 1759 Carleton served as quartermaster-general under General James Wolfe. After serving as lieutenant-governor of the province of Quebec for two years, he was appointed governor of that province in 1768 and remained in that office until he retired in 1778. He returned to North America in 1782 as commander-in-chief. Having received the title Baron Dorchester, Carleton was commissioned as governor-in-chief of British North America in 1786 and remained in that office until 1796. He then retired again and returned to England where he died in 1808. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE D'OTTAWA ECOLE DES GRADUES CONSIDERATIONS ON THE QUESTION OF UNION: 1788-1821 3 ttin Contemplation to propose to Parliament a division of 5 the Province" , but previous to any step towards the execution of a division, the British government was "desirous of receiving the advantage of Your Lordship's (Dorchester's) opinion how far it (division) may be 6 practical or expedient" . As far as the Governor-General was concerned, rta division of the province (was) by no 7 means advisable at present" . In fact, the western settle­ ments in his opinion were "as yet unprepared for any 8 organization, superior to that of a county" . If, however, Britain did divide the province of Quebec, Lord Dorchester urged that the Imperial Government consider a certain minority that would emerge at the western end of the upper division, namely, the Canadians at Detroit. For this group "particular care should be taken to 5 P.A.C., Series Q, MG 11, Vol.