Message to Teachers To celebrate the 175th anniversary of the election of use force in the face of violent dissent in hopes of Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin, creating a nation based on reason and moderation. Historica Canada, the country’s largest organization Their pioneering vision — a world that gains dedicated to enhancing awareness of Canada’s strength from peaceful change rather than history, culture and citizenship, has created this armed insurrection — has endured and spread. education guide. We hope this guide will help you to teach this important Using the concepts created by Dr. Peter Seixas and the topic in Canadian history in your classroom. Historical Thinking Project, this guide complements This guide was produced with the generous support Canadian middle- and high-school curricula. It invites of the Government of Canada. Additional free, students to explore the history of democracy and equal bilingual resources and educational activities language rights in Canada, and asks them to investigate are available on The Canadian Encyclopedia (TCE). the unique nature of the country’s diplomatic transition For further research, read Louis-Hippolyte from colonial dominion to autonomous nation. LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin This guide also asks students to explore the friendship by John Ralston Saul that brought Responsible Government, a remarkable (Penguin, 2010). Education Guide relationship between two extraordinary — and often overlooked — men. Baldwin and LaFontaine refused to A PROJECT OF WITH SUPPORT FROM Responsible Government is... LaFontaine, Baldwin & “the only possible guarantee of a Responsible Government good, constitutional, and effective Responsible Government, the basis of Canada’s parliamentary democracy, was not born out of revolution. government. The inhabitants of Achieved in 1848, it was shaped through a long process, driven by a determined group of reformers who believed a colony must have control of democracy was possible without having to overthrow the monarchy. It is also the story of how the extraordinary their own affairs...the colonial friendship of Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin laid the foundations for modern Canada. administration must be formed and A Responsible Government is accountable to the people through representatives elected by the people instead controlled by and with the majority of by appointment (as with a governor general), or inheritance (a king or queen). A Responsible Government of the people's representatives." depends on a majority in an elected legislature, requires the confidence of Parliament to pass laws and budgets, and must account for how it governs and spends taxes. — Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, 25 August 1840, “Adresse aux électeurs de Terrebonne.” In 1837 and 1838, rebellions against the political status quo broke out in both Upper and Lower Canada. After the rebellions’ defeat, reformers aimed to shape Canada’s future through parliamentary means rather than through violence. The chief figures in the struggle for democratic reform believed they could overcome cultural and linguistic divisions to create a future for Canada. Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin led the first elected assembly of the province of Canada in 1842, only to have their government collapse when the online resources governor refused to cooperate with Parliament. Recommended articles and resources can be accessed by visiting the Responsible Government Collection at In January 1847, Canada’s new governor, Lord Elgin, arrived. After elections in January 1848, he asked the Responsible-Government.ca. The featured articles, reformers to form a government. Responsible Government was finally achieved in 1848 after a decade of timelines and exhibits (in bold) are located in the struggle. LaFontaine became the first true Prime Minister of the Canadas, with Baldwin his deputy premier in the Collection. You can also search for articles by title at “Great Ministry.” But Responsible Government was not universally popular, and riots broke out in many places. TheCanadianEncyclopedia.ca. In Montreal, the Parliament building was set ablaze, and Baldwin, LaFontaine and Lord Elgin were attacked. They stood firm, committed to compromise though non-violence, cooperation, and cultural accommodation. Biographies of LaFontaine, Baldwin, and Lord Elgin, as well as relevant definitions and materials, are available Despite opposition, the Great Ministry was furiously productive: it established a public school system and public in the Responsible Government Backgrounder universities (including transforming the Anglican King’s College into the secular University of Toronto), adopted package, available for download on the Education key railway legislation, set up municipal governments, reformed the courts, made strides in equal language rights, Portal at education.historicacanada.ca. Further and passed the controversial Rebellion Losses Bill. information is available on the Dictionary of Canadian The unique relationship between LaFontaine and Baldwin, coupled with the fortitude of Lord Elgin, not only Biography website at www.biographi.ca. shaped the future of Canadian democracy, but provided the foundation for a country based on acceptance across cultural and linguistic divides. TIMELINE: LAFONTAINE,BALDWIn and RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT 1829 1837 january 3 november 6 Upper Canadian Reformer Skirmishes in the streets of Montreal between Patriotes 1839 William Warren Baldwin forwards january a petition to the British and loyalists mark the In his Report on the Affairs government asking for greater beginning of the rebellions of British North America, local responsibility for 1835 in Lower Canada, which Reformers achieve a Lord Durham recommends government. occur over the next year. majority in the Upper granting Responsible Government + The Battle of St. Charles, 25 + William Warren Baldwin Canada Legislative November 1837 and uniting the Canadas to hasten (courtesy Toronto Reference Library/ Assembly. Baldwin Collection/JRR 268 Cab IV). (courtesy Library and Archives assimilation of French Canadians. Canada/Acc. No. 1982-114-1/C-130814). 1791 1834 1836 1837 1841 December 26 The Lower Canadian Assembly january 23 december february 10 The Constitutional Act of 1791 adopts the 92 Resolutions, Sir Francis Bond Head arrives Outbreak of rebellion in Upper The Act of Union creates the comes into effect, establishing a series of demands for in Toronto to assume duties Canada. Up to 700 rebels Province of Canada. Membership the colonies of Upper Canada Responsible Government, as governor general of Upper organized by William Lyon in the new single parliament is (Ontario) and Lower Canada while maintaining loyalty to Canada. He openly campaigns Mackenzie and other radical split evenly between Canada East (Québec). the crown. The British for the Family Compact in Reformers march along Toronto’s (formerly Lower Canada) government ignores them. that year’s election. Yonge Street. They are pushed and Canada West (formerly back by government loyalists Upper Canada). and militia. + cover image + Background image (top) robert baldwin and louis-hippolyte lafontaine await the “Notice. Louis H. La Fontaine, Esq., accompanied by Dr. Baldwin, will meet the 2 arrival of lord elgin during the montreal riots, 30 april 1849 freeholders friendly to his election.” september 1841 (courtesy Gillian Goerz, 2017). (courtesy Toronto Reference Library/Baldwin Collection/TPL 2438/1841.ElectionLaFontaine.s). Accommodations for Special Education, ELL and ESL students Extension Activity: Read The Politics of Cultural Accommodation: Baldwin, are included under appropriate sections, and identified as Note to LaFontaine and Responsible Government and Act of Union on The Canadian “modifications.” Educators: Encyclopedia. As a class, discuss whether, with everything you have learned about the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions, you think that the outbreak of violence Activity One in 1837 and 1838 was inevitable. Was there any way conflict could have been avoided? Cause & Consequence: The 1837 + 1838 Rebellions Modification: Download the Fishbone Chart from the Education Portal, and use it to Many factors led the reformers to conclude that Responsible Government was crucial complete this activity in place of T-charts. for Canada’s future. The 1837–38 Rebellions were a direct result of colonial governance. In Upper Canada (Ontario), the dominant Family Compact was blocking economic and + The Insurgents, At social development. In Lower Canada (Québec), the elected Legislative Assembly, though Beauharnois, Lower Canada by Katherine Jane Ellice, dominated by French Canadian nationalists, was repeatedly overruled by unelected November 1838 anglophone advisors, known as the Château Clique, who pursued their own aims. (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-013392). When the British government rejected a request for Responsible Government, tensions between the largely urban anglophone minority and the rural French majority, coupled with economic depression, led to armed uprisings. Cause and Consequence Historical events are not inevitable, but the result of complex relationships between causes and consequences. Short- and long-term causes are the product of context (existing conditions) and agency (the power humans exercise). Some consequences are intended, others unintended. For more information on the Historical Thinking Concepts, visit historicalthinking.ca. 1. In pairs, read Rebellions of 1837–38 on The Canadian