Lesson 3
From New France to responsible government, before 1867.
French explorers and settlers founded New France along the St. Lawrence River in the 1600s. The fur trade drove the economy: the voyageurs were Montreal-based traders who travelled by canoe deep into the continent. Britain and France fought for control of North America, and in 1759 the British defeated the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, ending France's empire in America.
After the American Revolution, the United Empire Loyalists, people loyal to the Crown, moved north to Canada. The first representative assembly was elected in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1758. The Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada (later Ontario) and Lower Canada (later Quebec) and gave both elected legislative assemblies. In the War of 1812 the United States invaded Canada and was defeated, which ensured Canada would remain independent of the United States. Later, the Underground Railroad, an anti-slavery network, helped thousands of enslaved people escape from the United States to Canada.
Responsible government means the ministers of the Crown must have the support of a majority of the elected representatives to govern. Nova Scotia was the first British colony to achieve it, in 1847–48. In 1849 Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine, a champion of democracy and French language rights, became the first leader of a responsible government in the Canadas. This is still how Canada is governed today.
Answer: The ministers of the Crown must have the support of a majority of the elected representatives in order to govern. Responsible government means that the government must retain the support of a majority of elected representatives in the assembly; if it loses a confidence vote, it must resign.
Answer: An anti-slavery network that helped thousands of slaves escape the United States and settle in Canada. The Underground Railroad was a Christian anti-slavery network that helped thousands of slaves escape from the United States and settle in Canada.
Answer: The Constitutional Act of 1791. The Constitutional Act of 1791 granted to the Canadas, for the first time, legislative assemblies elected by the people.
Answer: Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine. Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine, a champion of French language rights, became the first head of a responsible government in Canada in 1849.
Answer: Settlers who came to Canada from the United States during the American Revolution. The United Empire Loyalists were more than 40,000 people loyal to the Crown who fled the oppression of the American Revolution to settle in Nova Scotia and Quebec.
Answer: The British defeated the French marking the end of France's empire in America. At the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, the British defeated the French, marking the end of France's empire in North America.
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