To what Extent did the Rebellions of Upper and Lower Canada (1837) Essay

To what Extent did the Rebellions of Upper and Lower Canada (1837) Lead to Canada's Responsible Government in 1867 - Essay Example The aim of this paper is to look at Canada’s experience with responsible government during 1867 and look at the known, possible driving forces behind the implementation of the responsible government, namely the Durham report and the American influence, and provide arguments as to which one mainly affected or drove the implementation of responsible government. These topics will be discussed in detail as follows: Lord Durham’s report and how it was responsible for Canada’s responsible government The American influence that was responsible for Canada’s responsible government Conclusion and breakdown Lord Durham’s report and how it was responsible for Canada’s responsible government According to marianopolis.edu, John George Lambton was the first earl of Durham. He was also known as â€Å"Radical Jack† because of his support of certain causes by the Whig party in England. Some of these causes created quite a stir back in those times such a s free trade. He was sent to be a Governor General in British North America in 1838. This was done, according to the same article above in order to â€Å"investigate the circumstances of the rebellions of 1837 in Upper and Lower Canada and to make recommendations for the future government of the British North American colonies.† He was the person that created the Durham report which is now believed to have been one of the driving forces behind Canada’s responsible government of 1867. The main purpose of this report was to assess the situation in British North America and the local conditions. This report made several recommendations such as the unification of Upper and Lower Canada and the proposal of responsible government. One other recommendation includes the establishment of local municipalities in Canada. Some saw these recommendations as great advancements and key efforts in making a better Canada while others, specifically in Lower Canada regarded Lambton as a r acist for his suggestion to assimilate the French Canadians. We can consider this report to have been one of the best driving forces for responsible government because based on observation, the idea of implementing a responsible government was not something agreeable to the British, because, like the paper stated â€Å"Great Britain could not quite bring itself to implement responsible government in the colonies†. But despite this, the Union act of 1840 was created and Canada was united. The American influence that was responsible for Canada’s responsible government Around 2 years before the establishment of the responsible government of Canada in 1867, America was putting and end to its civil war. The actions taken by America at that time were also considered to be a major influence to the establishment of Canada’s responsible government; in fact some consider it more of an influence than the Durham report. Based on the information given, the Durham report sugg ested that Canada be unified and that they establish responsible government, however the British did not agree to the later suggestion but followed through on the unification of Canada. After seeing that America won against one of Canada’s major colonizers, their now unified country may have taken this as a queue point to establish responsible government for a few reasons; one being a show of defiance to England, another maybe in support of America and