The Constitutional Act of 1791 was a British law which changed the government of the province of Quebec to accommodate the many English-speaking settlers, known as the United Empire Loyalists, who had arrived from the United States following the American Revolution. Quebec was divided in two. The western half became Upper Canada (now southern Ontario) and the eastern half Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). Upper Canada received English law and institutions, while Lower Canada retained French law and institutions, including seigneurial land tenure, and the privileges accorded to the Roman Catholic church. Representative governments were established in both colonies with the creation of a legislative assembly; Quebec had not previously had representative government. Along with each assembly there was also an appointed upper house, the Legislative Council, created for wealthy landowners; within the Legislative Council was the Executive Council, acting as a cabinet for the governor.
The Constitutional Act also tried to create an established church by creating clergy reserves. grants of land reserved for the support of the Protestantclergy. In practice income from the rent or sale of these reserves, which consituted one-seventh of the territory of Upper and Lower Canada, went exclusively to the Church of England and, from 1824 on, the Church of Scotland. These reserves created many difficulties in later years, making economic development difficult and creating resentment against the Anglican church, the Family Compact, and the Chateau Clique.
The act was problematic for both English speakers and French speakers; the French Canadians felt they might be overshadowed by English settlement and increased rights for Protestants, while the new English-speaking settlers felt the French Canadians still had too much power. However, both groups preferred the act and the institutions it created to the Quebec Act which it replaced.
The ConstitutionalAct of 1791 was an Act of the British Parliament creating UPPER CANADA and LOWER CANADA.
This Act enshrined constitutional changes that were part of that reorganization of BRITISH NORTH AMERICA which took place under the pressure of thousands of LOYALISTS seeking refuge after the American Revolution.
Modelled on the earlier creation of the provinces of New Brunswick and Cape Breton in 1784, a constitutional bill was prepared by William Wyndham Grenville to ensure the development of British parliamentary institutions in the territory governed by the QUEBECACT of 1774.
The ConstitutionalAct of 1791 was a British law which changed the government of the province of Quebec to accommodate the many English-speaking settlers, known as the United Empire Loyalists, who had arrived from the United States following the American Revolution.
The act was problematic for both English speakers and French speakers; the French Canadians felt they might be overshadowed by English settlement and increased rights for Protestants, while the new English-speaking settlers felt the French Canadians still had too much power.
The act is often seen as a watershed in the developement of French Canadian nationalism as it provided for a province (Lower Canada) that was seen by les Canadiens to be their own, seperate from the Anglo Upper Canada.
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