HIS263Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Responsible Government, Lower Canada
Document Summary
Lecture 17 responsible government and partisan politics. In july of 1840, upper and lower canada were unified. The governor of canada, lord elgin, inaugurated responsible government in the province of. In 1847, nova scotia became the first colony to achieve responsible government after an election centered on that single issue. Prince edward island achieved responsible government in 1851 and new brunswick in 1854. In newfoundland it was a little more complicated. Britain wanted to split elected parties by appointed members and voted members. The lower provinces were able to live with a two-party system but canada created four parties. George brown, leader of the grits, adopted representation by population as a campaign slogan when he stood as an independent reformer in the general election of that year. French canada gradually tried to withdrawal into its own agenda centered on the development of nationalistic aspirations and the preservation of french-canadian culture and society.