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The Constitutional Act (jan 1, 1791 – 23h 59min, dec 31, 1791 y)

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The Constitutional Act was a form of legislation signed in 1791 that replaced what the Quebec Act had created. It redefined provincial boundaries at the time and divided it into two Canada’s; Lower Canada and Upper Canada. (Belshaw, p. 239) While this was mainly to set up a way to control the population easier with governance, it was also to establish consistent administrative structure in the Colonies of British North America. They wanted to test out other models of administrative duties to see which kind of settler colony administration would work the best all over the globe. (Belshaw p. 239) I think that the most important part that came out of the Constitutional Act was the fact that the land in Canada was divided into basically two parts. The first part was Upper Canada. Upper Canada was anglophone and Church of England, and thus seemed to hold more power over the greater part of both colony parliament and control over what happened on or to the land. (Belshaw, p. 240) Lower Canada held a majority Catholic and francophone population; which made it difficult for them to generate a lot of power and control their own resources and people. (Belshaw, p. 241) I believe that the drafting and creation of the Constitutional Act played a very important role in the shaping of what would become Canada, because it was able to create a larger network of Canadian government, that while still ruled by the European countries, was beginning to take steps into becoming their own country, with their own rules, laws, and economy. I believe that it was another step that lead to much more interaction between First Nations peoples and European settlers; albeit not very good for the First Nations people. The creation of an Upper and Lower Canada really changed the landscape from a political side when the Constitutional Act was written. It created an imbalance that forced the people to almost start working together, even though they were not the same (French vs English, Catholic vs Protestant) and to try and make a better place for both them and their families.

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Date:

jan 1, 1791
23h 59min, dec 31, 1791 y
~ 12 months

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