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Durham Report
The Report on the Affairs of British North America, (French: Rapport sur les affaires de l’Amérique du Nord britannique, 1839) commonly known as the Durham Report or Lord Durham's Report, is an important document in the history of Quebec, Ontario, Canada and the British Empire. It called for reforms that sought to address concerns expressed during the rebellions of 1837–38.
The Report was written by the notable British Whig politician John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, who was sent to the Canadas in 1838 to investigate and report on the causes of the rebellions of 1837–38. He had just been appointed Governor General and given special powers as high commissioner of British North America.
On the first page of his report he stated that "[w]hile the present state of things is allowed to last, the actual inhabitants of these Provinces have no security for person or property—no enjoyment of what they possess—no stimulus to industry." He would return to that theme repeatedly throughout his report.
The Report was controversial. In Upper Canada the dominant Tory elite rejected it, while out-of-power reformers welcomed the ideal of responsible government. In Lower Canada, anglophone Tories were supportive because its provisions would enable them to remain in power. French Canadians were opposed to a union that called for "obliterating [their] nationality." The "Report" led to major reforms and democratic advances. The two Canadas were subsequently merged into a single colony, the Province of Canada, in the 1840 Act of Union. It moved Canada slowly on the path to "responsible government" (that is, self-government), which took a decade. In the long run, it advanced democracy and played a central role in the evolution of Canada's political independence from Britain.
In Upper Canada and Lower Canada, he formed numerous committees with essentially all the opponents of the Patriotes and made numerous personal observations on life in the colonies.
Durham arrived in Quebec City on 29 May. Durham knew how to organize support in Upper Canada. His writing team drew upon a long tradition of petitioning and the example of political activism in Britain. They engaged in extensive advance publicity and public processions to attract audiences for meetings. The goal was to convince London of the widespread popular support in Canada for the report proposals. The meetings were represented as nonpartisan, respectable, loyal, orderly and deserving of parliamentary support.
Durham also visited the United States.
He wrote that he had assumed that the rebellions had been based on liberalism and economics. However, he eventually concluded that the real problem was the conflict between the traditionalist French and the modernizing English, and that assimilation of the French minority, through their adoption of the political institutions and the "superior advantages of their English competitors", had effectively put an end to the tensions between the two communities.
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Durham Report
The Report on the Affairs of British North America, (French: Rapport sur les affaires de l’Amérique du Nord britannique, 1839) commonly known as the Durham Report or Lord Durham's Report, is an important document in the history of Quebec, Ontario, Canada and the British Empire. It called for reforms that sought to address concerns expressed during the rebellions of 1837–38.
The Report was written by the notable British Whig politician John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, who was sent to the Canadas in 1838 to investigate and report on the causes of the rebellions of 1837–38. He had just been appointed Governor General and given special powers as high commissioner of British North America.
On the first page of his report he stated that "[w]hile the present state of things is allowed to last, the actual inhabitants of these Provinces have no security for person or property—no enjoyment of what they possess—no stimulus to industry." He would return to that theme repeatedly throughout his report.
The Report was controversial. In Upper Canada the dominant Tory elite rejected it, while out-of-power reformers welcomed the ideal of responsible government. In Lower Canada, anglophone Tories were supportive because its provisions would enable them to remain in power. French Canadians were opposed to a union that called for "obliterating [their] nationality." The "Report" led to major reforms and democratic advances. The two Canadas were subsequently merged into a single colony, the Province of Canada, in the 1840 Act of Union. It moved Canada slowly on the path to "responsible government" (that is, self-government), which took a decade. In the long run, it advanced democracy and played a central role in the evolution of Canada's political independence from Britain.
In Upper Canada and Lower Canada, he formed numerous committees with essentially all the opponents of the Patriotes and made numerous personal observations on life in the colonies.
Durham arrived in Quebec City on 29 May. Durham knew how to organize support in Upper Canada. His writing team drew upon a long tradition of petitioning and the example of political activism in Britain. They engaged in extensive advance publicity and public processions to attract audiences for meetings. The goal was to convince London of the widespread popular support in Canada for the report proposals. The meetings were represented as nonpartisan, respectable, loyal, orderly and deserving of parliamentary support.
Durham also visited the United States.
He wrote that he had assumed that the rebellions had been based on liberalism and economics. However, he eventually concluded that the real problem was the conflict between the traditionalist French and the modernizing English, and that assimilation of the French minority, through their adoption of the political institutions and the "superior advantages of their English competitors", had effectively put an end to the tensions between the two communities.