War Of 1812 Causes

The Americans had a Manifest Destiny that one day all of North America shall be America. They wanted glory and one great American continent.
• President James Madison initiated the War of 1812 on Canada. He declared war on Great Britain (Canada=British) because the Americans had had enough with the British. o The main cause of the war was, that the British were impressing American ships and sailors
 They needed people to fight against Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars back in Europe.

These three played a great role in the War of 1812.
• Major General Isaac Brock and Tecumseh worked together to fight off the Americans (General Hull, Henry Clay, William Henry Harrison etc.). They both died fighting for our country. o Isaac Brock was handsome,
 The French farmers had bad harvests in the 1830s o Land was difficult to obtain under the seigniorial regime because rents were too high
 This forced many peasants to abandon agriculture and look for work in towns.
• The oligarchy in Upper Canada was called the ‘Family Compact’. Almost all of the leaders were related and of the wealthy families. o It was because of the Family Compact that the rebellion started.
 Patronage was very common. Members of the Family Compact gave the best jobs and authority to their friends and family.
 They used public funds to make stuff that was beneficial to them
• Built canals instead of roads and schools because they had access to riverside houses and the schools and roads wouldn’t benefit them.
 The Anglican Church was given a large land reserve.
• This land was part of the middle class and poor’s land.

Louis-Joseph Papineau supported the rights of the colonies to self-government
• Inhabitants had the right to elect representatives to the local House of Assembly but the elected members had no real power; the governor made all
The Act of Union 1841 united the Upper and Lower Canada into United Canada.
• February 1841, United Canada’s new constitution came into effect o Upper Canada became West Canada and Lower Canada became East Canada o In the new Legislative Assembly, there were an equal number of people from both parts of Canada.
 But the colonial system wasn’t made democratic because the government worried giving more power to the colonies would result in them losing power. The Governors and councilors that the British government appointed still had almost all of the power.

Louis Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin reformed Canada after the Act of Union and the failed Rebellions of 1837 and 1838.
• LaFontaine was a French lawyer and politician whereas Baldwin was an English lawyer from one of Toronto’s richest families.
• LaFontaine ran in the first election, after the union, in the riding of Terrebonne. o Because voting offices were put away from French towns and near English towns, when LaFontaine and his supporters went to vote they were greeted by an English mob - LaFontaine had to drop out of the elections to avoid