The Driving Forces of Canadas Responsible Government of 1867 - Essay Example

The aim of this paper is to look at Canada’s experience with the responsible government during 1867 and look at the known, possible driving forces behind the implementation of the responsible government, namely the Durham report and the American influence, and provide arguments as to which one mainly affected or drove the implementation of responsible government. These topics will be discussed in detail as follows:
• Lord Durham’s report and how it was responsible for Canada’s responsible government
• The American influence that was responsible for Canada’s responsible government
• Conclusion and breakdown
Lord Durham’s report and how it was responsible
for Canada’s responsible government
According to marianopolis.edu, John George Lambton was the first earl of Durham. He was also known as “Radical Jack” because of his support of certain causes by the Whig party in England. Some of these causes created quite a stir back in those times such as free trade. He was sent to be a Governor-General in British North America in 1838. This was done, according to the same article above in order to “investigate the circumstances of the rebellions of 1837 in Upper and Lower Canada and to make recommendations for the future government of the British North American colonies.” He was the person that created the Durham report which is now believed to have been one of the driving forces behind Canada’s responsible government of 1867. The main purpose of this report was to assess the situation in British North America and the local conditions. This report made several recommendations such as the unification of Upper and Lower Canada and the proposal of responsible government. One other recommendation includes the establishment of local municipalities in Canada.
Some saw these recommendations as to great advancements and key efforts in making a better Canada while others, specifically in Lower Canada regarded Lambton as a racist for his suggestion to assimilate the French Canadians. We can consider this report to have been one of the best driving forces for responsible government because based on observation, the idea of implementing a responsible government was not something agreeable to the British, because, like the paper stated “Great Britain could not quite bring itself to implement responsible government in the colonies”. But despite this, the Union act of 1840 was created and Canada was united.
The American influence that was responsible
for Canada’s responsible government
Around 2 years before the establishment of the responsible government of Canada in 1867, America was putting an end to its civil war. The actions taken by America at that time were also considered to be a major influence on the establishment of Canada’s responsible government; in fact, some consider it more of an influence than the Durham report. Based on the information given, the Durham report suggested that Canada be unified and that they establish a responsible government, however, the British did not agree to the later suggestion but followed through on the unification of Canada.
After seeing that America won against one of Canada’s major colonizers, their now unified country may have taken this as a queue point to establish a responsible government for a few reasons; one being a show of defiance to England, another may be in support of America and another reason to consider may be that once the events in the American civil war settled down, Canada saw this as an opportunity to further improve their status as an independent country and saw responsible government as a way to do this, still based on the suggestion or recommendation of the Durham report.
Another influence according to Wikipedia, may be the cancellation of the Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty which also happened around 1865. These factors, when combined are considered by many to be more of an influence on Canada’s decision to establish a responsible government. The argument is that they consider this to overshadow the Durham report. The final part of this paper will provide a definite conclusion as to which influence made a larger impact on the decision.
Conclusion and breakdown
Based on the information provided regarding the 2 known influences or driving forces behind Canada's move to a responsible government, namely Lord Durham's report and the American influence, this portion of the paper will attempt to provide a conclusion as to which of the 2 sources was more influential. This portion will also attempt to support one of the sources and expound on the support.
The information provided regarding the 2 sources indicates that they both have had a significant influence on Canada's move for a responsible government, but the influence made by the Durham report was by far the more significant of the 2. IT was the report that provided the initial idea of unification as well as the implementation of the responsible government. Based on the information given as well, this report was also the basis used after the inspiration from the American influence hit Canada. This report was specifically done for Canada and her situation at the time and the recommendations made in this report were made to fit Canada and the need for her improvement.  Read More