🏛️ Chapter 3: Canada's History
What does "responsible government" mean?
Correct answer: Ministers can govern only while most elected members support them
A Every new law must be approved by voters in a referendum
✓ Ministers can govern only while most elected members support them
C The governor may dismiss the assembly whenever he wishes
D Ministers are appointed directly by the Sovereign in London
💡 Explanation
Ministers can only stay in office while a majority of the elected members backs them.
Key facts to remember
- 1830s reformers thought democracy was arriving too slowly
- Armed rebellions in 1837–38 near Montreal and in Toronto
- Too little public support; troops and volunteers beat the rebels
- Some were hanged, some exiled, and a few exiles returned
- Lord Durham, an English reformer, investigated the rebellions
- He recommended merging Upper and Lower Canada
- Responsible government: ministers need a majority of elected members
- His assimilation advice ignored French Canada's distinct identity
Why this is the answer
From the official Discover Canada study guide — 3.3.3 Rebellions of 1837–38:
In Upper and Lower Canada, reformers grew impatient during the 1830s. To them, democracy was arriving far too slowly. Some looked to American republican values, and a few wanted to join the United States. Armed rebellions followed in 1837–38. One rose in Toronto, the other in the countryside near Montreal. Public support was too thin for either to win. British troops and Canadian volunteers put the rebels down. Some rebels went to the gallows, others into exile, and a number of the exiles came back later.
England sent a reformer, Lord Durham, to study the rebellions and report back. Two things came out of his report. First, he wanted Upper and Lower Canada joined together and given responsible government — meaning that ministers of the Crown can only govern while most elected members back them. Second, and far more controversially, he claimed the Canadiens would progress fastest by blending into English-speaking Protestant culture. On that point he understood French Canadians very poorly. They wanted French Canada to keep its own distinct identity.
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