Home > Constitutional Act of 1791

The Constitutional Act also tried to create an established church by creating clergy reserves. grants of land reserved for the support of the Protestant clergy. In practice income from the rent or sale of these reserves, which consituted one-seventh of the territory of Upper and Lower Canada, went exclusively to the Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and is the mother branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. Christianity was planted in Britain in the first or second c and, from 1824 on, the Church of ScotlandThe Church of Scotland is the national (established) church in Scotland. It does not regard itself as a " state church", having fought for centuries to prevent government interference in its affairs. It is commonly known as the Kirk ( Scots for church .. These reserves created many difficulties in later years, making economic development difficult and creating resentment against the Anglican church, the Family CompactThe Family Compact was the informal name for the wealthy, conservative elite of Upper Canada in the early 19th century. It was one of a number of Tory dominated Compact governments that ruled the colonies of British North America. The Family Compact devel, and the Chateau Clique.

The act was problematic for both English speakers and French speakers; the French Canadians felt they might be overshadowed by English settlement and increased rights for Protestants, while the new English-speaking settlers felt the French Canadians still had too much power. However, both groups preferred the act and the institutions it created to the Quebec ActThe Quebec Act of 1774 was an act by the British Parliament setting out procedures of governance in the area of Quebec. After the Seven Years' War, a victorious Great Britain achieved a peace agreement through the Treaty of Paris (1763). Under the terms o which it replaced.

1 See also

• Constitutional history of CanadaThe Constitutional history of Canada begins with the 1763 Treaty of Paris, in which France ceded most of New France to Great Britain. See Constitutional history of New France for everything prior to the cession of New France. Royal proclamation Main artic
• 1840 Union ActThe Act of Union passed in July 1840 and proclaimed February 10, 1841, abolished the legislatures of Lower Canada and Upper Canada and established a new Parliament of Canada to replace them. This act effecting the political union of the Canadas was simila