By the treaty of 1783, the area of Canada, as established by the Quebec Act, was reduced by the formal relinquishment to the United States of the territory now constituting the States of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio. Indiana, and Illinois, and in 1791 the province was di vided by the so-called 'Constitutional Act' into two sections, 'Upper Canada' and 'Lower Can ada,' the former of which, then having a popu lation of about 20.000, was inhabited almost entirely by men of English descent, and the lat ter, then having a population of about 125,000, largely by men of French descent. Each see Lion was to have a Legislative Council, to he ap pointed by the King, for life; an assembly, to he chosen by a popular vote; and a Governor and Executive Council, to be appointed by the king; while French institutions were fur the most part to obtain in the one and English in stitutions in the other. The so-called 'Maritime Pro•inces'—New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. Cape Breton, and Prince Edward Island—were plated under administrations very similar to that of Upper Canada. In Lower Canada a party of discontent almost immediately arose, and until the reorganization of the Government, in 1841, there was almost continual friction between the Popular Assembly on the one side, representing the French element, and the Governor and Leg islative Council on the other. representing al most exclusively the English element. In spite of the unifying influence of the War of 1812 with the United States (see UNITED STATES, Ilistvry), in which men of all races through out Canada participated, this racial antagonism became more and more accentuated, until. in 1837, a certain element of the French popula tion, under the leadership of Louis J. Papineau (q.v.), angered by the intervention of the Brit ish Government, rose in revolt against the Brit ish authority, but were quickly suppressed.
Meanwhile in Upper Canada much discontent was caused by the political dominance of a small class, descended from the Loyalists, and united, it was charged, under an alleged 'family compact' for the purpose of monopolizing the public offices. The popular dissatisfaction with the prevailing state of affairs was greatly in creased by religious antagonisms and by the exposure, through the agency of one Robert Gourley, of apparent frauds in the disposition of public lands. In 1837, also, the more rad ical of the reformers, doubtless encouraged by the outbreak in Lower Canada, organized a 're bellion,' under the leadership of William L. Mackenzie (q.v.), but were defeated and driven out of the province before the close of the fol lowing year. Meanwhile Lord Durham had been sent out from England as Governor-General and high commissioner "for the determining of certain important questions depending in the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, re specting the form and future government of the said provinces," and, largely as a result of the famous report made by him in 1839, the two provinces were reunited, in 1841, by an act of Parliament, which provided for a Governor, to be appointed by the Crown, a Legislative Council, also to be appointed (for life) by the Crown; a Legislative Assembly. to which Upper and Lower Canada were to send an equal number of repre sentatives, to he elected by popular vote; and an Executive Connell, or Cabinet, to be chosen by the Governor from the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. The Maritime
Provinces, meanwhile, retained their separate governments.
After the union of Upper and Lower Canada, the advantages of a federal union of all the prov inces became more and more apparent, especially since, by nelson of the plan of equal representa tion, and the unequal growth of the two united provinces, a reorganization of some kind was ren dered imperative. In 1864 a convention of dele gates representing the various provinces was held at Quebec for the purpose of considering the advisability of union, and under the leader ship of Sir John Macdonald (q.v.) formally adopted a set of resolutions, which served as the basis for the Act of Union passed by the British Parliament in February, 1867. Under this act, the provisions of which are given in an other part of this article, Upper and Lower Canada, _Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were formally united as the Dominion of Canada, which subsequently—in 1871 and 1873, respect ively—received the accession of British Colum bia and Prince Edward island. Newfoundland, however, refused to enter the union, and still continues to hold herself aloof. The vast terri tory which since 1670 had been under the con trol of the Iludson Bay Company, was acquired by the Dominion in ]869—an event which pro voked an uprising, along the Red River, of the half-breeds under Louis Riel (q.v.), and in 1870 this territory was subdivided into Mani toba, which was immediately admitted into the Dominion on equal terms with the other prov inces, and the Northwest Territories, out of which districts were subsequently created as follows: Keewatin. in 1876; Assiniboia, Sas katchewan. Alberta, and Athabasca. in 1sS2; and Ungava, Mackenzie, and Franklin in 1895. The principal events since the creation of the feder ation in 1867, in addition to those already men tioned. have been time raids of the Fenians in 1S7(I-71, who had also made a desultory attack in 1866 ( see FENIAN SOCIETY) ; the adopt ion of a high customs tariff in 1S76 ; a second outbreak of the half-breeds and Indians under Riel in 1883: the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad in the same year and the agitation in Newfoundland ( 1887-91 ) over encroachments by French fishermen.
The boundary line between Canada and the United States. which was determined with con siderable vagueness by the treaty of 1783. has formed the subject of much controversy between the United States and Great Britain. and was not finally settled for the northeast until 1842, and for the northwest until 1846. The question of the right of the Americans to fish in Canadian waters has also been the subject of considera ble controversy between the two governments (see CEILING), as has also the right of the Canadians to participate in the seal fisheries in Bering Sea (see BERING SEA CONTROVERSY). From 1854 to 1866 there was a reciprocity treaty with regard to trade and commerce be tween Canada and the United States, and since its repeal frequent attempts without avail have been made by the Canadian Government to se cure its renewal.