CONSTITUTIONAL ACT (1791). An Act to repeal certain Parts of an Act, passed in the Fourteenth Year of His Majesty's Reign, intituled, An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec, in North America; and to make further Provision for the Government of the said Province.

COLONIAL CANADA. Great Britain. Parliament.

Published by London: Charles Eyre and Andrew Strahan, 1791

About this Item

FOLLOW-UP LEGISLATION TO THE QUEBEC ACT (1774): THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC IS DIVIDED INTO UPPER CANADA AND LOWER CANADA, EACH WITH THEIR OWN LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY (1791). Folio (11.5 inches). 31 George III, Chapter 31. General title leaf + pages 1271-1296. Royal coat of arms, headpiece ornament, and decorative initial. Text in black letter. Neatly extracted from a bound volume and stitched. This landmark Act reformed the government of Quebec from what had been outlined by the Quebec Act, 1774 to accommodate the influx of Empire Loyalists from the United States after the American Revolution. The Constitutional Act, 1791 established the new colony of Upper Canada in the region west of the Ottawa River and north of the Great Lakes to accommodate the new English-speaking citizens. The former Province of Quebec, populated almost exclusively with French-speaking citizens, became Lower Canada. Representative governments were established for each province through the creation of Legislative Assemblies. Each Assembly consisted of a Legislative Council (equivalent to an Upper House, or Senate, consisting of wealthy landowners, appointed by the King for life) and an elected Assembly (equivalent to a Lower House, or House of Commons). Government was overseen by a Governor General, who acted with the advice and consent of the Executive Council (a subset of the Legislative Council). Upper Canada also had a Lieutenant Governor and adopted English common law. Lower Canada retained French civil law (the Coutume de Paris), the seigneurial system of land tenure, the right to practice the Roman Catholic religion, and the freedom to use the French language in the courts. Both provinces were subject to English criminal law, and oaths could be recited in French or English. The Act was also notable for a voting franchise vastly ahead of its time that included women who were naturalized persons 21 years of age, had not been convicted of a serious criminal offence, and who owned property. The right for women to vote was applicable most particularly to Lower Canada, where women were able to own property as a result of the prevailing French civil law system, which permitted the transfer of property from husband to wife.

Seller Inventory # 282

Bibliographic Details

• Title: CONSTITUTIONAL ACT (1791). An Act to repeal certain Parts of an Act, passed in the Fourteenth Year of His Majesty's Reign, intituled, An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec, in North America; and to make further Provision for the Government of the said Province.
• Publisher: London: Charles Eyre and Andrew Strahan
• Publication Date: 1791
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • CANADA Women's Rights
  • CANADA British Colonial