Canada's 'Wars of Religion'

For French-Canadians in Quebec, their history was traditionally taught to inspire loyalty to their homeland. They pointed to the survival of their national language and identity that had, elsewhere in North America, been submerged by the dominant English-speaking culture. It was their linguistic, religious and cultural unity when faced with this cultural onslaught that allowed them to maintain their 'French' space and its continuance depends on maintaining this unity. This view is deeply rooted in the notion of a 'solemn pact' dating from the British Conquest of 1760 that established the terms on which the inhabitants of the former New France and their descendants were to live as a community even if they were obliged to share their homeland with the British. These essays seek to unpick the notion of the 'peaceable kingdom' in the light of the religious and cultural violence that permeated Canada between 1800 and 1885. Far from having negligible impact on the development of Canada from a colonial state to a continental dominion, violence played a seminal influence in stimulating political and constitutional development. The British government's response to the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada in 1837 and 1838 was to establish a union of the two provinces in 1841 and rule by a 'responsible' government from 1848 that proved sufficiently resilient in facing down the Tory reactions to the Rebellion Losses legislation. The Fenian invasions in 1866 impacted on the Confederation debates, though to what extent is unclear, but the fear of further Fenian incursion-that occurred in 1870 and 1871--reinforced the argument that domestic security could only be achieved through a closer constitutional federalism. The resistance in Manitoba in 1869 and 1870 reflected the hesitant nature of the new Confederation especially its failure to take account of minority interests while the North-West rebellion in 1885 demonstrated its unwillingness to negotiate for a second time and the growing confidence of its political and military position.