# Canadas > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Canadas > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Canadas.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadas > Source revision: 1305682185 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Historical geopolitical term}} {{Hatnote group| {{For|the successor colony|Province of Canada}} {{Other uses|Canada (disambiguation)|Canadas (disambiguation)}} }} {{Infobox former country |conventional_long_name = Provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada |common_name = The Canadas |iso3166code = omit |year_start = 1791 |year_end = 1841 |p1 = Colony of Quebec |flag_p1 = Flag of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg |s1 = Province of Canada |flag_s1 = Flag of the United Kingdom.svg |flag_type = [Union Flag](/source/Union_Jack) (1801 version){{cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/flag-canada-history.html#a2 |title=Early flags |work=Government of Canada |access-date=2021-01-15}}{{cite web |url=http://fraser.cc/FlagsCan/Nation/Union.html |title=Royal Union Flag |work=The Flags of Canada |access-date=2021-01-15}} |image_flag = Flag of the United Kingdom.svg |flag_alt = Royal Union Flag |national_anthem = "[God Save the King/Queen](/source/God_Save_the_King)"
File:Rufst du, mein Vaterland (1938).oga
|image_map = Canada upper lower map.PNG |image_map_alt = Map of the Canadas |image_map_caption = The Canadas, [Upper Canada](/source/Upper_Canada) (orange) and [Lower Canada](/source/Lower_Canada) (green) prior to 1809, with contemporary [Canada](/source/Canada) in pink surrounding it }} The '''Canadas''' is the collective name for the provinces of [Lower Canada](/source/Lower_Canada) and [Upper Canada](/source/Upper_Canada), two [historical British colonies](/source/British_colonization_of_the_Americas) in present-day [Canada](/source/Canada).{{cite book|author=Wesley B. Turner|title=The Astonishing General: The Life and Legacy of Sir Isaac Brock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ugrSHwy1wysC&pg=PA12|date=4 July 2011|publisher=Dundurn Press Ltd.|isbn=978-1-55488-777-4|page=12}} The two colonies were formed in 1791, when the [British Parliament](/source/British_Parliament) passed the ''[Constitutional Act](/source/Constitutional_Act_1791)'', splitting the colonial [Province of Quebec](/source/Province_of_Quebec_(1763%E2%80%931791)) into two separate colonies. The [Ottawa River](/source/Ottawa_River) formed the border between Lower and Upper Canada. The Canadas were merged into a single entity in 1841, shortly after [Lord Durham](/source/John_Lambton%2C_1st_Earl_of_Durham) published his ''[Report on the Affairs of British North America](/source/Report_on_the_Affairs_of_British_North_America)''. His report held several recommendations, most notably union of the Canadas. Acting on his recommendation, the British Parliament passed the ''[Act of Union 1840](/source/Act_of_Union_1840)'', which went into effect in 1841, uniting the Canadas into the [Province of Canada](/source/Province_of_Canada). The terms ''Lower'' and ''Upper'' refer to the colony's position relative to the headwaters of the [St. Lawrence River](/source/St._Lawrence_River). * Lower Canada covered the southeastern portion of the present-day province of [Quebec](/source/Quebec) and (until 1809) the [Labrador](/source/Labrador) region of [Newfoundland and Labrador](/source/Newfoundland_and_Labrador). * Upper Canada covered what is now the southern portion of the province of [Ontario](/source/Ontario) and the lands bordering [Georgian Bay](/source/Georgian_Bay) and [Lake Superior](/source/Lake_Superior). ==History== [[File:Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Map of Upper and Lower Canada, and the Other British Possessions in North America. Sheet 1 CTASC.jpg|thumb|Geographical, statistical, and historical map of Upper and Lower Canada, and the other [British Possessions](/source/British_Possessions) in North America (1823)]] The two colonies were created in 1791 with the passage of the ''[Constitutional Act 1791](/source/Constitutional_Act_1791)''. As a result of the influx of [Loyalists](/source/United_Empire_Loyalists) from the [American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War), the [Province of Quebec](/source/Province_of_Quebec_(1763%E2%80%931791)) was divided into two new colonies, consisting of Lower and Upper Canada. The creation of Upper Canada was in response to the influx of [United Empire Loyalist](/source/United_Empire_Loyalist) settlers, who desired a colonial administration modelled under British institutions and [common law](/source/common_law), especially British laws of land tenure. Conversely, Lower Canada maintained most of the French Canadian institutions guaranteed under the [Quebec Act](/source/Quebec_Act), such as the French [civil law](/source/Civil_law_(legal_system)) system. In 1838 [Lord Durham](/source/John_Lambton%2C_1st_Earl_of_Durham) was sent to the colonies to examine the causes for [rebellion in the Canadas](/source/Rebellions_of_1837%E2%80%931838). His [report on the colonies](/source/Report_on_the_Affairs_of_British_North_America) recommended that the two colonies should be united, and the introduction of [responsible government](/source/responsible_government). The [British Parliament](/source/British_Parliament) would eventually act on the former suggestion, with the passage of the ''[Act of Union 1840](/source/Act_of_Union_1840)''. The ''Act of Union'' went into force in 1841, and saw the Canadas united into the [Province of Canada](/source/Province_of_Canada). However, the Act did not establish responsible government, which was not introduced until 1848. ==See also== *[The Californias](/source/The_Californias) *[The Carolinas](/source/The_Carolinas) *[The Dakotas](/source/The_Dakotas) *[The Floridas](/source/The_Floridas) *[Rhodesia (region)](/source/Rhodesia_(region)) *[The Virginias](/source/The_Virginias) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{Canadian colonies}} {{Territories of the British Empire}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Canadas}} Category:Former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas Category:States and territories established in 1791 Category:1841 disestablishments in North America Category:History of Ontario by location Category:History of Quebec by location Category:Pre-Confederation Quebec Category:Former colonies in North America Category:1791 establishments in the British Empire Category:States and territories disestablished in 1841 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Canadas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadas) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadas?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.