The+Loyalists+and+The+Constitutional+Act

In determining who was eligible for compensation for war losses, Britain used a fairly precise definition: Loyalists were those born or living in the American colonies at the outbreak of the Revolution who rendered substantial service to the royal cause during the war, and who left the US by the end of the war or soon after. Those who left substantially later, mainly to gain land and to escape growing intolerance of minorities, are often called "late" Loyalists. The Loyalists supported Britain for highly diverse reasons. Many evinced a personal loyalty to the Crown or a fear that revolution could bring chaos to America. Many agreed with the rebels that America had suffered wrongs at the hands of Britain, but believed the solution could be worked out within the empire. Not everyone in the thirteen colonies supported the revolution. One third of the people believed in the revolutions cause, one third was neutral and one third remained actively loyal to the King in England. Loyalists came from all social classes and were looked on with little favor by their neighbors. In all areas the loyalists lived in an unfriendly environment and when the revolution broke out the people who supported Britain faced violent persecution. Suspected loyalists were faced with injustice, injustices intensified to the point where loyalists felt they should leave the country. The group of immigrants also included Acadians, Blacks and Mennonites.
 * __ The Loyalists __**

Nova Scotia was a major destination for fleeing Loyalists approximately 30 thousand Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia after the Revolutionary War. The British government undertook the task of settling these people in return for their loyalty, these Loyalists were granted land, tools and provisions. Some of the Loyalists were unable to cope with fronteir life and they returned to either the US or England. Some weren't happy that some of Nova Scotians didn't aide Britain in the revolution. Loyalists in Quebec did not want to live under seigneurial system and settled away from the French colonists. Some loyalists moved west and laid a foundation for a future colony, land grants and assistance were comparable to Nova Scotia loyalists. Loyalists settled in PEI but were not given title to land as it was controlled by absentee landlords.

__ ﻿Effects of the Loyalist Migration __
The migration greatly increased the size of the British-Canadian colonies. More English Protestants lived in Quebec. The economy of Canada was diversified although the Fur Trade remained an integral part. The creation of the colony of New Brunswick resulted from the high number of settlers there. It rendered the Quebec obsolete as there was now a high number of English Protestants in Quebec. Loyalists brought a belief in British rights, traditions, and heritage.

__ ﻿Impact on First Nations __
Many First Nations groups were forced to leave their traditional lands and migrate to British North America. The British desired to avoid conflict with the First Nations over the granting of the lands to the arriving Loyalists. A number of First Nations peoples wer displaced by the influx and settlement of the Loyalists. The newly arriving Loyalists did not settle in areas already occupied by the French-speaking population. They preferred to settle in sparsely populated areas and create their own islands of settlement.

__ ﻿The Constitutional Act of 1791 __
The colony of Quebec was essentially divided into two separate colonies - Upper Canada (present day Ontario) and lower Canada (present day Quebec). This Act was intended to standardize British Parliamentary traditions and systems and to ensure that the individual rights and liberties were maintained through all of the colonies.This Act enshrined constitutional changes that were part of that reorganization of British North America which took place under the pressure of thousands of loyalists seeking refuge after the American Revolution. A constitutional bill was prepared by William Wyndham Grenville to ensure the development of British parliamentary institutions in the territory governed by the Quebec Act of 1774. According to its author, the bill's general purpose was to "assimilate" each colony's constitution to that of Britain. The bill had 4 main objectives: to guarantee the same rights and privileges as were enjoyed by loyal subjects elsewhere in North America; to ease the burden on the imperial treasury by granting colonial assemblies the right to levy taxes with which to pay for local civil and legal administration; to justify the territorial division of the province of Quebec and the creation of separate provincial legislatures; and to maintain and strengthen the bonds of political dependency by remedying acknowledged constitutional weaknesses of previous colonial governments. This involved bolstering the authority and prestige of the governor by making him a true representative of the imperial power, and limiting the powers of the elected colonial assemblies by creating independent legislative councils whose appointed members comprised an aristocratic body modelled on the House of Lords and devoted to the interests of the Crown. The Act guaranteed continuity of ownership of lands held under the seigneurial system in Lower Canada and created the clergy reserves in Upper Canada. By giving Upper Canada a provincial constitution and a separate existence, and by favouring British colonization there, Britain took the first steps on the path that led, ultimately, to the creation of the Canadian Confederation.