The Constitutional Act of 1791 was passed by British Parliament partly in response to the American Revolution and subsequent Declaration of Independence. Expansionism in the newly-formed United States was rampant; the foresight possessed by the colonial government of British North America ensured that necessary steps were taken to prevent the annexation of the province of Quebec, namely through the installation of the British system of parliamentary government.

Dividing the province into halves based on cultural distinctions seemed the best course of action; Upper Canada was the English-speaking half, inland in the St. Lawrence Valley, with French-speaking Lower Canada to the east. It comprised what is now the most heavily-populated area of southern Ontario.

The government established by the Act was similar to that in Lower Canada: a lieutenant governor, appointed by and directly responsible to the British crown, who in turn appointed an Executive Council and a Legislative Council, both of whom had veto power over decisions made by an elected House of Assembly, in which Upper Canada had fifty representatives.

Naturally, the names for each half of the divided province caused affront -- though having "Upper Canada" further up the St. Lawrence River made sense geographically, some Francophones were upset because they felt it implied that the colony's Anglophones thought of themselves as being higher up on the social ladder. Coincidentally, most of the English inhabitants of Upper Canada were wealthier than the French in Lower Canada, and employed in positions seen as more desirable: merchants and exporters, for example, as opposed to coureurs du bois. That much of Lower Canada was of lower social standing than much of Upper Canada had less to do with any premeditated decision than it did with differences in culture and way of life was rendered irrelevant in the face of the determination of French-Canadian politicians to find something at which to take offence.

At the time of its creation, Upper Canada had a population of around 10 000, most of whom were United Empire Loyalists who fled the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolution and the War of Independence which followed. First Nations peoples and Francophones made up the rest of the population.

Where in Lower Canada the War of 1812 created an alliance of sorts between the French and the English in the Canadas, in Upper Canada specifically it cemented the place of the Loyalists and American colonists who had migrated north to maintain ties with Great Britain. Fighting against their former countrymen when the United States invaded British North America, the Loyalists and their contributions were recognised as being crucial to the Upper Canadian identity, a pride which is still visible even now: many old Loyalist family names live on as influential names in politics and "old rich" social circles of Ontario.

Before the Constitutional Act, English Canada had essentially been ruled autocratically by a group of wealthy conservative Anglophone elite called the Family Compact. As the nineteenth century progressed, their power became an issue of great contention, particularly among the less wealthy. A number of political leaders emerged, agitating for reform; the two most notable of these were Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine and Robert Baldwin, who as a collective with other reformers were able to take power in the House of Assembly in 1828 and again in 1834.

The Family Compact was reluctant to give up its power, however, and in response to the stalemate the British government appointed Francis Bond Head as Lieutenant-Governor in an effort to win over the reformers. The effort came to nothing, though, as Bond Head adopted a confrontational attitude and instead of working with the reformers helped to elect Conservatives through gerrymandering of ridings.

Moderate reformers, like Baldwin, were defeated by this tactic. However, the field was left open to radicals such as William Lyon Mackenzie, who urged anyone who wanted change to institute economic boycotts and join with radicals and rebels in Lower Canada.

The peaceful approach to reform was abandoned altogether with the 1837 Upper Canada rebellion, which corresponded to a rebellion of the same year in Lower Canada and occurred for many of the same reasons. Poorly organised and not at all well thought out, the Upper Canada rebellion was far less effective than that in Lower Canada, though it was enough to convince British colonial authorities that something had to be done. Lord Durham was sent from London in 1839 to investigate the causes of the rebellion and suggest improvements that could be made to prevent such an occurrence from happening again.

Durham's suggestions of unity and assimilation of the French presented far different implications for Upper Canada than for Lower Canada. Despite the fact that Lower Canada was more heavily populated than Upper Canada, the two were to be given equal representation in a joint House of Assembly; this favoured the continuation of Upper Canadian politics and the preservation of the Family Compact. The strength of the English in Canada was boosted by the decree from London that English was to be the sole official language of the new province. In contrast to its reception in Lower Canada, Upper Canada welcomed the 1841 Act of Union with open arms.

Sources: Upper Canada. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/2/18/h18-2001-e.html. Library and Archives Canada. 28 May 2004. Upper Canada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Canada. Wikipedia. 28 May 2004. Upper and Lower Canada. http://www.linksnorth.com/canada-history/upper.html. 28 May 2004. Upper Canada Rebellion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Canada_Rebellion. Wikipedia. 28 May 2004. The War of 1812: A British/Canadian Perspective. http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/background/brit_upcan.html. 28 May 2004.