Unravelling the Mystery of Canada’s ‘Annexation Movement of 1849’ – Part 3
by Gerald Therrien
Part 3 – The Tory Confederation Plot
Earl Grey, the British colonial Secretary (not the tea bag)
Two of the speakers at the April 25th 1849 mass meeting at the Champs-de-Mars (after which the Tory mob burned down the parliament buildings) were Hugh Montgomerie and Gordon Mack, both members of the newly-created ‘British American League’ – in fact, Montgomerie was the group’s treasurer and Mack was the group’s secretary.
The first branch of the League had been organized at Brockville, in Upper Canada – the town where resided both the present and former Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge, George Benjamin and Ogle Gowan, and shortly afterward, a branch was established at Montreal that became the headquarters of the League.
On April 23rd, an ‘Address to the Inhabitants of Canada’ was issued, calling for the formation of branches in other localities and for the election of delegates to attend a national convention at Kingston, in Upper Canada. The address rationally stated:
“that commercial distress and general depression in every department of industry, exist throughout the Province, to an extent unparalleled in the previous existence of the Colony, is admitted by all men of unbiased judgment and adequate opportunities of observation, by commercial men of the greatest experience, and political economists of every shade of opinion; who, while they all bear concurrent testimony to the truth of this statement, as a fact of which all alike must feel the mournful weight, differ nevertheless, to some extent, from each other, as to the immediate causes from which this result has flowed, and the prospective measures most likely to afford relief …”
The address ended with an Anglo-Saxon alarm, that:
“we devoutly hope that no measure of injustice may ever be inflicted – no power may ever be abused – to the extent of provoking reflecting men to the contemplation of an alliance with a foreign power; and if there be, as some have said, a time when all colonies must, in the course of human events, throw off their dependencies on the Parent State, and if in our generation that time should be destined to arrive, we predict that, if true to ourselves, it will not come until no British hands remain able to hoist the flag of England on the rock of Quebec, and no British voices survive able to shout God Save the Queen!”
The ‘British American League’ made the most progress in Upper Canada, where a local branch was formed in every city and in all the many towns and villages; and in Lower Canada the League formed branches at Montreal and Quebec, and also numerous branches in the Eastern Townships.
The convention was held in Kingston, from July 25th to 31st. When a first motion was made that:
“it is essential to the interests and liberties of the people of Canada that the Legislative Council should be elected, and not appointed by the Crown”,(1)
it was rejected because:
[it] “appeared to be a departure from the true principles of the British constitution and to be a dangerous step toward separation and the adoption of republican institutions”.(1)
Instead another motion was agreed upon that:
“the British American League is composed of a large portion of the inhabitants of Canada who have always been firm in their allegiance to the British Crown, and who still desire that Canada shall remain a dependency of the British empire. Devoted in their attachment to the principles of monarchical government and revering the mixed forms of government established by the British Constitution, they only desire the enjoyment of the immunities and privileges for which that constitution provides when the government is fairly and honestly administered for the benefit of all classes of the community”.(1)
However, the main discussion was the proposal that:
“an Union of all the British North American Provinces would most materially conduce to the prosperity of those colonies and to the integrity of the British Empire”.(1)
[Note: a Union of all the British North American Provinces would include Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, so that the combined English would be able to outnumber the French Canadians]
John Duggan, of Scarborough, who presented the resolution, said that:
“the Act of Union had been a sorry failure; its principal result had been to hand the administration of the province over to the French. Upper Canada was helpless, for the English Government would not consent to a dissolution of the union; and even though the union were dissolved, she could not maintain an independent existence because of the lack of an outlet to the sea … A union of the British American provinces would not only establish the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race in Canada, but would raise the colonies a higher national plane, would open up a larger field for industry, talent and ambition, would augment the strength and resources of the motherland, instead of burdening her as at present, and would set up an equipoise to the preponderant power of the United States in America”.(1)
Ogle Gowan, of Brockville, said that :
[he] “failed to see how a federal union would get rid of French domination. It would, on the contrary, only aggravate the evil, since the French electorate would carry their corporate organization into the federal elections, while in the proposed province of Quebec the English population would be left in a hopeless minority at the mercy of their French-Canadian neighbours. He thought that at some future date it might be expedient to divide the country up into a number of small provinces, and then to effect a federation; but at present he did not deem it advisable for the convention to go further than to appoint a number of delegates for the purpose of consulting with representatives from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as to whether a union was possible and desirable”.(1)
A new resolution was now proposed – that ‘the question of an Union of all the British North American provinces … is deserving of the most careful and thorough investigation” and that the convention select delegates to meet with delegates from the maritime provinces ‘to deliberate and discuss the said proposal’.(1)
John Gamble, of Vaughan, declared that:
“he was, at heart, in favour of the independence of Canada, provided the consent of Great Britain could be obtained … but, for the sake of harmony he would forego his personal opinions and come out in favour of the scheme for a federal union”.(1)
[But then, Gamble] “indulged in some interesting prophecies as to the future relations of Canada and the United States. Before many years had elapsed, there would be a terrible convulsion in the neighbouring republic, which would rend that nation in twain. Some of the northern states would then desire to form a union with Canada. The topography of the continent, and the natural sequence of events marked this out as our ultimate fate”.(2)
Somehow, Gamble supposed (or knew of) the coming American civil war!
Hugh Montgomerie said that:
[he] “welcomed the proposed union as the most effective means of overcoming the predominant influence of the French. He threw out the further interesting suggestions that there should be a re-adjustment of boundaries in the proposed federation (i.e. the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada) that the Hudson Bay Territory should be brought under the control of the federal government, and that the powers of the local legislatures in the union should be carefully restricted in order to build up as strong federal government”.(1)
The new resolution was unanimously adopted, and among the delegates chosen to meet with the delegates from the maritime provinces were Duggan, Gamble, Gowan, and Montgomerie!
During the debates, while it was argued that a union was “the best preparation for the day when Great Britain should cast off the colonies” and that “annexation ought to be adopted only as a final resort in case all other measures should fail to bring relief”, there were those who “were not averse to threatening the British Government with separation unless it would reverse its anti-colonial policy” and still others ‘were ready to use the annexation cry as a weapon with which to frighten or coerce the British government into a compliance with their demands”.(1)
In Lord Elgin’s reports to Earl Grey, the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, about the League’s convention, will be seen the real fear of the British Empire – not a fear of annexationists, but a fear of protectionists.
[Elgin to Grey, July 30th]: “The convention of the League has assembled at Kingston. All is working as I expected – the Tories have succeeded in rendering annexation disgusting to the Radicals by advocating it, but they have not courage to take it up themselves”.
[Elgin to Grey, August 6th]: “As the main recommendations of the Leaguers, ‘Confederation between the Provinces’, is a very desirable object; but I do not think it is brought forward here in much sincerity – It is a sort of compromise between the Conservatives who are disconnected with the local government, though true to Britain, and the Annexationists … ‘Protection to native Industry’ is the most important of the three propositions – It is the cheval de bataille of the annexationists – No man out of Bedlam supposes that you could levy heavy duties on manufactured goods along the Canadian frontier, or that Great Britain would tolerate what would be virtually discriminating duties against herself by a colony … this cry then of protection to native industry is a perfect humbug on the part of the soi disant friends of British connexion, but it is not difficult to raise it among persons who are smarting from the effect of recent changes in British commercial legislation – and with the annexationists it is no humbug at all, but a sincere and genuine movement”.
The British government of Russell and Palmerston was in favour of confederation (which left open the option of a confederation with the northern states into Canada), but not of annexation of Canada into the Union.
Earl Grey wrote to Lord Elgin on August 8th that:
“Lord John [Palmerston], in a letter I had from him yesterday, expresses a good deal of anxiety as to the prospects of Canada & reverts to the old idea of forming a federal union of all the British Provinces in order to give their inhabitants something more to think of than their mere local squabbles, & he says that if to effect this, a separation of the two Canada’s were necessary he should see no objection to it, his wish in forming such a union would be to bring about such a state of things that if she should lose our North American provinces they might be likely to become an independent state instead of being merged in the Union.”
Elgin replied to Grey’s letter, on September 3rd, that:
“… a federal Union would leave the federal Legislature almost nothing to do – a congress without foreign relations, armies, navies, and ambassadors would be a very insipid concern. However, the subject has been taken up, with how much sincerity or earnestness I will not undertake to say, by the league. All we can do is to stand by and take advantage of any turn of the tide which favors our views. The most important matter by far if we desire to allay political discontent in these Provinces is the establishment of reciprocal freedom of trade with the States. Were this object achieved, I am confident that all other difficulties would dwindle into very manageable proportions.’
This Union of British North America must, therefore, be seen in the imperial policy of Lord Palmerston – that those northern American states would be annexed into the British North American colonies:
“the confederated States of British North America … would virtually hold the balance of power on the continent, and lead to the restoration of that influence which, more than eighty years ago, England was supposed to have lost”;
but not the other way around – annexing the Canadian provinces into the American union.
(1) from ‘The British North America League 1849’ by Cephas Allin
(2) from ‘Annexation, Preferential Trade and Reciprocity’, by Cephas Allin & George Jones
Author Bio: Gerald Therrien is a staff writer for Canadian Patriot Review, author of Canadian History Unveiled and writes on his own substack geraldtherrien.substack.com
[next week – part 4 – The Tory Annexation Plot]