The (, "Red Party"; or , "Democratic Party") was a political group that contested elections in the Eastern section of the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

. It was formed around 1847 by radical

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

s; the party was inspired by the ideas of

Louis-Joseph Papineau Louis-Joseph Papineau (; October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reform ...

, the '' Institut canadien de Montréal'', and the reformist movement led by the of the 1830s. The Red Party did not experience electoral success in the same manner as the Blue Party, their electoral rivals in Canada East. Because of their anti-clerical beliefs, the Red Party was condemned by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, contributing to their lack of electoral success. The party did form government as part of a coalition with the

Clear Grits Clear Grits were reformers in the Canada West district of the Province of Canada, a British colony that is now the Province of Ontario, Canada. Their name is said to have been given by George Brown, who said that only those were wanted in the p ...

and Liberals from Canada West on some occasions before confederation; however, it never held a majority in their section of the province. After

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

, the party was dissolved, with members forming the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

at the federal level, and the

Liberal Party of Quebec The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuan ...

at the provincial level.

History

The party was a successor to the , a radical political movement in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

responsible for the

rebellions of 1837–1838 The Rebellions of 1837–1838 (), were two armed rebellion, uprisings that took place in Lower Canada, Lower and Upper Canada in 1837 and 1838. Both rebellions were motivated by frustrations with lack of political reform. A key shared goal was r ...

. The reformist rouges did not believe that the 1840 Act of Union had truly granted a

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

to former Upper and Lower Canada. They advocated important democratic reforms,

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

anism, and secularism (separation of the state and the church). They were perceived as

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...

and radical by their political adversaries. Some of its members desired the abolition of the semi-

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

seigneurial system of land ownership, although Papineau was himself a seigneur and a vocal defender of the traditional system, which he wanted reformed, not abolished. The elected rouges typically allied with the

in the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

of the

. The party primarily sat in opposition to the Liberal-Conservative-Bleu government that governed the province for most of the period between the fall of the reform movement and confederation. However, the rouges did form government with the Clear Grits once, after the fall of the Macdonald-Cartier ministry on a vote of non-confidence. This resulted in the shortest-lived government in Canadian history, falling four days after it was called by the Governor-General. After Confederation, its more moderate members (notably including Sir

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and Liberal politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadians, French ...

, who would become Canada's first francophone Prime Minister) formed what became the

in conjunction with their Upper Canadian Clear Grit allies.

Ideology

The opposed the union of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

and

into the United

, and demanded its termination. When talks for

Canadian confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

began, its members either opposed the idea, or suggested a decentralized confederation. Some elements of the party advocated for full sovereignty, or joining with the United States, for the French-speaking part of Canada. They were opposed to the

ultramontane Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by ...

politics of the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

and the

Parti bleu The Parti bleu (, "Blue Party") was a political group that contested elections in the Canada East, Eastern section of the Province of Canada. The Blue Party was ideologically located on the Right-wing politics, political right; it was also defin ...

Manifestos

The Red Party published the following manifestos: * ''Manifeste du Comité constitutionnel de la réforme et du progrès'', 1847 (

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

) * ''Manifeste du Club national démocratique'', 1849 (

)

References

Additional references

*

, in ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Historica Foundation, 2008 * Claude Bélanger,

, in ''The Quebec History Encyclopedia'', 2006 *

, in ''Canadian Confederation'', Library and Archives Canada, December 14, 2001, updated July 16, 2012

Additional French-language information sources

* Lamonde, Yvan (2000). ', Montréal: , 576 p.
online
* Lamonde, Yvan (1994). ', Saint-Laurent: Fides, 369 p. * Lamonde, Yvan (1990). ', Montréal: Boréal, 176 p. * de Lagrave, Jean-Paul (1976). ', Montréal: Editions de Lagrave, 150 p. * Bernard, Jean-Paul (1971). ', Montréal: Presses de l'Université du Québec, 394 p. * Dumont, Fernand, Montminy, Jean-Paul, and Hamelin, Jean ed. (1971). ', Québec: Presses de l'Université Laval, 327 p. {{Authority control Political parties in Lower Canada Canada 1848 Political parties established in 1848 Radical parties Liberal parties in Canada

History

Ideology

Manifestos

See also

References

Additional references

Additional French-language information sources