In is Report, Lord Durham claims that in 1838 the French culture in Canada had changed little in 200 years and showed no sign of the progress British culture had made.

by PizzaPartify
  • Did French culture in Canada actually changed little in those 200 years ?
  • Are those his directs words or a shortened interpretation of his thoughts ?
  • Could he have been biased in his observation ? He is himself British and (from what I read) worked using committees that were populated by political adversaries of the rebellious Patriots.
JustePecuchet

If you read the report (available online) Durham, writes : "The conquest has changed them but little. The higher classes, and the inhabitants of the towns, have adopted some English customs and feelings; but the continued negligence of the British Government left the mass of the people without any of the institutions which would have elevated them in freedom and civilization."

He writes this with the explicit prejudice that British culture and institutions are superior to French, and that colonial institutions failed to civilize French Canadians. Just before, Durham states that : "The institutions of France, during the period of the colonization of Canada, were, perhaps, more than those of any other European nation, calculated to repress the intelligence and freedom of the great mass of the people."

It therefore gave birth to a race of degenerated Frenchmen who could not, in any way, build a distinctive culture. For Durham, they were "without history and without literature". During the Romantic period, philosophers like Herder had theorized that a nation was characterized by its language and literature. Therefore, Durham had a liberal interpretation of culture : although French Canadians were of an inferior race, they could be elevated to the state of English subjects.

For him their culture wasn't strong enough to be "national", so their fight could not be one of independence : the colonial conflict was a mere "conflict of races". Furthermore, by assimilating them to the English language and culture, they would become integrated and civilized subjects of the Crown. "It is in order to release them from this inferiority that I wish to give the Canadians our English character", writes Durham. It was a purely racist interpretation, but it opened the door to an improvement of the race through culture. You have to keep in mind that it was a very progressive view for the XIXth century, as conservatives didn't believe races could be improved or assimilated. That is why most liberals defended colonialism as a way to improve uncivilized races.

Of course, the report outraged French Canadians, who didn't think of themselves as uncivilized or without history, to the point that it is still quoted and hated today. As for its legacy, it became the official policy of Canada, by inaugurating its "two races" system (one showing the way to the other) that would last well into the XXth Century. It also heavily influenced the Empire, as improving uncivilized races through British institutions became the official motivation for dominating them.