Union Act 1840

In the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada rebellions took place during 1837 as citizens protested for more democratic reforms. British Prime Minister Lord Melbourne asked Lord Durham to travel to the provinces as governor-in-chief of British North America to assess the political tensions. Durham published a report which recommended the union of Lower and Upper Canada in a step to unite all provinces in British North America.
In 1840 the Act of Union united Upper and Lower Canada into one Province of Canada. It enabled a single legislative council to govern with crown assent. The Act ruled that the assembly should consist of an equal number of representatives from both provinces. A responsible government was eventually formed in the Province of Canada in 1848. It would be nearly twenty years before it united with further colonies under Confederation introduced with the 1867 British North America Act.