Ontario

===Upper Canada (1791–1841)===
{{Main|Upper Canada}}
[[File:A new map of Upper and Lower Canada from the latest authorities - 1811.jpg|thumb|Map of [[Upper Canada]], 1811]]
[[John Graves Simcoe]] was appointed Upper Canada's first [[Lieutenant governor (Canada)|Lieutenant governor]] in 1793.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~sprague/con91.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829152801/http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~sprague/con91.htm|archive-date=August 29, 2007|title=The Constitutional Act of 1791|access-date=January 15, 2007}}</ref> A second wave of Americans, not all of them necessarily loyalists moved to Upper Canada after 1790 until the pre-war of 1812, many seeking available cheap land, and at the time, lower taxation.

By 1798, there were eight districts: Eastern, Home, [[Johnstown District, Upper Canada|Johnstown]], [[London District, Upper Canada|London]], Midland, [[Newcastle District|Newcastle]], [[Niagara District|Niagara]], and Western. By 1826, there were eleven districts: [[Bathurst District|Bathurst]], Eastern, [[Gore District, Upper Canada|Gore]], Home, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, [[Ottawa District|Ottawa]], and Western. By 1838, there were twenty districts: Bathurst, Brock, Colbourne, [[Dalhousie District|Dalhousie]], Eastern, Gore, Home, Huron, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, Ottawa, Prince Edward, [[Simcoe County|Simcoe]], Talbot, Victoria, [[Wellington District, Upper Canada|Wellington]], and Western.

American troops in the [[War of 1812]] invaded Upper Canada across the [[Niagara River]] and the [[Detroit River]], but were defeated and pushed back by the British, Canadian [[fencibles]] and militias, and [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] warriors. However, the Americans eventually gained control of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The 1813 [[Battle of York]] saw American troops defeat the garrison at the Upper Canada capital of [[York, Upper Canada|York]]. The Americans looted the town and burned the Upper Canada Parliament Buildings during their brief occupation. The British would [[Burning of Washington|burn]] the American capital of Washington, D.C. in 1814.
[[File:Push on, brave York volunteers(large).jpg|thumb|Depiction of the [[Battle of Queenston Heights]], during the [[War of 1812]]. [[Upper Canada]] was an active theatre of operation during the conflict.]]
After the War of 1812, relative stability allowed for increasing numbers of immigrants to arrive from Europe rather than from the United States. As was the case in the previous decades, this immigration shift was encouraged by the colonial leaders. Despite affordable and often free land, many arriving newcomers, mostly from Britain and Ireland, found frontier life with the harsh climate difficult, and some of those with the means eventually returned home or went south. However, population growth far exceeded emigration in the following decades. It was a mostly agrarian-based society, but canal projects and a new network of plank roads spurred greater trade within the colony and with the United States, thereby improving previously damaged relations over time.

Meanwhile, Ontario's numerous waterways aided travel and transportation into the interior and supplied [[Hydropower|water power]] for development. As the population increased, so did the industries and transportation networks, which in turn led to further development. By the end of the century, Ontario vied with Quebec as the nation's leader in terms of growth in population, industry, arts and communications.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/virtual-vault/026018-119.01-e.php?q1=People&PHPSESSID=709io6475tfesngi2m7226o454|title=ARCHIVED – People – Virtual Vault – Library and Archives Canada|website=Collectionscanada.ca|access-date=June 7, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321204831/http://collectionscanada.ca/virtual-vault/026018-119.01-e.php?phpsessid=709io6475tfesngi2m7226o454&q1=people|archive-date=March 21, 2016}}</ref>

Unrest in the colony began to chafe against the aristocratic [[Family Compact]] who governed while benefiting economically from the region's resources, and who did not allow elected bodies power. This resentment spurred republican ideals and sowed the seeds for early [[Canadian nationalism]]. Accordingly, rebellion in favour of [[responsible government]] rose in both regions; [[Louis-Joseph Papineau]] led the [[Lower Canada Rebellion]] and [[William Lyon Mackenzie]], first [[Toronto]] [[mayor]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Biography – MACKENZIE, WILLIAM LYON – Volume IX (1861–1870) |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mackenzie_william_lyon_9E.html |access-date=October 25, 2018 |archive-date=January 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105130202/http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mackenzie_william_lyon_9E.html |url-status=live }}</ref> led the [[Upper Canada Rebellion]]. In [[Upper Canada]], the rebellion was quickly a failure. [[William Lyon Mackenzie]] escaped to the [[United States]], where he declared the [[Republic of Canada]] on [[Navy Island]] on the [[Niagara River]].<ref>{{cite web |title=William Lyon Mackenzie |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mackenzie-william-lyon |access-date=October 25, 2018 |archive-date=January 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105130307/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mackenzie-william-lyon |url-status=live }}</ref>