This scroll consists of a petition signed in 1828 by the majority of the members of Lower Canada’s legislative assembly and by more than eighty-seven thousand citizens of Lower Canada. Initiated by members of the Patriote Party — including Louis-Joseph Papineau, Bonaventure Viger, Wolfred Nelson, and Augustin Cuvillier — the petition demanded democratic reforms, including ministerial accountability and proportional representation.
Although the Patriotes held a majority in Lower Canada’s elected legislative assembly, their conservative adversaries in the unelected legislative council wielded far more power. The petition was sent to London, England, along with a list of grievances against the colonial administration of the Governor General of British North America, Lord Dalhousie.