Following the 1837 Rebellion in Lower Canada, British authorities suspended the province's constitution. From April 1838 until February 1841, legislative power was vested in an appointed Special Council. This was a authoritarian institution, designed to facilitate the passage of a single legislative agenda, and not to act as a forum for debate. Even if the creation of the council marked a moment of imperial intervention, the changes imposed by the council were largely those envisioned by a Lower Canadian political movement, the Montreal Constitutional Association. As time went on, the Special Council's membership, powers and legislation increasingly reflected Constitutionalist values. However, not all Special Councillors shared the Constitutionalists' goals. Men like Pierre de Rocheblave and John Neilson consequently found themselves alienated from the council and its work. But those who opposed the Constitutionalists found themselves powerless to alter the course of events. In the end, the authoritarian nature of the Special Council meant that only one vision of the province's future could be put forward in the institution's legislation.

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