The burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal was an important event in pre-Confederation Canadian history and occurred on the night of April 25, 1849, in Montreal, Quebec. It is considered a crucial moment in the development of the Canadian democratic tradition, largely as a consequence of how the matter was dealt with by then co-prime ministers of the united Province of Canada, Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin. The St. Anne's Market building lodging the Legislative Council and Assembly of Canada was burned down by Loyalist rioters in retaliation for the Rebellion Losses Bill while the members of the Legislative Assembly were sitting in session. The episode is characterized by divisions in pre-Confederation Canadian society concerning whether Canada was the North American appendage of the British Empire or a nascent, sovereign nation. In 1837 and 1838 Canadians rebelled against the oligarchic rule of the British colonial administration, first in Lower Canada, then in Upper Canada (or the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario respectively). Political reforms followed the rebellions as Canada was of vital strategic interest to the British Empire; simply put the British could not afford to lose the rest of North America, especially given the inconsequential results of the War of 1812, and they acquiesced to what gradually evolved into full legal national sovereignty. Many key leaders of the Rebellions would play focal roles in the development of the political and philosophical foundations for an independent Canada, something achieved on July 1, 1867. Opposition to this movement was principally represented by the somewhat aristocratic British colonial administration and their extended community, in addition to organized fraternal associations, such as the Scotch-Irish Orange Order and the Anglo-Montreal Bourgeoisie of the era. The Rebellion Losses Bill was intended to both offer amnesty to former rebels (permitting them to return to Canada) and an indemnity to individuals who had suffered financial losses as a consequence of the rebellions. Though the bill was passed by the majority of those sitting in the Legislative Assembly, it remained unpopular with the Loyalist population of Montreal, who decided to use violence to demonstrate their opposition.