Rebellions in the Canadas

Despite the lessening of tensions between the United States and Britain after the War of 1812, a combination of factors created unrest in Upper and Lower Canada. A series of rebellions against British control broke out in late 1837 and lingered into 1838. The seeds of rebellion in Canadian history are both complex and much debated by historians. In both Upper and Lower Canada, reformers mounted aggressive campaigns to wrest control over colonial matters from the councils appointed by British governors. Canadian political elites, supported by powerful social and religious connections, symbolized autocratic rule. Called the Family Compact in Upper Canada and the Chteau Clique in Lower Canada, these groups held the lions share of power. A historic reform impulse in Great Britain after 1832 to broaden access to political power provided another irritant for colonial reformers. It appeared that the British were reluctant to extend similar liberties to their colonies. In addition a sour economy in the 1830s, crop failures in Lower Canada, and mounting population pressures on the ancient seigneuries created widespread distress in British North America. Finally, colonial reformers admired the republic to the south. Few wanted to join the United States, but a number of reformersand later rebelswished to emulate some of the more democratic elements of American governance. In short, the 1830s brought together forces that laid a foundation for conflict. The rebellions were not preordained, but they were utterly shaped by the times. Although there were fitful efforts to coordinate the rebellions in the two Canadas, they were quite distinct events. In addition to the

problems already mentioned, disproportionately greater representation of British heritage citizens was a glaring annoyance to the relatively few French Canadians who shared the bounty of political power. Galvanized by the leadership of Louis-Joseph Papineau, an assemblyman and landholder, the reformers mounted a concerted effort to wrest control from the British. Their convoluted 92 Resolutions for change, issued in 1834, led to a harsh British response. In late 1837 a series of conflicts broke out between patriotes, a varied group that included a number of habitants, and forces representing the government. Although the patriotes fared well in one skirmish, they met resounding defeat at St. Charles and St. Eustache, communities lying to the east of Montreal. Papineau and other leaders fled to the United States, and some of the leaders in 1838 made an unsuccessful attempt to set up a republic just across the border. In addition, some Americans established Hunters Lodges, shadowy organizations that skirted the neutrality law of the United States by gathering money and arms to support the rebellions. The Lower Canadian rebellions were poorly orchestrated and easily crushed. Nonetheless, they were at times bloody and in at least one region along the Richelieu River they drew substantial support. A few leaders were hanged. Papineau and others sought asylum in the United States, and others were exiled to other British colonies. While support for rebellion was uneven, recent scholarship has drawn a compelling picture of a genuine effort on the part of the lower orders to address glaring class inequities in the province. The Upper Canadian rebellions shared some of the dynamics of the Lower Canadian conflicts but were not as widespread or as intense. The rebellions antecedents in Upper Canada were mostly

political in nature. Representatives of the Family Compact, a small group of conservative elites, essentially held the reins of government. In addition, an inequitable land distribution system and the favored position of the Church of England angered Upper Canadians of more humble means or different Protestant denominations. A repressive governor in the 1830s, Sir Francis Bond Head, made an especially despised foil for the mounting reform forces. One particularly vociferous newspaper editor and politician, William Lyon Mackenzie, challenged elite authority and published a constitution for Upper Canada that mirrored the U.S. document. Skirmishes broke out in December 1837 near Toronto. Much like his FrenchCanadian counterpart, Mackenzie escaped and set up a tiny republic in the Niagara area. From this base, Mackenzies group, periodically aided by sympathetic Americans, attempted to keep the rebellion alive by sponsoring raids into Upper Canada. British andmilitia forces easily tamped down the conflict by 1838, and Americans arrested and temporarily imprisoned Mackenzie. Like their neighboring compatriots, Upper Canadas rebels seemed dismal failures (see Mackenzies Call to Arms in the Documents section). Yet their actions helped to turn certain political tides in all of British North America. Upon hearing the news of the uprisings, echoes of an American revolt a half-century earlier, the British dispatched a political activist named John Lambton, the Earl of Durham and a small fact-finding team to the Canadas in 1838. After a relatively brief stay in Canada, Durham returned to England and drew up an extensive report. His recommendation to grant the British North American colonies more self-governance within the British imperial fold, a principle called responsible government, was an early statement of the confederation model that Canada would employ

in 1867.