Rebellion: The Rising In French Canada, 1837

By Joseph Schull

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0771574029
• ISBN13: 9780771574023
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: MacMillan of Canada
• Length: 225 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Little Known Rebellion With Major Consequences

"Rebellion" is an in depth study of the rising in French Canada in 1837. As an American with a keen interest in Canadian history, I was surprised that was unaware of such a major event. There is much here for any student of Canadian history and something for the American history buff also. This book concerns an uprising in French Canada in 1837. Under the leadership of Louis-Joseph Papineau, the French citizens of Canada made an attempt, like their American neighbors of sixty years before, to overthrow their British overlords and to establish a republic. This book tells of the individuals involved, both French-Canadian and British, and the actions which lead to, and occurred during, this abortive rising. The story of the Rebellion is one of a political leadership leading a poorly armed uprising of individuals against the British rules of Canada, a land which, at that time, had, at that time, a Francophone majority. The impression given is of an underarmed and uncoordinated attempt to establish another republic in North America. Although the American Revolution may have been a model for the patriotes, their rising is more reminiscent of the periodic Irish rebellions. At the end of the book, author Joseph Schull tells how the Rebellion affected the lives of the participants and how it affected the development of Canada. It left the keepers of British North America with a resolve to establish a Anglophone majority in Canada while the French Canadian resolve to preserve their language and culture was strengthened. The resulting union of the two Canadas, intending to submerge the French in an English majority, led to the establishment of a populist majority, which could only be partly overturned by the separation of Quebec and Ontario. As an example of unintended consequences, the plan to suppress French Canadian nationalism ultimately led to its empowerment. As an American, I found our country's response to be of interest. Individual Americans in neighboring states fought with and provided some support to the patriotes. Despite hostility toward Great Britain and the desire, which existed, at least, through the Nineteenth Century, to expand the U. S. at the expense of British North America, the official attitude of the U. S. government was support of the British authorities. Ironically, the failure of the Rebellion left in its wake a British presence that would prevent northward expansion of the United States to the present day. This book is a good read for one with sufficient knowledge of Canadian history to enable the reader to place it in context.