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Rebellions of 1837–38

The rebellions of 1837 were two armed uprisings that took place in Upper and Lower Canada. In the decades preceding the union of Upper and Lower Canada, the primarily francophone and liberal Patriote party and the administration of Lower Canada opposed one another in a struggle to secure the loyalty of the population. The first episodes of violence took place in the fall of 1837 and culminated in pitched battles between Patriotes and the British Army. A year later rebels launched a second, equally unsuccessful, insurrection. In Upper Canada, talk of rebellion began in 1837. A meeting of Reformers took place at John Doel’s brewery on 31 July 1837, where journalist and politician William Lyon Mackenzie proposed a coup d’état. On the morning of 4 December, some 300 men began to march down Yonge Street towards the city of York (Toronto). Armed by the government and reinforced by large numbers arriving from loyal areas outside the city, over 1,000 men marched north to Montgomery’s Tavern, where they routed the rebels.

Related Biographies

BEAUBIEN, MARGUERITE
CARDINAL, JOSEPH-NARCISSE
CHANDLER, SAMUEL
CHAUVEAU, PIERRE-JOSEPH-OLIVIER
CHERRIER, CÔME-SÉRAPHIN
DAVIS, ROBERT
DOEL, JOHN
DROLET, CHARLES
ESTCOURT, JAMES BUCKNALL BUCKNALL
KERR, WILLIAM JOHNSON
MILLER, LINUS WILSON
MOLSON, WILLIAM
MONTGOMERY, JOHN (d. 1879)
MORIN, AUGUSTIN-NORBERT
M’LEOD, DONALD
PAPINEAU, LOUIS-JOSEPH
PUTNAM, WILLIAM
SICOTTE (Cicot), LOUIS-VICTOR (baptized Louis)
TRUDEAU, ROMUALD (baptized Denys-Romuald)
TÊTU, CLÉOPHÉE (baptized Françoise-Cléophée), named Thérèse de Jésus
WAIT (Waite), BENJAMIN
WELLER, WILLIAM
YOUNG, PLOMER

Other Resources

1837-38 Rebellions ~ Canada's Human Rights History
ARCHIVED - Commemorations - Rebellions of 1837 and 1838 - From Colony to Country - Library and Archives Canada. Content archived on 26 Nov. 2019
ARCHIVED - Rebellions of 1837 and 1838 - From Colony to Country - Library and Archives Canada. Content archived on 25 Nov. 2019
Black History Canada - Rebellions of 1837-38. Content archived on 9 Sept. 2015
Canada A Country by Consent: Rebellions in Upper & Lower Canada
Canada | History, Geography, & Culture - The rebellions of 1837–38 | Britannica.com
Canada's failed revolution: the rebellions of 1837-1838. Content archived on 18 June 2024
Civilization.ca - Canada Hall - From Rebellions to Confederation, 1837–1867
Fightback Canada - The historic significance of the Rebellions of 1837-1838 – Part 4
Rebellions of 1837–1838 - Wikipedia
Rebellions of 1837–38 - The Canadian Encyclopedia. Content archived on 20 Dec. 2024
Rebellions, 1837-38 | Canadian History: Pre-Confederation
The Rebellion in Rebellion & Confederation | Canadian Museum for Human Rights
Upper Canada Rebellion - Wikipedia

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We acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada.


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