The Forgotten Revolution: Canada’s Fight for Freedom by Lydia Gray

In 1837, as the young Queen Victoria came to throne, an armed uprising broke out in her empire. The Victorian age began in an era of liberal ferment. Poland, Spain and Belgium all saw protests against distant imperial monarchs, and Spanish colonies across Latin America were battling to become independent republics. In Britain, radicals demanded an end to privilege and inequality. Yet in Canada, privilege and inequality were embedded in the constitution. From the start Britain had tried to populate Canada with loyalists, giving land to those who fought for the Crown. Yet connections to Britain did not necessarily mean a devotion to feudal or traditional society and behaviour. Nineteenth century Canada was turbulent, divided by language, economic interest and ethnicity. There was tension between the French-Catholic church and state-sponsored Anglicanism, and the Church of England’s official privileges displeased the majority of settlers who were Catholics, Baptists, Congregationalists, or Methodists. In 1791, to prevent the spread of radical political organisation, Britain split the territory into Upper and Lower Canada (present-day Ontario and Quebec), and introduced assemblies with limited enfranchisement and an appointed upper house. In 1822, Britain sparked outrage by proposing to make English the only official language, increasing government control over Catholic clergy and raising property qualifications for voters. As the imperial focus gradually shifted towards India, China and Australia, the lack of attention from London provoked exasperation and, eventually, radicalised Canadian politicians. When cholera broke out in 1832, some believed the government was intentionally killing Canadiens in order to replace them with loyalists. Britain became the common enemy, as French settlers joined Americans and Irish, inspired by their domestic revolutions. The key leaders, William Mackenzie and Louis-Joseph Papineau, were both radicalised by exposure to the British Empire, being shocked by the inequalities they found in London. Republicanism became a driving ideology, and the new Queen a particular target for disrespect. Narrowly preceding the Chartist Uprising, Canadians began to call for sovereignty and the right to elect political representatives. The American Revolution was a significant inspiration. Canadians boycotted British products in 1837, as Americans had in the 1770s, and they hoped for American support, which was not forthcoming. Imperialism in Canada was deemed a negligible threat to America, and President Van Buren seized the opportunity to formalise the Canadian-American border by increasing the American military presence. American officials even arrested revolutionaries along the border, including Mackenzie. Canadian rebels attempted to embitter Anglo-American relations, but Britain’s prioritisation of peace with America demonstrates the United States’ position as an increasingly influential geopolitical actor. Rebel leaders mobilised fellow Canadians through mass rallies, and in the winter of 1837 these gatherings turned violent. In battles at Saint-Denis, Saint-Charles and Saint-Eustache, the British annihilated their ramshackle Canadian opponents, who were largely armed with farm tools. Britain’s troops, led by Waterloo-veteran John Colborne, were hardened from fighting in the Napoleonic Wars and supported by unofficial paramilitaries and Kahnawake Iroquois. Colborne’s forces looted and burned to show the consequences of resistance, and Britain’s control of the lakes and waterways was a huge military advantage. Historian Allan Greer concluded that this was ‘a painful and costly episode with decisive and lasting results’. Unlike the 1830 Paris revolt which toppled Charles X, or the Latin American revolutions that destroyed the Spanish Empire, the governing force did not crumble in the face of resistance. The British not only mustered an effective army, but retained enough authority to arrest rebel leaders. Habeas corpus was suspended from 1837 to 1840, with the captured rebels largely found guilty of insurrection. Many were publicly hanged, and over a hundred were sentenced to life in another British colony, Australia. Colborne was later appointed Governor General, and his heavy-handedness deterred further uprisings. Nevertheless, Britain had to reconsider its relationship with the Canadas and dispatched the Whig statesman Lord Durham, known as ‘Radical Jack’, to devise a plan. The 1839 Durham Report established the Victorian model of empire. In contrast to the prevailing view that colonies could not govern themselves, or they would cease to be colonies, Durham argued that Britain need only control foreign affairs, trade and defence. Internal governance could be placed in the hands of the colonists, creating the perception of a government answerable to citizens, rather than a distant imperial authority. This engendered continued loyalty to Britain. Had the 1837 rebellion been successful, it would be known everywhere as the Canadian Revolution. Instead, it would take another 145 years for Canada to become fully independent, not adopting its own constitution until 1982.