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Tag Archives: Thirteen Colonies

More on the Tail-Fisher

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, United States

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Acadian, Évangéline, Cajuns, Deportation of Acadians, Georgia, Gregg Howard, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Pourquoi tales, Reynard, Tail-fisher, Thirteen Colonies, Uncle Remus

How the Rabbit lost His Tail

Photo credit: Google

RELATED ARTICLES:

  • Another Motif: The Tail-Fisher (michelinewalker.com)
  • Reynard the Fox, the Itinerant (michelinewalker.com)
  • Évangéline & the “literary homeland” (michelinewalker.com)
  • Évangéline & the “literary homeland” (cont’d) (michelinewalker.com)
  • Uncle Remus & Tar-Baby (michelinewalker.com)

In a post published in 2011, I traced Reynard the Fox’s steps from various European countries to Georgia, US, where he is featured in Joel Chandler Harris‘ (9 December 1848 – 3 July 1908)[i] Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation.  It would be my opinion that deported Acadians told Reynard stories and Æsopic fables to the Black population of Georgia when they were finally allowed to leave the ships in which they sailed down the east coast of the current United States.  With the exception of Georgia, the Thirteen Colonies were not interested in providing a home to Catholics.  Acadians expelled in the second wave of the Grand Dérangement, c. 1857-58, were sent to England and France, but may also have moved to Louisiana.

The expulsion of the Acadians took place during the French and Indian War (1755-1763). British officials posted in Boston deported 11,500 Acadians to prevent this French-speaking population and their Amerindian allies from helping the increasingly dissatisfied citizens of the Thirteen Colonies gain independence from Britain.

Acadians lived in the present day Maritime Provinces of Canada: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.  They also lived in the state of Maine, US.  Many fled to Canada where they lived in “P’tites ‘Cadies” (small Acadies) or were rescued by Amerindians when British soldiers were rounding them up.  Moreover, many of the deportees whose ships sailed down the coast of the eastern US,[ii] found their way back from Georgia to the current Canadian Maritime provinces.[iii]

However, among those who arrived in Georgia, US, a large number travelled to Louisiana, then a French colony, and their descendants are called Cajuns.  These are the Acadians who, in my opinion, told Reynard stories and Æsopic fables to the coloured population of Georgia whose status they shared.  However, in The Tales of Uncle Remus, the trickster ceases to be the fox.  In America, with a few exceptions, the tricksters will be the rabbit (Uncle Remus) and the coyote.  In Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit is led by Brer Fox into fishing with his tail.  As for our Cherokee tale, told in a video inserted at the bottow of this post, Fox is not only leading the rabbit but trying to play a trick on an American “trickster,” the rabbit.

Old Plantation Play Song, 1881

Old Plantation Play-Song, 1881 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Expulsion of the Acadians WordPress [iii]

Expulsion of the Acadians (Photo credit: Gov. of N.S. & WordPress [iv])

Évangéline, a Tale of Acadie

The deported Acadians were put aboard ships in a pêle-mêle fashion.  Husbands were separated from wives, parents from children and couples from one another.  American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (27 February 1807 – 24 March 1882) immortalized this tragic event in an epic poem entitled Évangéline, published in 1847.  Longfellow‘s poem, Évangéline, a Tale of Acadie is a Gutenberg ebook (number 2039) that one can access by clicking on Évangéline.  Longfellow was motivated to write his Évangéline by American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne (4 July 1804 – 19 May 1864) and he may have been helped by Thomas Chandler Haliburton.

The poem tells the story of a fictional, and now mythic, Évangéline whose family name is Bellefontaine.  She is separated from her betrothed, Gabriel Lajeunesse, during the Great Upheaval (le Grand Dérangement) and spends years looking for him.  She finds him in Philadelphia where, as an old woman, she is working as a Sister of Mercy tending to  the victims of an epidemic.  Her beloved Gabriel dies in her arms.  (See Évangéline, Wikipedia.)

Deportation_of_Acadians_order,_painting_by_JefferysDeportation Order

Charles William Jefferys (25 August 1869 – 8 October 1951)
Photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org 
 

Brer Rabbit replaces Brer Fox as Trickster

But let us now return to Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox.

Interestingly, as mentioned above, the Tales of Uncle Remus include the tail-fisher motif in that a rabbit’s bushy tail is shortened when it gets stuck in the hole through which he is fishing, trying to catch fish, as did Brer Fox.  Although Brer Fox may have intended for Brer Rabbit to lose his tail, in Uncle Remus, the tail-fisher motif is mostly a “pourquoi” tale, the French word for “why.”  Such tales are origin stories or etiological tales.

Joel Chandler Harris devised an eye dialect to represent a Deep South Gullah. To  summarize the story, it tells of Brer (Brother) Rabbit who is.  walking down the road shaking his long, bushy tail when he meets Brer Fox walking along with a string of fish.  They spend time with one another (“wid wunner nudder,”) and Brer Fox says that he got the string of fish at the Baptizing creek.  Brer Fox tells Brer Rabbit that he sat there with his tail in the water and that, in the morning, he discovered he had caught many fish.

“…en drap his tail in de water en set dar twel day-light, en den draw up a whole armful er fishes, en dem w’at he don’t want, he kin fling back.”

(…and dropped his tail in the water and sat there until daylight, and then drew a whole armful of fish, and then those he did not want, he could throw back in the water.)

So Brer Rabbit tries to catch fish in the same manner, but the water freezes and when he tries to pull his tail it is no longer there:  “en lo en beholes, whar wuz his tail?” (and lo and behold, where was his tail?).

“One day Brer Rabbit wuz gwine down de road shakin’ his long, bushy tail, w’en who should he strike up wid but ole Brer Fox gwine amblin’ ’long wid a big string er fish!W’en dey pass de time er day wid wunner nudder, Brer Rabbit, he open up de confab, he did, en he ax Brer Fox whar he git dat nice string er fish, en Brer  Fox, he up’n ’spon’ dat he katch urn, en Brer Rabbit, he say whar’bouts, en Brer  Fox, he say down at de babtizin’ creek, en Brer Rabbit he ax how, kaze in dem days dey wuz monstus fon’ er minners, en Brer Fox, he sot down on a log, he did, en he up’n tell Brer Rabbit dat all he gotter do fer ter git er big mess er minners is ter go ter de creek atter sun down, en drap his tail in de water en set dar twel  day-light, en den draw up a whole armful er fishes, en dem w’at he don’t want, he kin fling back. Right dar’s whar Brer Rabbit drap his watermillion, kaze he tuck’n sot out dat night en went a fishin’. De wedder wuz sorter cole, en Brer Rabbit, he got ’im a bottle er dram en put out fer de creek, en w’en he git dar he pick out a good place, en he sorter squot down, he did, en let his tail hang in de water. He sot dar, en he sot dar, en he drunk his dram, en he think he Gwineter freeze, but bimeby day come, en dar he wuz. He make a pull, en he feel like he comin’ in two, en he fetch Nudder jerk, en lo en beholes, whar wuz his tail?” Chapter XXV 

Conclusion

This particular tale is an example of the tail-fisher motif, Aarne-Thompson: AT type 2.  However, I have also found the tail-fisher motif in a the Cherokee tale, mentioned above and told in the video inserted below.  As is the case in The Tales of Uncle Remus, our Cherokee tale is, first and foremost, an etiological or “pourquoi” tales, rather than a trickster tale but the fox remains the trickster.  However, of particular interest here is that The Tales of Uncle Remus are an American version of the Reynard stories and Æsopic and that they may have been transmitted to the Black population of Georgia, US, by Acadians deported in the first wave of the expulsion, when the ships carrying Acadian deportees sailed down to Georgia.[v]  However, were it not for Joel Chandler Harris, we may never have known why the Black population of Georgia knew about Reynard and various Æsopic tales.

As for our Cherokee tale, it is a Reynard story inasmuch as Fox wants to get back at the Rabbit because the Rabbit is a tricskter.  Moreover, the dramatis personae also includes a Bear, Bruin or Brun, bearing a Cherokee name.  In the Cherokee tale, the Bear helps pull the Rabbit out of the hole in the ice, which is when the Rabbit loses his tail.

It could be, therefore, that the Glooscap myths include one tale about a rabbit who lost its tail.

_________________________

[i] Joel Chandler Harris was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist. (See Joel Chandler Harris, in Wikipedia.)

[ii] To my knowledge, the history of the Expulsion has not been fully investigated.  It would appear that the Acadians were expelled in two waves, rather than all at once, and that some ships sailed towards Europe, to England and France.  Moreover, Paul Mascarène (c. 1684 – 22 January 1760), a descendant of French Huguenots émigrés, may have been among the officers who organized or suggested the Expulsion or Deportation.

[iii] Antonine Maillet’s novel entitled Pélagie-la-Charrette is about Acadians returning to their former territory.

[iv] Canada: Cultures and Colonialism to 1800 (HIST 4508).  WordPress

[v] See Micheline Bourbeau-Walker, « La Patrie littéraire : errance et résistance », Francophonies d’Amérique, <http://www.erudit.org/revue/fa/2002/v/n13/1005247ar.html?vue=resume>.

_________________________

Native American Indian Children’s Stories Storyteller Tales Legends Myths, told by Gregg Howard

Rabbit who loses his tail, Uncle Remus

Rabbit who loses his tail, Uncle Remus

© Micheline Walker
1 May 2013
WordPress 
Photo credit:  Google

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Sir Martin Frobisher: the First Thanksgiving

25 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in History, Immigration, United States

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Canada, Canadian Encyclopedia, Donnacona, Martin Frobisher, Thanksgiving, Thirteen Colonies, United Empire Loyalist, United States

The First Thanksgiving 1621, oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863–1930). The painting shows common misconceptions about the event that persist to modern times: Pilgrims did not wear such outfits, and the Wampanoag are dressed in the style of Plains Indians

It has become common knowledge that the first Thanksgiving in North America was held by Martin Frobisher and his crew in the eastern Arctic in 1578.

Sir Martin Frobisher (b near Wakefield, Eng 1539; d  at Plymouth, Eng 22 Nov 1594).

Sir Martin Frobisher, a mariner, explorer and “chaser of fool’s gold” made three trips to the Arctic looking for a route to India. Jacques Cartier had embarked on such a mission making two trips to what is now the East Coast of Canada. The first of these trips took place in 1534. He then claimed the territory he had reached for France by planting a ten-meter cross in the Gaspé area feeling he had discovered an Asian Land. He kidnapped Taignoagny and dom Agaya, the two sons of Iroquois chief Donnacona and took them to France. In 1535, he made a second trip returning his sons to Donnacona.

Frobisher & a Stormy Arctic Sea

As for Sir Martin Frobisher, hoping to find a northwest passage to India, he traveled to inauspicious destinations.[i] In 1578, he commanded a flotilla of 15 ships and more than 400 men. However, a storm threatened the entire flotilla. One ship returned to Europe and another was sunk by ice. Yet, Frobisher was undeterred.

Frobisher and his men, the thirteen ships that remained, were then at the northern entrance to the Hudson Strait, the sea to the north discovered by land, from the south, by Pierre-Esprit Radisson and his brother-in-law, Médard Chouart Des Groseillers, a sea that permitted easy access to beaver pelts.[ii]

The thirteen remaining ships assembled at the Countess of Warwick’s Island, known today as Kodlunarn Island, 500 miles (800 kilometers) off the northeastern shore of Frobisher Bay, a relatively large inlet of the Labrador Sea. Frobisher’s men established two mines on the island and tested the ore spending a month battling storms for most of July.[iii]

Sir Martin’s Thanksgiving

When they returned to Frobisher Bay, Martin Frobisher and his men “celebrated Communion and formally expressed their thanks through the ship’s Chaplain, Robert Wolfall, who ‘made unto them a godly sermon, exhorting them especially to be thankefull to God for theyr strange and miraculous deliverance in those so dangerous places’ (Collinson).[iv]

United Empire Loyalists & the Canadian Thanksgiving

Frobisher’s Thanksgiving resembles a Te Deum as would, after the Seven Years’ War, the Thanksgiving held by the people of Nova Scotia. However, United Empire Loyalists, the British who remained loyal to Britain after the Thirteen Colonies chose to part with their motherland, brought to British colonies to the north, where they fled, the tradition of celebrating that year’s harvest, although it may not have been a firmly-entrenched yearly event yet. But after W. W. I, Thanksgiving and Armistice, Canada’s current Remembrance day, were celebrated the same week and seemed indistinguishable.

Two Different Feasts: Thanksgiving and Armistice

Yet the two feasts are of a somewhat different nature. In the lengthy chronicle of human deeds or misdeeds, wars stand as mostly inglorious events. The end of a war is cause for celebration, despite devastating losses. However, giving thanks to Providence because the earth has been generous seems mainly joyful. What is celebrated is life eternal. So, I am rather pleased that, on January 31, 1957 “[Canadian] Parliament proclaimed ‘a day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed,’ to be observed on the second Monday in October.”

At this point, the Canadian celebration merged with the apparently regular American observance which was first conducted by the Pilgrims’ first harvest in Massachusetts in 1621 and brought to Canada by United Empire Loyalists. But the Canadian feast would be celebrated earlier that its American counterpart. In the United States, Thanksgiving is now observed later than in Canada, but this may not have been the case in earlier days. Given that American winters do not usually set in as early as Canadian winters, in most Canadian provinces, an earlier celebration makes sense. In fact, there are parts of the United States where winter is not a cold season.

However, Sir Martin Frobisher’s Te Deum, “God, We Praise You,” was called a Thanksgiving and it is remembered as such. The Canadian Encyclopedia‘s entry underscores the fact that “Frobisher sailed for Elizabeth I, whose reign was marked by public acts of giving thanks; Elizabeth expressed her gratitude for having lived to ascend the throne (and not being whacked by “Bloody Mary”), for delivery from the Spanish Armada and in her last speech to Parliament, for her subjects. The first known use of the word “Thanksgiving” in English text was in a translation of the bible in 1533, which was intended as an act of giving thanks to God.”

So whether it be the end of a destructive storm, the end of atrocious hostilities or the sight of a plentiful harvest, we give thanks for weather becalmed, for peace restored and for our daily bread. Some people still say Grace.

(please click on the picture to enlarge it)
Le Bénédicité, by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, 1740

(Photo credit: Wikipedia) 

[i] Richard Collinson, The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher: In Search of a Passage to Cathaia and India by the North-West (Cambridge University Press, 2010), quoted in Laura Neilson Bonikowsky, “The First Thanksgiving in North America,” The Canadian Encyclopedia.

[ii] Radisson and Groseillers’s discovery led to the establishment of the Hudson’s Bay Company, “the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world.” (Hudson’s Bay Company, Wikipedia)

[iii] “The First Thanksgiving in North America,” The Canadian Encyclopedia.

[iv] Richard Collinson, The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher: In Search of a Passage to Cathaia and India by the North-West (Cambridge University Press, 2010), quoted in Laura Neilson Bonikowsky “The First Thanksgiving in North America,” the Canadian Encyclopedia.

composer: Sir Edward Elgar 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) 
piece: Cello Concerto in E minor 
performer:  Jacqueline du Pré (26 January 1945 – 19 October 1987)
director: Daniel Barenboim
 

Nature morte, by Chardin

© Micheline Walker
24 November 2012
WordPress
 
 
 

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Events in Quebec

12 Saturday May 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Canada, France, French Canadian, Montreal, New France, Quebec, Quebec Act, Thirteen Colonies

Habitants, by Cornelius Krieghoof                                      

The Quebec government wishes to increase tuition fees for university students.  At first, students protested in a manner that did not cause a public disturbance.  But matters have changed.  On Thursday, May 10, 2012, students released fumes into the Montreal subway system, thereby all but paralyzing the city. 

I must tell you how disappointed I am.

The “suspects” have been identified.  They are students.  But I believe they are being used by a group of Quebec citizens, once called séparatistes but renamed indépendantistes, who seem to have made it their duty to blame anglophones for whatever they perceive as a societal ill.   They peddle ill-conceived hatred.

The Tuition Fees

For reasons I cannot understand, university tuition fees in Quebec have long been the lowest in Canada.  No government can support its universities unless there is proper funding, part of which comes from tuition fees.

If indeed Monsieur Charest, the premier, and his government impose an increase in tuition fees, Quebec students will be paying what students pay in other provinces, except that Quebec has yet to sign the constitution and, unlike other provinces, is tied to Britain. 

History

For the last few weeks, we have been exploring the history of New France and have examined the fate of French-speaking colonists after Nouvelle-France was ceded to Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Paris.  In 1763,  France chose to  keep Guadeloupe rather than New France.

The Quebec Act (1744)

It could be that it was in the best interest of England to ensure the loyalty of its French-speaking Quebec subjects.  The Thirteen Colonies were threatening to declare their independence from Britain.  But, whatever the motivation, the fact remains that, in 1774, French-speaking Canadians were made into full-fledged British subjects and were given a voice in Parliament. 

The Quebec Act of 1774

It would be my view that, once again, congenital malcontents who love finding fault with anglophones so they can play martyrs are in the background fuelling the fire.  If this is not the case, I apologize.  Canadians respect Québec and French-Canadians and the decision to increase tuition fees does not justify malfeasance.  This cannot be about raising tuition fees. 

Micheline’s Life 

As a French-Canadian, born in Quebec, but who lived in English-speaking milieux for most of her life, I never experienced enmity on the basis of my ethnic origins.  I was loved and, until recently, given every opportunity to succeed. 

scapegoats

So, will all due respect, it would be my view that the anglophones are being made into scapegoats.  Besides, the current problem is the students dissatisfaction over an increase in tuition fees.  It is not a linguistic issue.  This is a blatant case of misdirected anger: anger at anglophones. 

French-speaking Québécois are not facing threats.  There is no enemy.  Quebec has duly elected representatives in Parliament which gives Québécois a voice in the public place.  Releasing fumes into the Montreal subway was an immature, irresponsible, and criminal act.  Just in case the students do not know, the world is watching and it does not like what it is seeing.

The thought that students may find themselves in jail and may never be able to enter into a profession or find employment saddens me.  But I believe they were guided into breaking the law. 

Good citizens abide by the law of the land, especially when there is nothing wrong with the law of the land. 

Micheline Walker©
May 12, 2012
 

 
 
 
 
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Canada’s Act of Union, 1840-41

15 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, History

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Canada, Charles Duncombe, Constitutional Act 1791, George III of the United Kingdom, Louis-Joseph Papineau, Robert Alway, Thirteen Colonies, William Lyon MacKenzie

George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland

George III (1738 – 1820), whose reign began in 1760, was King when New France was ceded to Britain, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763), and he was also King on July 4, 1776, when the Thirteen Colonies declared independence from Britain. 
 

Louis-Joseph Papineau

Upon George III’s death, Louis-Joseph Papineau (1786 -1871), a Canadien, seigneur, lawyer, politician, orator and future patriote, praised his King.  He said that “it was impossible not to express our [Canadiens‘s] feelings of gratitude for [George III’s] good deeds towards French Canadians[.]” (“il est impossible de ne pas exprimer nos sentiments de gratitude pour les bienfaits que nous avons reçus de lui…”) [i]  Matters  would change rapidly. 

The Rebellions

The Constitutional Act: taxation

Under the terms of the Constitutional Act of 1791, the “colonial assemblies” of the two Canadas were granted “the right to levy taxes with which to pay for local civil and legal administration.” [ii] However, when Britain started helping itself to money levied through taxation in the Canadas, there was considerable indignation in both Canadas. Britain was in breach of the terms of the Constitutional Act. December 5, 1837 In Upper Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie (12 March 1795 – 28 August 1861), a journalist, a politician and the first mayor of Toronto, thought, at first, that such high-handedness could be stopped without an uprising and, possibly, bloodshed.  However, on 5 December 1837, after proclaiming a Declaration of Independence, he lead rebels into battle.  At one point, the rebels regrouped a Montgomery’s Tavern and a battle ensued.  The rebels lost and kept losing.

William Lyon Mackenzie was able to flee, but Samuel Launt and Peter Matthews were not so fortunate.  Both were hanged in Toronto on 12 April 1838.

A proclamation posted on December 7, 1837 offering a reward of one thousand pounds for the capture of William Lyon Mackenzie

8 December 1837: the Western Rising

On 8 December 1837, a second group of rebels, led by Dr Charles Duncombe (Wikipedia) and “patriots” Robert Alway, Finlay Malcolm, Eliakim Malcolm, and Joshua Doan, rose outside Toronto. Duncombe gathered about 200 men and marched towards Toronto. A few hundred more rebels joined them on their march, but they dispersed near Hamilton on 13 December when they learned of Mackenzie’s defeat, and that a militia under Colonel Allan MacNab was on its way to stop them.

Duncombe and Eliakim Malcolm fled to the United States where Dr Duncombe remained for the rest of his life, despite being pardoned in 1843. Joshua Doan was executed in 1839.

There were other contentious issues, such as the Family Compact and the Clergy Reserve (Protestant Clergy) in Upper Canada. [iii]  But these will not be discussed in any depth in this post.  However, you may wish to read my post entitled Upper and Lower Canada, this current blog being its continuation.

Lower Canada: Louis-Joseph Papineau

Louis-Joseph Papineau, who had praised George III, could no more accept the Crown’s high-handedness than William Lyon Mackenzie.  In fact, no sooner did Papineau praise George III than he grew disillusioned with respect to British rule in general and the lack of power granted to the elected Legislative Assembly.  According to the Canadian Encyclopedia,

“[Papineau] came to see himself as the defender of the national heritage of French Canada and led the fight for control of the political institutions of Lower Canada. Early in his career he was a moderate who admired British parliamentary ins/titutions, but during the 1820s his views became more radical and his parliamentary strategy was obstructionist, using the Assembly’s control of revenues and the civil list to combat the policies of the English commercial class, which he considered anathema to the interests of French Canada.” [iv]

Too weak an elected Legislative Assembly

“The Constitutional Act of 1791 had established three branches of government: the Legislative Assembly, an elected lower house; the Legislative Council, an appointed upper house; and the Executive Council, which acted as a kind of cabinet for the lieutenant governor. The governor was always an appointed British nobleman, and he appointed members of the [Château Clique] as his advisers.” [V]

 An elected Legislative Assembly was therefore outnumbered by appointed officials:
  • an appointed Legislative Council,
  • an appointed Executive Council,
  • an appointed Lieutenant Governor,
  • &  the Château Clique, advisors to the Lieutenant Governor and appointed by him. The Château Clique was Lower’s Canada equivalent of Upper Canada’s Family Compact.
The power of the nonelective bodies of government was so overwhelming that in 1823, Papineau travelled to England to defeat, successfully, the Union Bill of 1822.  As for the the Assembly in Upper Canada, William Lyon MacKenzie was battling the Family Compact, Upper Canada’s version of Lower Canada’s Château Clique.  The Clique consisted of mostly rich and influential individuals appointed by the Lieutenant Governor as advisors.
 

November 1937: three main battles It follows that when the Crown began dipping into Lower Canada’s Assembly’s funds, protest soon escalated into rebellion. Having won a first battle at Saint-Denis, Papineau and the patriotes were defeated at Saint-Charles and Saint-Eustache.  Papineau fled to the United States. However, there was a second insurrection, led by Dr Robert Nelson, Wolfred Nelson‘s brother. The “patriotes” were defeated once again, and Papineau sailed to France.  The damage and repercussions are as follows:

Of the 99 condemned to death, only 12 went to the gallows, while 58 were transported to Australia. In total the 6 battles of both campaigns left 325 dead, 27 of them soldiers and the rest rebels, while 13 men were executed (one by the rebels), one was murdered, one committed suicide and 2 prisoners were shot. [vi]

Lord Durham’s investigation and Report

Lord Durham, “Radical Jack,” was appointed to investigate the 1837-1838 rebellions in the Canadas, and to present a Report.  He reported that “French” Canadians “had no history and no culture” (Wikipedia) and recommended that they be assimilated and that the two Canadas be joined.  The Union Act is an “…Act of the British Parliament, passed July 1840 and proclaimed 10 February 1841, uniting UPPER CANADA and LOWER CANADA under one government.”  To his credit, Lord Durham dismissed the Family Compact as “a petty corrupt insolent Tory clique”. (“Family Compact,” Wikipedia)

Lord Durham’s Report and the Act of Union

The Act’s “main provisions were the establishment of a single parliament with equal representation from each constituent section; consolidation of debt; a permanent Civil List; banishment of the French language from official government use; and suspension of specific French Canadian institutions relating to education and civil law. The Act naturally aroused considerable opposition. In Upper Canada, the FAMILY COMPACT opposed union, and in Lower Canada religious and political leaders reacted against its anti-French measures. ” [vii]

Conclusion

Given the nature of his Report, one could surmise that Lord Durham considered the Rebellions of 1837-1838 a mainly ethnic struggle.  It would seem, in other words, that Lord Durham determined rather hastily the causes of the Rebellions. There can be no doubt that Lower Canada’s Canadiens liked their Lower Canada.  However, the Rebelllions of 1837-1838, which took place in both Canadas were, first and foremost, a step towards a greater measure of self-rule or responsible government. It does appear that the elected Assemblies of both Canadas had insufficient power.  Decisions were made by persons who were appointed, rather than elected, to their position, which was problematical.  As a result, when the British trespassed by dipping into the treasuries of both Canadas, there was dismay in both Canadas. Following the Act of Union, the French-speaking Canadians became a minority which was unavoidable.  Combined, the two Canadas were a predominantly English-speaking community, but the French were not assimilated.  However, enmity had been suggested and French-Canadian patriotes were executed by the British.  It had been 74 years since Britain ruled the inhabitants of the former and peaceful New France. The climate had therefore changed.  After the Act of Union (1840-1841), the Canadiens remained politically active, but Canadiens also huddled in various Petits-Canadas, French-speaking areas within English-speaking villages and other communities. The Seigneurial System was abolished in 1854 and, the birth rate being very high, the habitant‘s thirty acres continued to shrink as sons were born who could not remain into the land allotted them in the days of New France.  This caused an exode and the colonisation the Curé Labelle advocated.  See The Canadien’s Terroir and Maria Chapdelaine, earlier posts.  Yet, the daily life of Canadiens families did not change.  It was, in fact, as Krieghoff depicted it.

Habitants by Cornelius Krieghoff

The Rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada (You Tube)
(please click on the title to see the Video)
 
William Lyon Mackenzie, the first mayor of Toronto and a rebel, is the grandfather of The Right Honourable William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG (17 December 1874 – 22 July 1950) [who] was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from 29 December 1921 to 28 June 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from 23 October 1935 to 15 November 1948. (Wikipedia)
_________________________ 
[i] Louis-Joseph Papineau, cité par René Dionne, La Patrie littéraire, volume 2, p. 344, in Gilles Marcotte, directeur, Anthologie de la littérature québécoise (Montréal: l’Hexagone, 1994). 
[ii] The Constitutional Act, 1791
“The bill had 4 main objectives: to guarantee the same rights and privileges as were enjoyed by loyal subjects elsewhere in North America; to ease the burden on the imperial treasury by granting colonial assemblies the right to levy taxes with which to pay for local civil and legal administration; to justify the territorial division of the PROVINCE OF QUEBEC and the creation of separate provincial legislatures; and to maintain and strengthen the bonds of political dependency by remedying acknowledged constitutional weaknesses of previous colonial governments.”
Pierre Tousignant, The Constitutional Act, 1791, The Canadian Encyclopedia
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/constitutional-act-1791. 
[iii] Seigneurial System and Clergy (Protestant) Reserves (Constitutional Act, 1791)
“The Act guaranteed continuity of ownership of lands held under the SEIGNEURIAL SYSTEM in Lower Canada and created the CLERGY RESERVES in Upper Canada.”
Pierre Tousignant, The Constitutional Act, 1791, The Canadian Encyclopedia
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/constitutional-act-1791
[iv] James Marsh, “Louis-Joseph Papineau,” The Canadian Encyclopedia
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/louisjoseph-papineau
[v] Château Clique, Wikipedia
[vi] P. A. Buckner, “Rebellions of 1837,” The Canadian Encyclopedia
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/rebellions-of-1837
[vii] Jacques Monet, S.J., “The Act of Union,” The Canadian Encyclopedia
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/act-of-union
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