The Rebellions In Upper and Lower Canada (1837-1838)

Similarities Between The Two Rebellions: Both had a list of grievances which were sent to Britain. Both of the lists were rejected and that was the item which had triggered the two rebellions. There were artisan presses in both Upper and Lower Canada which had printed off the information against the colonial government which had fuelled the rebellions. The oligarchy members made all government appointments and using their political power, they put policies in place that were favorable to themselves and their interests rather than to the majority of citizens in the colonies which lead to rebellions and reforms in both Upper and Lower Canada. Upper Canada had the Family Compact whereas the French had the Chateau Clique. Both these groups held a strong hold over the commercial and political life of their colonies. As the oligarchy members made all government appointments, they were able to control the legal, religious, and educational systems in the colonies. In Lower Canada lead by Louis-Joseph Papineau, the Patriots were French rebels who wanted more say in colonial government and tried to overthrow the government. Likewise in Upper Canada, William Lion Mackenzie used Papineaus methods and formed the Reformers. Both Papineau and Mackenzie were able to flee to the United States and back to their native areas (France and Toronto) after the rebellion without any persecution. At the end, both rebellions were met with failure. However, he British government took notice of the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada and realized that serious problems existed with the way that the colonies were run. They sent Lord Durham to the colonies to investigate.

Differences Between The Two Rebellions: Upper Canada William Lion Mackenzie had wanted an armed rebellion against the British. Unlike Lower Canada, there were crown and clergy reserves set aside to provide income for the government and for the Anglican Church; in total 2/7th of all the land in Upper Canada. The Upper Canadian movement was mainly made up of tradesmen, teachers, lawyers, doctors, merchants, artists and two preachers. There were also many farmers and laborers involved, but the leadership of the rebellion was mainly from the Radical Reformers who had been part of the Assembly William Lion Mackenzie had wanted an American style of democracy. Lower Canada Louis-Joseph Papineau did not want an armed rebellion against the British. The French were uneasy about their position in Upper Canada due to British immigrants flooding the colony, slowly outnumbered them and had feared assimilation as well. The rebellions in Lower Canada were far more violent than in Upper Canada as all professional soldiers were sent to Lower Canada and there were no professional soldiers left in Toronto in the fall of 1837.

The citizens of Lower Canada had to struggle more against the tides of immigrants and the many diseases such as cholera, dysentery and typhus that came with them (porting ships). In Lower Canada there were two distinct and widespread rebellions.

 Nationalist feelings among the French in Lower Canada helped convince the colony's reformers that they were part of a larger cause which helped fuel the rebellions.