The Rebellion of Lower Canada

By Evan
The rebellion of Lower Canada could have been one of the greatest revolutions of
all time but they would have ended up separating from Britain entirely. The rebels failed
to obtain responsible government because of many reasons. The rebellion, although
justifiable, didnt work because: they didnt have enough support from the people, they
werent prepared for how powerful the British were and they didnt coordinate their
attacks with Upper Canada.
To have a successful or even just good rebellion you must have: a good leader, a
good goal, resources and support of the people. The Lower Canadians had some people
of Canada supporting them but not enough. Sympathy is what they got from a large
percent of the population but what they needed was men who would fight for a better
government. The rebels were the minority; you cant win a war with fewer men who are
untrained.
Untrained militia is not the kind of men you want when trying to bully a country
(one of the strongest countries in the known world) to get your way. Although at the time
many of the British forces were in Upper Canada; Lower Canada drew their attention first
causing reinforcements to come to Lower Canada. Papineau tried to train his men but
ultimately there wasnt enough, they were untrained men shooting lousy guns.
Lower Canada almost won the rebellion and Upper Canada could have won their
rebellion so together they would have had a better chance. If Papineau and Mackenzie
had coordinated their attacks on the government they could have kept the British soldiers
on their toes. Most of the British army went to Lower Canada to defend and attack the
rebels; so the Upper Canadians took advantage of it and tried taking the capital. If they
were successful The British would have had to empty Lower Canada leaving it
unguarded for the rebels to take it. The rebels could have kept making the British soldiers
travel back and forth between Upper and Lower over and over until they won.
The rebellion of Lower Canada was justified.
Mathew 22:
21
Caesars, they replied. Then He said to them, So give back to
Caesar what is Caesars, and to God what is Gods.
In my words: Give to people what is theirs, or what you owe them. The English
didnt give the new Canadians what they were owed: roads, schools, and respect as equal
people.
The English had put in place a government where there was no connection
between the people and the governor. After asking many times for a refined government,
where the governor was voted in by the people, the English still did nothing; they sent
back a letter telling them 10 reasons why not in the response to the rebels 92 reasons
why they should. It took too long for the English to have not changed anything. If I was
there I would have fought; (maybe not because I dont care about the government
because I am quite happy with it right now) but if I did care about the government I
would have fought.
The rebellion wasnt successful because the majority of the people were content
with the government, the ones who did fight werent prepared to fight and the rebels
didnt combine strategy to win the war. The Canadian Rebellions of 1837 could have
become The Revolution of 1837. Notice plural non-plural Rebellions because separate
they failed together they could have won.