From the beginning of last year, Upper and Lower Canada were thrown into turmoil when revoltists decided to uproot rebellions against the Crown and Canada’s political state of affairs. The revolt here in Lower Canada has been much more brutal and severe of the two.

The rebellion here was started by Louis Joseph Papineau and his patriots, along with some modest French-Canadian nationalists. Together, they overtook the elected Legislative Assembly.

Over 18 years ago, they had peacefully disputed the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and tested powers of British leaders.

What did they want? Simply, they wanted control over how salaries earned in the colony were spent, and a responsible government. These pleas were rejected in London after many years of begging. This caused tensions among the people to rise and several protest rallies were born.

After many years, last year in November of 1837 two large frenzies took place. Battles arose with the help of Patriot rebels, trained British regulars, and also Anglophone volunteers. Their team was very disorganized, which led to a quick defeat. Papineau, along with other rebel leaders quickly departed to the United States.

Then, just over a month ago, a second rebellion outbreak was launched with the help of brave American volunteers. Unfortunately, this second battle was also quickly put to rest, as it was shamefully poorly organized. These uprisings altogether, left almost 500 people either dead or captured. Papineau has again fled to the United States, but this time for exile in Paris.

Following this 2^nd defeat, Lower Canada is planning to merge with Upper Canada and create one whole great nation. 

By: Skai Bekeris / Staff Reporter