Republic of Lower Canada République du Bas-Canada | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1838 | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Status | Unrecognized | ||||||||
| Capital | Napierville | ||||||||
| Common languages | French, English | ||||||||
| Government | Republic | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1838 | Robert Nelson | ||||||||
| Legislature | Representative Democracy | ||||||||
| Historical era | Lower Canada Rebellions | ||||||||
| 22 February 1838 | |||||||||
| 9 November 1838 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | |||||||||
The Republic of Lower Canada was a break-away state proclaimed in the aftermath of the 1837 Rebellions. The defeat of the rebellion meant that the state could never be properly established.
A British colony since 1760, Canada was divided in two distinct entities in 1791: Lower Canada, mainly inhabited by the descendants of the colonists of New France, and Upper Canada, mainly inhabited by British colonists and American Loyalists who established themselves as refugees of the American Revolution. Each entity had its own elected assembly.
The Francophones, who were the majority in Lower Canada, wished to take into their own hands important decisions regarding the administration of the colony. However, a massive frustration emerged because the assembly was soon restricted to an aesthetical role, a rubber-stamp; the real legislative and executive power was concentrated in the hands of the Governor-General, chosen by London, who often misunderstood or belittled the interests of the people of Lower Canada, which were at times contradictory to those of the British colonial authorities.
The unstable political situation, lack of individual ministerial responsibility of the colonial government; as well as the economic crisis and the recent independence of the United States and of Latin American states led the people of Lower Canada, in the autumn of 1837, to the Lower Canada Rebellion. The poorly armed, untrained and out-numbered Patriotes were quickly defeated by the British Army. The survivors sought refuge in the United States.
On 2 January 1838, Robert Nelson as well as a good number of refugees such as Louis-Joseph Papineau, O'Callaghan, Chartier, Rodier, Malhiot, Côté, Bouthillier, Davignon and Gagnon assembled at Middlebury in Vermont to plan a military invasion of Lower Canada. The Patriotes present voted in favour of the quick establishment of a Provisional Government and launched an attack from the safety of the United States. Some voted against this venture, such as Papineau, who judged it doomed from the start without the help of a military power such as the United States or France. This led to some disagreement between the two rebel leaders.
The first invasion of Lower Canada was attempted on 28 February 1838. The six to seven hundred rebels, led by the two doctors Coté and Nelson, left Vermont with the goal of crossing the border. They soon arrived at a camp situated approximately 1.5 kilometres from the border and Robert Nelson was given the rank of General of the Army and elected President of the Republic of Lower Canada. Nelson then read the Declaration of Independence of Lower Canada, which was very progressive for the time. Lower Canada was unilaterally declared an independent Republic and its people declared absolved of all allegiance to the British crown. The state laid down enjoyed provisions such as the Separation of Church and State, equal rights for all citizens, abolition of the feudal seigneurial system, abolition of the death penalty, liberty of the press, and most notably the equality of the French and English languages including official bilingualism.
Unfortunately for the rebels, they were quickly beaten back by the British army, and the American government, under British pressure, decided to stay neutral, not permitting such an invasion to be mounted from their territory. Nelson and Coté were arrested at the border and charged for violations of neutrality, then released. They took this as a lesson in organization and secrecy, noting they could never hope to match the British army in open warfare with their small numbers and resources. This led to the creation of a guerrilla organization named the Frères chasseurs under the guise of a hunting club, with the goal of overthrowing the governments of Upper and Lower Canada and to establish sovereign, democratic republican institutions in their place. Its organization was hierarchical and was led by a "Great Eagle" (equivalent to a Major-General). He led "Eagles" who each represented a district of the province and led a company. The "Eagles" chose two men as "Beavers" (equivalent to a Captain) who in turn each had under their orders 5 "Snowshoes" (Corporals). Each of the "Snowshoes" led 9 men with the title of "Hunters". It was financed by supporters in Lower Canada and the United States. Wild rumours began to roam regarding the numerical strength of the rebels. John Colborne spoke of tens of thousands, others believed that each parish of Lower Canada had their recruiting office.
An insurrection was planned for 3 November 1838. On that day the rebels assembled along the border, at Lacolle, Napierville and Chateaugay. Some impatient groups did not wait for Nelson's orders and began attacking piecemeal. At Beauharnois a group occupied a seiugneurie and another seized a steamship to convert it into a warship. The initial plan was to seize Beauharnois, Chateaugay, la Prairie, St-Jean, Chambly, Boucherville and Sorel. Nelson, commanding 800 men, was to go up the Richelieu valley to capture St-Jean and advance to Montreal. Montreal, Trois-Rivières, and Quebec City would be successively attacked, drawing upon increasing amounts of manpower and weapons as the population would join them.
Nothing went according to plan. In Montreal, authorities quickly responded and arrested many local leaders. Other Patriotes, seeing that the promised weapons failed to arrive, marched to the Native reservation of Kahnawake to seize the Natives' arsenal. They failed and many were made prisoner to be delivered to the British. An American ship which was to deliver weapons was intercepted by a group of Loyalist volunteers. Other weapons which had been hidden at Rouse's Point in the United States were seized by American authorities. Apprehending that the operation was failing, he[ who? ] led his men onwards to Odelltown. In Lacolle, a rumour said that Nelson had tried to run away during the night only to be caught by his men, the doctor convincing them that he was merely inspecting the troops.
On 10 November, they attacked Odelltown. The colonial militia was quickly reinforced and the rebels had to pull back. Defeated, they retreated to the United States. Nelson himself had fled before the battle was over.
Later that year, Nelson met many leaders of the Patriot movement in Swanton, Vermont, and began to plan border skirmishes to draw the United States into a conflict with the British Empire. However, the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty destroyed the last hopes of getting American assistance to liberate the French Canadians from British colonialism. Ruined, destitute, and his reputation broken, he refused to return to Lower Canada despite an amnesty and stayed in the United States, forsaking politics until his death in 1873 in Staten Island.
Lower Canada experienced during and after the rebellions great hardships and oppression and exploitation that would last until the Quiet Revolution, including a systematic program of assimilation; the mandatory use of English in all public matters and business; as well as an economic recession. The Rebellions lead to many more conflicts most notably the 1845 Rebellion Losses Bill which caused enraged Orangist and Tory Anglophones to burn the Building of Parliament in Montreal, which lead to the construction of Ottawa. A large number of people were drawn to the promise of a better life in the United States to form the large majority of the French American community, concentrated mostly in the industrial north.
The 1837 and 1838 Rebellions received increased interest following the rise of the Quebec independence movement and many of their symbols are used today to represent Quebec nationalism. The 1838 attempt at separation is often overshadowed by the much more violent, general insurrection that occurred a year earlier.
Louis-Joseph Papineau, born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the seigneurie de la Petite-Nation. He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838. His father was Joseph Papineau, also a politician in Quebec. Papineau was the eldest of eight children and was the grandfather of the journalist Henri Bourassa, founder of the newspaper Le Devoir.
The Lower Canada Rebellion, commonly referred to as the Patriots' War in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada. Together with the simultaneous rebellion in the neighbouring colony of Upper Canada, it formed the Rebellions of 1837–38.
This section of the Timeline of Quebec history concerns the events in British North America relating to what is the present day province of Quebec, Canada between the time of the Constitutional Act of 1791 and the Act of Union 1840.
The British North America Act, 1840, also known as the Act of Union 1840, was approved by Parliament in July 1840 and proclaimed February 10, 1841, in Montreal. It abolished the legislatures of Lower Canada and Upper Canada and established a new political entity, the Province of Canada to replace them.
Robert Nelson was an Anglo-Quebecer physician and a leading figure in the Lower Canada Rebellion in 19th century Quebec.
Wolfred Nelson was the mayor of Montreal, Quebec, from 1854 to 1856.
Events from the year 1837 in Canada.
Events from the year 1838 in Canada.
The Battle of Saint-Charles was fought on 25 November 1837 between the Government of Lower Canada, supported by the United Kingdom, and Patriote rebels. Following the opening Patriote victory of the Lower Canada Rebellion at the Battle of Saint-Denis, British troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Wetherall advanced from the south on the Patriote stronghold of Saint-Charles in the Richelieu valley. On 25 November 1837 they engaged the Patriote forces under the command of Thomas Storrow Brown. After a two-hour battle, the Government of Lower Canada was victorious.
The Battle of Beauharnois was fought on November 10, 1838, between Lower Canada loyalists and Patriote rebels, after 500 armed men had converged on Beauharnois, on November 3–4, overtaking the seigneurial manor.
Thomas Boutillier was a doctor, Patriote, and politician in Lower Canada. Elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada in 1834, he was a member of the Parti patriote led by Louis-Joseph Papineau, which was challenging the British colonial government of the largely French-speaking province of Lower Canada. When the Lower Canada Rebellion broke out in 1837, he fought on the Patriote side in the Battle of Saint-Charles. Following the Patriotes' defeat, he fled to the United States. He returned to Lower Canada in 1838.
The Assembly of the Six Counties was an assembly of Patriote leaders and approximately 6,000 followers held in Saint-Charles, Lower Canada on October 23 and October 24, 1837, despite the June 15 Proclamation of the government forbidding public assemblies.
The patriotes movement was a political movement that existed in Lower Canada from the turn of the 19th century to the Patriote Rebellion of 1837 and 1838 and the subsequent Act of Union of 1840. The partisan embodiment of the movement was the Parti patriote, which held many seats in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.
The Patriote popular assemblies gathered supporters and leaders of the Patriote movement and the Parti patriote in 1837 Lower Canada. The assemblies, concentrated in the Montreal and Montérégie region, saw votes on resolutions and speeches of some of Lower Canada's most reputed orators.
The Patriote flag was used by the Patriote movement in Lower Canada between 1832 and 1838.
Odelltown is a former town in southern Quebec, Canada located on Route 221, 4.7 km (2.9 mi) south of Lacolle, Quebec. The settlement was named after Joseph Odell, a United Empire Loyalist and Founder Pioneer of the Odell Family in Odelltown, Province of Lower Canada. The hamlet has since been made part of Lacolle. The area was the scene of a battle on 28 June 1814 during the War of 1812 between American and British forces. It resulted in a British victory. Odelltown was also the scene of two engagements between rebels and loyalists during the Lower Canada Rebellion between 7 November 1838 and 9 November 1838. Both engagements resulted in loyalist victories.
Cyrille-Hector-Octave Côté was a physician and political figure in Lower Canada.
The Patriot War was a conflict along the Canada–United States border in which bands of raiders attacked the British colony of Upper Canada more than a dozen times between December 1837 and December 1838. This so-called war was not a conflict between nations; it was a war of ideas fought by like-minded people against British forces, with the British eventually allying with the US government against the Patriots.
The following is an incomplete bibliography of the 1837-1838 insurrections in Lower Canada in the English and French languages, by publication date and document type.
The Battle of Baker's Farm took place in Lower Canada on November 8, 1838, during the Patriot's War. It was the first and last military success of the Patriotes in the campaign of 1838. Eight hundred Patriotes gathered on a farm near Sainte-Martine, Quebec and fought off several attacks by Loyalist volunteers. After news of the defeat of Patriotes forces at the Battle of Odelltown spread, the massed Patriotes dispersed before the arrival of British troops.
