| 1837 Rebellion
The Rebellion of 1837, also known as the Patriot War, involved Canadians and U.S. citizens at a time when Canada as we know it today was divided into Upper and Lower Canada. Before 1837 there had been reform movements in both of the Canadas to correct common grievances against British Colonial administration. In Upper Canada the movement evolved into a revolution in 1837 with an armed uprising in Toronto inspired by the radical journalist William Lyon Mackenzie. The rebels' initial failure to overthrow the entrenched government led in 1838 to cross-border raids staged mostly by U.S. citizens who, in their turn, also failed and for their actions found themselves the subject of British Crown justice. Some were acquitted, either on account of their youth or for lack of evidence. Others were hanged as ringleaders while their followers, under sentence of death, were instead deported in convict ships to Australia's penal colony at Van Dieman's Land—modern day Tasmania. | |
| To The Outskirts Of Habitable Creation:
Americans And Canadians Transported To Tasmania In The 1840s
By Stuart D. Scott and Illustrated by Seth Colby To The Outskirts Of Habitable Creation is a nineteenth-century story of men who gave up life, liberty, and their families to induce a change in Canadian governmental policy. The dramatic story takes place in four countries and involves questions of jurisdiction and international law similar to questions being debated today. This is not, however, just a man's tale of action, conviction, and bravery. Beyond the episodes of battles, trials, hangings, periods of servitude, deaths, and escapes, there is the interwoven story of one woman appealing to two governments—and Queen Victoria—to spare her husband's life. This engaging and lively narrative history chronicles the panorama of lives lived and lost in the tide of rebellion. | |
