The Patriots and the People , The Rebellion of 1837 in Rural Lower Canada [Quebec]

By Allan Greer

The Patriots and the People is a fundamental reinterpretation of the 1837 Rebellion. Allan Greer argues that far from being passive victims of events, the habitants were actively responding to democratic appeals because the language of popular sovereignty was in harmony with their experience and outlook. He finds that a certain form of popular republicanism, with roots deep in the French-Canadian past, drove the antigovernment campaign. Institutions such as the militia and the parish played an important part in giving shape to the movement, and the customs of the maypole and charivari provided models for the collective actions against local representatives of the colonial regime.

In looking closely into the actions, motives, and mentality of the rural plebeians who formed a majority of those involved in the insurrection, Allan Greer brings to light new causes for the revolutionary role of the normally peaceful French-Canadian peasant. By doing so he provides a social history with new dimensions.

Details:

412 Pages
6 x 9"
Published by University of Toronto Press, 1993
ISBN 9780802069306 (paperback)