The Patriots and the People - 9780802069306

The Patriots and the PeopleThe Rebellion of 1837 in Rural Lower Canada\nAuthor(s): Allan Greer\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: University of Toronto Press, Canada\nImprint: University of Toronto Press\nISBN-13: 9780802069306, 978-0802069306\nSynopsis\nThe Lower Canadian Rebellion of 1837 has been called the most important event in pre-Confederation history. Previously, it has been explained as a response to economic distress or as the result of manipulation by middle-class politicians. Lord Durham believed it was an expression of racial conflict.\n\nThe Patriots and the People is a fundamental reinterpretation of the Rebellion. Allan Greer argues that far 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 anti-government campaign. Institution.