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Canadian State Trials Volume II: Rebellion and Invasion in the Canadas, 1837-1839
2002 edited by F. Murray Greenwood, Emeritus Professor of History, University of British Columbia and Barry Wright, Professor, Department of Law, Carleton University. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 2002.
This second volume of the Canadian State Trials series focuses on the largest state security crisis in 19th century Canada: the rebellions of 1837-1838 and associated patriot invasions in Upper and Lower Canada. Historians have long debated the causes and implications of the rebellions, but until now have done remarkably little work on the legal aspects of the insurrections and their aftermath. Given that over 350 men were tried for treason or equivalent offences in connection with the rebellions, this volume is long overdue. The essays collected here break new ground in the existing historiography of the rebellions by presenting the first comprehensive examination of the legal dimensions of the crises. The essays, written by leading scholars in the field, place the trials and court martial proceedings fully in their political, social and comparative contexts.
Contents
Contents
Foreword xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Contributors xv
Maps xvii
Abbreviations xix
Introduction: Rebellion, Invasion, and the Crisis of the Colonial State
in the Canadas, 1837-9 3
F. MURRAY GREENWOOD AND BARRY WRIGHT
Part One: Upper Canada
1 Trying the Rebels: Emergency Legislation and the Colonial Executive’s
Overall Legal Strategy in the Upper Canadian Rebellion 41
RAINER BAEHRE
2 The Toronto Treason Trials, March-May 1838 62
PAUL ROMNEY AND BARRY WRIGHT
3 The Treason Trials of 1838 in Western Upper Canada 100
COLIN READ
4 The Kingston and London Courts Martial 130
BARRY WRIGHT
5 The Prince Affair: ‘Gallant Colonel’ or The Windsor Butcher’? 160
F. MURRAY GREENWOOD
6 Patriot Exiles in Van Diemen’s Land 188
CASSANDRA PYBUS
Part Two: Lower Canada
7 ‘This Ultimate Resource’: Martial Law and State Repression in
Lower Canada, 1837-8 207
JEAN-MARIE FECTEAU
8 State Trial by Legislature: The Special Council of Lower Canada,
1838-41 248
STEVEN WATT
9 The General Court Martial at Montreal, 1838-9: Operation and
the Irish Comparison 279
F. MURRAY GREENWOOD
10 The Montreal Court Martial, 1838-9: Legal and Constitutional
Reflections 325
F. MURRAY GREENWOOD
11 ‘Women’s Work’: Women and Rebellion in Lower Canada,
1837-9 353
BEVERLEY BOISSERY AND CARLA PATERSON
12 The Punishment of Transportation as Suffered by the Patriotes
Sent to New South Wales 383
BEVERLEY BOISSERY
Appendices: Archival Research and Supporting Documents
A. In Pursuit of Rebels at the National Archives of Canada:
Beyond the Usual Round-up of Suspect Sources 405
PATRICIA KENNEDY
Tables of National Archives Sources with Commentary
(P. Kennedy) 416
B. Archival Sources in Quebec Relating to the Legal Suppression
of the Rebellions of 1837 and 1838 in Lower Canada 428
JAMES LAMBERT
C. Rebellion Trials Sources in Ontario Archives 452
SUSAN LEWTHWAITE
D. Supporting Documents 459
Index 487
Reviews
For scholars and students interested in developing their expertise in the legal aspects of post-rebellion trials in the Canadas, Rebellion and Invasion is extremely valuable. ... There is a good coverage of the state trials throughout the Canadas, and the unifying themes that emerge tie the volume together nicely. Well-researched and well-written, this collection should fascinate all scholars interested in the pre-Confederation Canadas, particularly those working on the history of Canadian criminal law and procedure, legal and political theory, and early Canadian state formation. R. Blake Brown, Canadian Historical Review, Vol 85, 2004, p. 122
The definitive factum...on the role of the law and legal institutions in times of revolt. Justice Gilles Renaud, Commonwealth Judicial Journal, Vol 15, 2003, p. 46.
Michel Ducharme, Revue Mens, Vol 4, 2004, p. 335.
Louis A. Knafla, Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Vol 19, 2004, p. 201.
Chris Raible, Ontario History, Vol 96, 2004, p. 102.
University of Toronto Quarterly, Vol 73, 2003, p. 226.
