Patriote popular assemblies
Encyclopedia
Patriote movement
The Patriote movement was a political movement that existed in Lower Canada from the turning of the 19th century to the Patriote Rebellion of 1837 and 1838 and the subsequent Act of Union of 1840. It was politically embodied by the Parti patriote at the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada...
and the Parti patriote in 1837 Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
. The assemblies, concentrated in the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and Montérégie
Montérégie
Montérégie is an administrative region in southwest Québec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Granby, Longueuil, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Saint-Hyacinthe, Sorel-Tracy, and Vaudreuil-Dorion....
region, saw votes on resolutions and speeches of some of Lower Canada's most reputed orators.
History
The resolutions and the speeches often protested against the Russell Resolutions and what the Patriotes saw as the injustice of the colonial government that imposed its will by force and without the direct democraticDemocracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
participation of the people. A number of occasions honored Patriote leader Louis-Joseph Papineau
Louis-Joseph Papineau
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 famous politician in Quebec...
. The text of the resolutions were often prepared by members of a permanent central committee in Montreal. Speeches also appealed to either economic boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
s of British products or to an armed uprising. Papineau believed in the former while Wolfred Nelson
Wolfred Nelson
Wolfred Nelson, was from 1854 to 1856 the mayor of Montreal, Quebec.- Biography :Nelson was born in Montreal the son of William Nelson, an immigrant to Colonial America from Newsham, North Yorkshire, England...
became a proponent of the latter.
Often, allusions were also made to the great liberty
Liberty
Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
of the United States of America and the possible support for Lower Canada that could arise in the neighbouring republic. The American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
was indeed a major influence of the Patriote movement and its rebellion. Ultimately, the United States would be of little help to the coming Lower Canada Rebellion
Lower Canada Rebellion
The Lower Canada Rebellion , commonly referred to as the Patriots' War by Quebeckers, is the name given to the armed conflict between the rebels of Lower Canada and the British colonial power of that province...
, despite plans by American northeastern
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
citizens to provide weapons and the passive role that country played hosting the Frères chasseurs
Frères chasseurs
The Frères chasseurs were a paramilitary organization that fought in the Patriote Rebellion on the Patriote side, seeking to make Lower Canada, now Quebec, an independent and democratic republic....
and the hunted and banished Patriotes (notably Papineau). They eventually proclaimed their neutrality and, in January 1838, American President Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
even cautioned Americans against any assistance or protection, declaring that anyone who would compromise the neutrality of the United States would expose themselves to arrestation and punishment.
See also
- List of the public meetings held in Lower Canada between May and November 1837
- Quebec nationalismQuebec nationalismQuebec nationalism is a nationalist movement in the Canadian province of Quebec .-1534–1774:Canada was first a french colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New France, which constituted all French colonies in North America...
- Quebec independence movement
- History of QuebecHistory of QuebecQuebec has played a special role in Canadian history; it is the site where French settlers founded the colony of Canada in the 17th and 18th centuries.-Paleoindian Era :...
- Timeline of Quebec historyTimeline of Quebec historyThis article presents a detailed timeline of Quebec history. Events taking place outside Quebec, for example in English Canada, the United States, Britain or France, may be included when they are considered to have had a significant impact on Quebec's history....