1867 & All That

Why did George-Etienne Cartier, one of the Fathers of Confederation, once fight a duel to insist he had once fought against Canada? This question, and a whole lot more, will be answered in the new podcast 1867 & All That. (Full length episodes starting 15 January 2020).

An election in Montreal in 1832 turns bloody and serves as our entry point into understanding the divisive politics of Lower Canada in the years before the rebellions. We make sense of the the rising Patriotes movement, the nature of government and the constitution, and the legacy of the Conquest of New France and the American Revolution.

In Upper Canada a fiery reformer named William Lyon Mackenzie shows that anger at the political system can flourish even amongst supposedly loyal English speaking colonists. Mackenzie also learns that printing presses don't swim very well.

From 1834 to 1836 reformers in both colonies move from hope to anger as two new governors, in their very different ways, prove to not be what the more radical of reformers want. We have the famous 92 resolutions that might (maybe) read like a passive aggressive almost break-up letter. And we also have a Governor General and his lasso knighthood, and much, much more.

A special bonus episode from our sister podcast Cool Canadian History. You can - and should! - subscribe to more than one Canadian history podcast.

It's the summer of 1837 and Lower Canada is in turmoil - horses are losing their tails, effigies are burning, the charivari has turned political, and we have more (and more) resolutions. Oh, and a little thing called rebellion breaks out.

The Rebellion in Lower Canada is absolutely underway this week - the Patriotes leaders flee Montreal; the habitants fortify local strongholds; and the British General Colborne sends troops out to try to drown the the flames of rebellion before they burn too strong. And we have pig noises. Just because.

An intercepted letter proves fateful to the fate of rebellion. And the remaining British force in the Richelieu valley heads toward (and not away from) conflict. The early good showing of the Patriotes proves short-lived but, by the end of November 1837, it is still unclear how the rebellion in Lower Canada will turn out. 

The regular troops have left Upper Canada to go help put down rebellion in Lower Canada and that gives William Lyon Mackenzie an idea. Well, he had the idea already, but this seems like a good time to act on it. We have rebellion in Upper Canada. There is a secret meeting at a brewery; rebels and loyalists shoot at each other and then run away; there is even a Laura Second tie-in. But none of this can stop Mackenzie from having a very bad day. 

A Swiss-born revolutionary stirs things up in an already pretty agitated region of rebellion west of Montreal. Things turn pretty dire for the Patriotes this week. There is fire, and then some more burning. Then, to make things fun, more fire. And General Colborne earns a nickname - the 'vieux brulé' (that is, old firebrand). So, yeah, fire.