Every so often, when reading an article in Canadian History magazine I come upon a topic that is totally new to me. But not often. Usually I am reading something that I know quite a lot about but have not paid attention to recently. I enjoy reading the information but a lot I already know. After all, I did study Canadian history in Canada. This little magazine once was The Beaver, the magazine of The Hudsons Bay Company but when The Bay was sold, the Beaver was taken over by The History of Canada organization. Ten years ago, they changed the name, which is still Canada History.
This week, I read a topic I knew nothing about: The Patriots of 1837 and 1838. The Lower colony was restless and took to arms against the British rule. Many Patriots were hung and many were sent to a penal colony in Australia. It was the same as The American Revolution on a small scale. Except the insurrection was quickly squelched. The french speaking people were the ones who took up arms. The English speaking folks did not take up arms. Perhaps that was why this rebellion was never taught to me in my english schools.
The local folks fairly quickly were given representation politically and in 1845 the Patriots were returned to Canada. I have asked several of my friends about the rebellion and they knew nothing about it either. I am grateful for this little magazine for setting me straight. I have been reading this history magazine since we moved here in 1999. And I enjoy every edition, which is published 6 times a year. But this edition was unusual because everything I read in the lead article was totally new to me. Great fun.
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