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LOUIS JOSEPH PAPINEAU (1786-1871)

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 739 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LOUIS See also:JOSEPH See also:PAPINEAU (1786-1871)  , See also:Canadian See also:rebel and politician, son of See also:Joseph See also:Papineau, royal See also:notary and member of the See also:house of See also:Assembly of See also:Lower See also:Canada, was See also:born at See also:Montreal on the 7th of See also:October 1786 . He was educated at the See also:seminary of See also:Quebec, where he See also:developed the See also:gift of declamatory and persuasive See also:oratory . He was called to the See also:bar of Lower Canada on the 19th of May 18 to . On the 18th of See also:June 18o8 he was elected a member of the House of Assembly of the See also:province of Lower Canada, for the See also:county of See also:Kent . In 1815 he became See also:speaker of the house, being already recognized as the See also:leader of the See also:French Canadian party . At this See also:time there were many grievances in the See also:country which demanded redress; but each See also:faction was more inclined to insist upon the exercise of its See also:special rights than to fulfil its See also:common responsibilities . In See also:December 1820 See also:Lord See also:Dalhousie, See also:governor of Lower Canada, appointed Papineau a member of the executive See also:council; but Papineau, finding himself without real See also:influence on the council, resigned in See also:January 1823 . In that See also:year he went to See also:England to protest on behalf of the French Canadians against the projected See also:union of Upper and Lower Canada, a See also:mission in which he was successful . Nevertheless his opposition to the See also:government became more and more pronounced, till in 1827 Lord Dalhousie refused to confirm his See also:appointment to the speakership, and resigned his governorship when the house persisted in its choice . The aim of the French Canadian opposition at this time was to obtain See also:financial and also constitutional reforms . Matters came to a See also:head when 'the legislative assembly of Lower Canada refused supplies and Papineau arranged for concerted See also:action with See also:William See also:Lyon See also:Mackenzie, the leader of the reform party in Upper Canada . In 1835 Lord Gosford, the new governor of Lower Canada, was instructed by the See also:cabinet in See also:London to inquire into the alleged grievances of the French Canadians .

But the attitude of the opposition remained no less hostile than before, and in See also:

March 1837 the governor was authorized to reject the demand for constitutional reform and to apply public funds in his See also:control to the purposes of government . In June a warning See also:proclamation by the governor was answered by a See also:series of violent speeches by Papineau, who in See also:August was deprived of his See also:commission in the See also:militia . Papineau had formeriy professed a deep reverence for See also:British institutions, and he had acquired a theoretical knowledge of the constitution, but he did not possess the qualities of a statesman, and consequently in his determination to apply the strict See also:letter of the constitution he overlooked those elements and compensating forces and See also:powers which through See also:custom and usage had been incorporated in British institutions, and had given them permanence . In his earlier career he had voiced the aspirations of a See also:section of the See also:people at a time when it appeared to them that their See also:national existence was threatened . In the course of time party strife became more See also:bitter; real issues were lost sight of; and Papineau, falling in with the views of one O'Callaghan, who distrusted everything British, became an annexationist . Realizing that his cause was not advanced by persuasive eloquence, he adopted a threatening attitude which caused men of sober See also:judgment to waver in their See also:allegiance . These men he denounced as traitors; but a See also:band of youthful enthusiasts encouraged their leader in his revolutionary course . The See also:bishop of Montreal and of Quebec, and a large number of the citizens, protested, but nothing less than bloodshed would satisfy the misguided patriots . On the 23rd of October 18J7 a See also:meeting of delegates from the six counties of Lower Canada was held at St See also:Charles, at which resistance to the government by force of arms was decided upon, and in which Papineau took See also:part . In See also:November preparations were made for a See also:general stampede at Montreal, and on the 7th of the See also:month Papineau's house was sacked and a fight took See also:place between the " constitutionals " and the "sons of See also:liberty." Towards the See also:middle of November See also:Colonel See also:Gore was commanded to effect the See also:arrest of Papineau and his See also:principal adherents on a See also:charge of high See also:treason . A few See also:hundred armed men had assembled at See also:Saint See also:Denis to resist the troops, and See also:early on the See also:morning of the 22nd of November hostilities commenced, which were maintained for several See also:hours and resulted in many casualties . On the See also:eve of the fray Papineau sought safety in See also:flight, followed by the leading See also:spirits of the See also:movement .

On the 1st of December 1837 a proclamation was issued, declaring Papineau a rebel, and placing a See also:

price upon his head . He had found shelter in the See also:United States, where he remained in safety throughout the whole See also:period of the fighting . The See also:rebellion See also:broke out afresh in the autumn of 1838, but it was soon repressed . Those taken in open rebellion were deported by Lord See also:Durham to See also:save them from the See also:scaffold; and although 90 were condemned to See also:death only 12 were executed . Attempts have been made to See also:transfer the responsibility for the See also:act of violence to O'Callaghan and other prominent leaders in the revolt; but Papineau's own words, " The patriots of this See also:city would have avenged the See also:massacre but they were so poor and so badly organized that they were not See also:fit to meet the See also:regular troops," prove that he did not discountenance recourse to arms . See also:Writing of the events of 1837 in the year 1848 he said: " The smallest success at Montreal or See also:Toronto would have induced the See also:American government, in spite of its See also:president, to support the movement." It would thus seem that he was intriguing to bring about intervention by the United States with a view to See also:annexation; and as the See also:independence of the French Canadian See also:race, which he professed to See also:desire, could not have been achieved under the constitution of the American See also:republic, it is inconsistent to regard his services to his See also:fellow-countrymen as those of a true patriot . Papineau, in pursuing towards the end a policy of See also:blind See also:passion, over-looked real grievances, and prevented remedial action . After the rebellion See also:relief was accorded because the obstacle was removed, and it is evident that a broad-minded statesman, or a skilful diplomat, would have accomplished more for French739 Canada than the fiery eloquence and dubious methods of a leader who plunged his followers into the throes of See also:war, and deserted them at the supreme moment . From 1839 till 1847 Papineau lived in See also:Paris . In the latter year an See also:amnesty was granted to those who had participated in the rebellion in Canada; and, although in June 1838 Lord Durham had issued a proclamation threatening Papineau with death if he returned to Canada, he was now admitted to the benefit of the amnesty . On his return to Canada, when the two provinces were now united, he became a member of the lower house and continued to take part in public See also:life, demanding " the independence of Canada, for the Canadians need never expect See also:justice from England, and to submit to her would be an eternal disgrace." He unsuccessfully agitated for the re-See also:division of upper and lower Canada, and in 1854 retired into private life . He died at Montebello, in the province of Quebec, on the 24th of See also:September 1871 .

See L . O . See also:

David, See also:Les Deux Papineau; Fennings See also:Taylor, See also:Louis Joseph Papineau (Montreal, 1865) ; See also:Alfred De Celles, Papineau-See also:Cartier (Toronto, 1906); H . J . See also:Morgan, Sketches of Celebrated Canadians (Quebec, 1862); See also:Rose's Cyclopaedia of Canadian See also:Biography See also:Annual See also:Register, 1836–1837 ; See also:Sir See also:Spencer See also:Walpole, See also:History of England (5 vols., London, 1878-1886), vol. iii . (A . G .

End of Article: LOUIS JOSEPH PAPINEAU (1786-1871)
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