"Heritage Talks Online 2022-2023" presents:
January 26, 2023, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
"Loyalties in conflict: A Canadian Borderland in War and Rebellion 1812-1840," with Jack Little
Originally settled by Loyalists from New York and followed by much larger numbers of land seekers from New England, the Eastern Townships was a potentially volatile borderland during the War of 1812 and the Rebellions of 1837-38. Drawing on his 2008 book of the same name, historian and author Jack Little examines how the allegiance to British authority of the American-origin population within the borders of Lower Canada was tested by these conflicts.
American border raids during the war, resulting in a distinct regional identity, did not prevent a strong political-reform movement from emerging in the Townships in the 1820s and 1830s. This movement undermines the view of some Quebec historians that the political contest in Lower Canada was essentially a French-English one. Nonetheless, the dual threat of French-Canadian and American nationalism did ensure the Townships’ loyalty to government during the rebellions, followed in succeeding years by development of an increasingly conservative and distinctly Canadian cultural identity.
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A public livestream (no registration needed) of this presentation will be broadcast on www.facebook.com/QAHNCanada/
About our speaker:
A native of Quebec, Jack Little received graduate degrees in history from the Universities of New Brunswick and Ottawa before beginning his academic career at Simon Fraser University in 1976. He has written more than a dozen books and numerous articles on Canadian social history, with much of his work focused on the development of Quebec society, religion, and politics in the Townships. More recently, he has published on the history of tourism, travel writing and environmental politics in B.C. He now lives on Salt Spring Island.
To view the entire 2022-2023 Heritage Talks program, click here!