Upper Canada Rebellion under William Lyon Mackenzie

Background. Poor wheat harvests in 1836 worsened economic conditions in Upper Canada, leaving farmers unable to pay debts. Most banks suspended payments by July 1837, obtaining government support while ordinary farmers did not. The legislature refused to pass a supply bill in 1836 after Head refused to implement responsible government reforms, fueling discontent among reformers.

Political Organization. The Constitutional Reform Society took its final form as the Toronto Political Union in 1837, organizing local Vigilance Committees to elect delegates to a Constitutional Convention in July 1837. Mackenzie spent the summer of 1837 organizing these committees throughout Upper Canada and proposed self-government for the colony instead of governance by a distant British Parliament.

Outbreak. On October 9, 1837, Mackenzie received a message from the Patriotes asking him to organize an attack on the Upper Canada government. Rural leaders accepted and decided that the rebellion would begin on December 7, 1837, with Anthony Anderson and Samuel Lount leading the armed rebels. The rebellion was largely defeated shortly after it began.