The Rebels of Hastings

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

To most English-Canadians, Upper Canada’s rebellion of 1837 was a
minor bump in the generally smooth road of Canada’s transition from
British colony to independent nation. The revolt allegedly concerned a
few disgruntled farmers, mostly in the west of the province, and it
quickly collapsed after Mackenzie’s attempted coup fizzled. It is a
story both comical and romantic.

This book attempts to shed light on the rebellion east of Toronto.
Until now, most historians have treated Hastings and Prince Edward
counties as quiet backwaters of Loyalism, although in 1837 patriot
sympathies in this area were rife, and one of the bloodiest battles of
the era was fought near the town of Prescott. Boyce has a better stomach
than most for stripping away the myths of the rebellion. There is little
to look back on with pride. More than 100 Upper Canadians lost their
lives. Hundreds more were imprisoned. Political and religious
differences became excuses for harassment and even atrocity. The
long-term effect was that interneighbor relations in many towns and
counties were poisoned for generations afterward. Upper Canada, in the
rebellion years, was our own Balkan powder keg.

In this well-researched and very readable work, it is unfortunate that
Boyce returns, too often, to the rebellion as it occurred in Toronto and
along the Niagara frontier. These events are already well documented in
other works and her retelling of them offers little new. Where this book
excels is in its first-hand accounts of the rebellion from people who
until now have never been allowed a voice; more of its kind should be
written.