In November 1837, rebellion stirred in the British colonies of Upper and Lower Canada (modern-day Ontario and Quebec). In Lower Canada, the rebel group the Patriotes had just won the Battle of Saint-Denis against British forces and, with the news of rebel success, William Lyon Mackenzie called on rural Upper Canadians to follow suit. He distributed a handbill with the title
Independence!, which began with the following passage:
There have been Nineteen Strikes for Independence from European Tyranny on the Continent of America.
They were all successful!
BRAVE CANADIANS! Do you love freedom? I know you do. Do you hate oppression? Who dare deny it? Do you wish perpetual peace, and a government founded upon the eternal heaven-born principle of the Lord Jesus Christ? Then buckle on your armour, and put down the villains who oppress and enslave your country—put them down in the name of that God who goes forth with the armies of his people.