The weakness of the British government in 1837, riven by sectionalism amongst the victors, and having to deal still with the aftermath of the civil war in country, towns and cities led to an inability to deal effectively with a series of crises breaking out across British North America in this period. Rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada, blending democratic forces and Quebecois nationalism together in uneasy alliance, as well as Irish uprisings in the Canada-Michigan borderlands, all acted to weaken British authority in the area. Mackenzie's flight to the USA, and the subsequent backing of his cause by President Andrew Jackson was not met by any significant movement from across the Atlantic. Irish independence and the coronation of King Francis I in Dublin had tipped the government in London over into chaos. Radicals and Whigs proved unable to reconcile their differences, and the weakness of the young King George V suddenly seemed to be a drawback and not a strength of the new constitution. Chief amongst arguments were those over the role of the Lords, with Grey suggesting a large-scale creation of Whig and Radical peers, and Radical leaders instead pressing for the abolition of the institution and its replacement with a Senate directly elected by the people. In this situation, there proved little that the British government was able to do in response to the crisis in Canada.
In fact, so weak was the British response, and so great the ability of the Americans to impose their will on the situation, that when Canadian-American tensions overflowed into outright war in late 1838 it completely caught the British government by surprise. A ministry under Earl Grey was steering a difficult course, having accepted the fait accompli of Irish independence, and introducing a wide-ranging electoral reform law into the Commons. The question of the Lords was in abeyance, George V being prevailed upon to sign certain Acts of Attainder on the one hand, and issue new Letters Patent on the other. Despite a ferocious campaign by the Radical press, backed up by street mobs and violent demonstrations, Grey managed to keep the Lords alive as a functioning part of the body politic. The more extreme Ultras were attainted, and many more moderate peers created, thus ensuring the passage of the Reform Act when it was presented to the Lords for ratification in the Winter of 1838.
So great had been the attention on this matter that the American declaration of war in response to various provocations from Maine to Michigan came as a bolt from the blue. Although, in the aftermath of the civil war, numerous warships and military units remained in commission, the political situation within and between these forces could not be called anything other than dangerous. Radicals had taken over and crewed a number of ships of the line, instituting democratic councils in the style of the Nore and Spithead Mutineers of the end of the previous century. In contrast, other vessels remained under Naval Law manned by gentlemen who had come over to the rebellion on the backing of Lord Grey. An attempt to dispatch a force to Canada ran into serious difficulties when the Radical-crewed ships refused to serve under an aristocrat, and when a compromise seemed to have been reached refused also to serve under Navy Law. Radical leaders pressed for a Radical-only force to go instead, but Grey and the Whig cabinet refused to sanction this. The deadlock continued into the Spring of 1839 before a working arrangement could be hammered out.
By then it was too late. The squadron which finally put into Canadian waters found that American forces were already in occupation of all disputed territory, and indeed had installed a democratic government in Lower Canada, signing a peace treaty with this bastard entity. The impasse between the British and American sides was further complicated when news from across the Atlantic reached them that the first election under the new Reform Act had produced an overwhelming majority for the Radicals. Earl Grey was out, and the new government was signalling its willingness to negotiate with their 'democratic brothers' across the ocean. The commander of the British squadron resigned in protest and returned to England. His replacement, appointed by the new Radical administration, signed the British agreement to the treaty already agreed between the United States and its puppet government in Lower Canada. This agreement was soon extended to Upper Canada, though the commercial territories in the North remained aloof from the settlement.
Grey Wolf
In fact, so weak was the British response, and so great the ability of the Americans to impose their will on the situation, that when Canadian-American tensions overflowed into outright war in late 1838 it completely caught the British government by surprise. A ministry under Earl Grey was steering a difficult course, having accepted the fait accompli of Irish independence, and introducing a wide-ranging electoral reform law into the Commons. The question of the Lords was in abeyance, George V being prevailed upon to sign certain Acts of Attainder on the one hand, and issue new Letters Patent on the other. Despite a ferocious campaign by the Radical press, backed up by street mobs and violent demonstrations, Grey managed to keep the Lords alive as a functioning part of the body politic. The more extreme Ultras were attainted, and many more moderate peers created, thus ensuring the passage of the Reform Act when it was presented to the Lords for ratification in the Winter of 1838.
So great had been the attention on this matter that the American declaration of war in response to various provocations from Maine to Michigan came as a bolt from the blue. Although, in the aftermath of the civil war, numerous warships and military units remained in commission, the political situation within and between these forces could not be called anything other than dangerous. Radicals had taken over and crewed a number of ships of the line, instituting democratic councils in the style of the Nore and Spithead Mutineers of the end of the previous century. In contrast, other vessels remained under Naval Law manned by gentlemen who had come over to the rebellion on the backing of Lord Grey. An attempt to dispatch a force to Canada ran into serious difficulties when the Radical-crewed ships refused to serve under an aristocrat, and when a compromise seemed to have been reached refused also to serve under Navy Law. Radical leaders pressed for a Radical-only force to go instead, but Grey and the Whig cabinet refused to sanction this. The deadlock continued into the Spring of 1839 before a working arrangement could be hammered out.
By then it was too late. The squadron which finally put into Canadian waters found that American forces were already in occupation of all disputed territory, and indeed had installed a democratic government in Lower Canada, signing a peace treaty with this bastard entity. The impasse between the British and American sides was further complicated when news from across the Atlantic reached them that the first election under the new Reform Act had produced an overwhelming majority for the Radicals. Earl Grey was out, and the new government was signalling its willingness to negotiate with their 'democratic brothers' across the ocean. The commander of the British squadron resigned in protest and returned to England. His replacement, appointed by the new Radical administration, signed the British agreement to the treaty already agreed between the United States and its puppet government in Lower Canada. This agreement was soon extended to Upper Canada, though the commercial territories in the North remained aloof from the settlement.
Grey Wolf