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The Canadian Historical Review 85.1 (2004) 122-125



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Canadian State Trials, Volume 2: Rebellion and Invasion in the Canadas, 1837-1839. Edited by F. Murray Greenwood and Barry Wright. Toronto: The Osgoode Society and University of Toronto Press 2002. Pp. xii, 502. $75.00

This collection of essays on the trials stemming from the Canadian rebellions of 1837 and 1838 is the second of four 'state trials' volumes planned by the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History and the University of Toronto Press. The first volume appeared in 1996 and covered state trials from across British North America between 1608 and 1837. The future volumes are tentatively planned to discuss trials that took place, respectively, from the Fenian invasions to the First World War and from the Winnipeg General Strike to the October Crisis. This second volume is unique in the series for its short temporal coverage and for its limited focus on trials that occurred in the Canadas alone.

The editors, F. Murray Greenwood (who passed away during the final preparation of the collection) and Barry Wright, suggest that an entire volume is needed on the prosecutions stemming from the rebellions because these trials represent 'what is arguably the most serious state-security crisis in Canadian history,' when over 350 persons were tried for treason or other serious political offences. They point out that despite the substantial historiography on the rebellions, 'the legal dimensions have been relatively neglected,' and the collection offers 'the first comprehensive examination of the trial proceedings and related legal aspects of the [End Page 122] crisis.' In framing the scope of the collection, Greenwood and Wright describe their intention to examine 'trials for offences that allegedly threatened the safety of the state and other legal responses to officially apprehended or professed threats to internal or external state security.'

The editors reject much of the older Canadian literature on the state trials on the grounds that it lacks sophisticated insight into the relationship between law and politics and reduces legal proceedings 'to just convictions for criminal acts or egregious repression through readily manipulated law.' Although they did not insist that the contributors develop a homogeneous interpretation or theoretical perspective, several consistent themes emerge. The essays collectively demonstrate not only the significance of the courts as 'a pre-confederation political battlefield' but also that the law could not be conveniently manipulated, as shown by the examples of prosecutorial failure. The importance of impressing the rhetoric of the 'rule of law' and the tenets of British justice on the colonial population ensured that defendants had opportunities to contest repression, at least in the early period of prosecutions, especially in Upper Canada, until concerns about further rebellion led to more repressive state action glossed over with a thin veneer of legality. In part, the ability of the editors to outline broad themes for the volume stems from the fact that Greenwood, Wright, and Beverly Boissery collectively author or co-author seven of the twelve interpretative essays, in addition to the lengthy introductory chapter.

Rebellion and Invasion is divided into two parts, and a set of appendices that focus on sources. Part One addresses developments in Upper Canada. It begins with an introductory essay by Rainer Baehre in which he examines how the political considerations of colonial officials shaped the development of security measures following the rebellions. He argues that the legal response to the rebellions was closely coordinated and, at least initially, aimed to uphold British constitutional standards. The four chapters that follow each address an important grouping of trials. Paul Romney and Wright examine the Toronto treason trials from March to May 1838; they suggest that the trials gave the government a chance to legitimize its authority by appearing to act in conformity with the rule of law, although they note that procedural irregularities in the trials did not go unnoticed by everyone in the colony. Colin Read explores the trials in western Upper Canada held at Hamilton, London, and Niagara. He demonstrates that prisoners in the west were less likely...

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