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“To Excite the Feelings of Noble Patriots:” Emotion, Public Gatherings, and Mackenzie’s American Rebellion, 1837-1842

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, History.
This dissertation is a cultural history of the American reaction to the Upper Canadian Rebellion and the Patriot War. This project is based on an analysis of newspaper articles published by William Lyon Mackenzie and his contemporaries, diplomatic cables between Washington D.C. and London, letters, and accounts of celebrations, toasts, and public meetings which occurred between 1837 and 1842. I argue Americans and Upper Canadians in the Great Lakes region made up a culture area. By re-engaging in a battle with the British, Upper Canadians, and their American supporters sought redemption. Reacting to geographic isolation from major metropolitan areas and a looming psychic crisis motivated many of these individuals to act. And, even though the rebellion and Patriot War were ultimately unsuccessful, the threat of a rekindled conflict with Britain crept into North America while thoughts of the revolutionary Spirit of `76 invigorated the masses and served as a litmus test for maintaining peaceful international relations between the U.S. and Britain, a preface to Manifest Destiny, and a testament to the power of the nineteenth-century culture industry.
Ami Pflugrad-Jackisch, PhD (Committee Chair)
Kim Nielsen, PhD (Committee Member)
Roberto Padilla, PhD (Committee Member)
Rebecca Mancuso, PhD (Committee Member)
238 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Steedman, J. M. (2019). “To Excite the Feelings of Noble Patriots:” Emotion, Public Gatherings, and Mackenzie’s American Rebellion, 1837-1842 [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1564749335716258

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Steedman, Joshua. “To Excite the Feelings of Noble Patriots:” Emotion, Public Gatherings, and Mackenzie’s American Rebellion, 1837-1842 . 2019. University of Toledo, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1564749335716258.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Steedman, Joshua. "“To Excite the Feelings of Noble Patriots:” Emotion, Public Gatherings, and Mackenzie’s American Rebellion, 1837-1842 ." Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1564749335716258

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)