Day: July 10, 2023

Canada’s Hidden History In The Revolution (And Why It Wasn’t More)

By Bob Small

You have probably never heard of Jonathan Eddy and his campaign, known as Eddy’s Rebellion. He led a group of Nova Scotians who planned to conquer Nova Scotia in order to make it the 14th colony. In 1776, he led a force of 72 people (including some Americans) in an effort to take over Fort Cumberland.

Their slogan was “let’s add another stripe to the American flag.”

However, the first attack on Nov. 11, 1776 because the Indian who was supposed to open the fort door from inside was struck down before he could get the door open. A subsequent attack also failed. Fairly soon after that, an English warship containing 400 men arrived. Failing as a military hero, Eddy later became a U.S. politician.

There was also a Nova Scotian act of insurrection when “a large consigment of hay, bound for Boston, where it would be used as forage for the British army occupying the city, was burned in Halifax before it could be loaded onto transport ships. A Canadian Hay Party, if you will.”

In 1784 the mainland of Nova Scotia became New Brunswick, a refuge for the Tory loyalists fleeing New England.

Meanwhile, in another, slightly more successful invasion, U.S. forces occupied Montreal in 1775 and attacked Fort Chambly. The Americans then left Montreal on May 9, 1776.

As to why Canadians chose the British, it possibly came down to “better the devil you know than the one you don’t know”.

Another article to ponder: We Could Have Been Canada | The New Yorker

Lastly, there was the “New Light Movement, which came up in the 1770’s and took some people’s thoughts off revolution.

Canada’s Hidden History In The Revolution