The British have ignored the calls for…

The British have ignored the calls for reform by Papineau, who had been elected speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada in 1815, and in 1826 had been chosen leader of the Patriotes, a reformed and more radical Parti Canadien.

In 1831, he had sponsored a law that had granted full equivalent political rights to Jews, 27 years before anywhere else in the British Empire.

In 1834, the assembly had passed the Ninety-Two Resolutions, outlining its grievances against the legislative council.

The resolutions call for an elected Legislative Council and an Executive Council responsible before the house of the people's representatives.

After the arrival of the Russell Resolutions in Lower Canada on March 6, 1837, Papineau organizes boycotts and civil disobedience.

In mid-November, the colonial government illegally orders his arrest and that of twenty-five other Patriot leaders.

Papineau escapes to the U.S.