Backbencher

The book starts out in Canada and begins talking about the farmers and how the land dispersement was handled. The farmland was mostly held under a system known as seigneurial tenure which was a legacy from France. The seigneurs of New France were supposed to grant the vacant land to anyone who wanted to farm it at the rent. When the system was first put in place, it favored the farmers, but the system was doomed to erode with time. When Britain conquered New France in 1760, the new politicians didn’t care to keep enforcing the penalties against the seigneurs which had favored the farmers in the past. The population had begun to grow quite a bit too and caused the demand for more goods. Rent inflation and soil exhaustion led to poor harvests and farmers were forced to sell their lands or animals and move to the city. Eventually, there was a small rebellion against the waning conditions in December of 1837 which was put down by Sir John Colborne and the forces he commanded. Within a year, a second rebellion occurred and Sir John placed the area under martial law. The armed rebellion ended by November 1838 and all those who took part in it or were thought to have taken part of it were arrested. Some were sentenced to death without a trial and many were sent to Sydney, Australia. When the rebels arrived in Sydney, they found out that the citizens didn’t want them there and thought they should be sent to Norfolk Island. Sydney cared deeply about its image and felt that the rebels would further taint the city and they would give rise to more bushrangers. Many of the Canadians were feared and spent most of their time at Longbottom Stockades. One of the first things they wanted to do was scour their own barracks. This first impression, along with good behavior, led to them being able to watch themselves after three months. The Canadians hard work ethic, even in their poor work conditions, began to change people’s attitudes about them. Eventually, they became some of the better citizens in Sydney.