This second volume on the Canadian state trials focuses on the largest state security crisis in 19th-century Canada: the rebellions of 1837-1838 and associated patriot invasions in Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec). The essays are written by historians, legal scholars, and archivists.

This second volume on the Canadian state trials focuses on the largest state security crisis in 19th-century Canada: the rebellions of 1837-1838 and associated patriot invasions in Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec). Historians have long debated the causes and implications of the rebellions, but until now have done remarkably little work on the legal aspects of the insurrections and their aftermath. The essays collected here, written by prominent Canadian historians, legal scholars, and archivists, seek to offer insights on the historiography of the rebellions by examining the legal dimensions of the crises. In addition to addressing trials and court martial proceedings, the essays examine their political, social and comparative contexts, including the passage of emergency legislation and executive supervision of legal responses, the treatment of women, and the plight of political convicts transported to the Australian penal colonies.