Louis Joseph Papineau

A Revolutionary? The revolutions of history, all seemed have had one thing in common: They were successful. The French Revolution, the American Revolution, the Russian Revolution all had one thing in common, and that was that these revolutions were victorius. However, in the case Louis Joseph Papineau an unsuccessful rebellion brought about change. Does this make him a revolutionary? The answer is that Louis Joseph Papineau was the greatest revolutionary in Canadian history. One of the most important Canadians because what he did, brought about great change. He had great influence one the way that Lower Canada was going to be governed. The rebellion of 1837 was a more complex uprising than many may of thought and it has been debated how significant the rebellion was. Papineau had always been a rebel during his reign in Canadian politics, "His impulse to rebel was contradicted by a reluctance to act decisively"(Ouellet(divided soul),3).

The young Louis-Joseph, 10 years old

English: Louis-Joseph Papineau, from the mural Les...

English: Louis-Joseph Papineau, by William Notman,...

His temperament inclined him toward lofty political goals and he was very indecisive when dealing with commitments and decisions, which made politics a strange occupation for Papineau. But to his supporters he was seen as " the symbol of power of ideas, patriotism, unselfishness, strength, energy and courage." "(Ouellet(divided soul),13). He had a very persuasive charm, a very important part of his personality. He was an ambitious man, too ambitious for some of his political opponents. (J.)Tache once said, "M. Papineau is certainly a great speaker and a man of first rate talent, but ambition and vanity have made deep ravages in his fine and powerful intelligence, and discontent has embittered his naturally good heart..."(Ouellet(divided soul),13). When one examines Papineau, it could be easy to go either way when deciding whether or not he was a revolutionary. The definition of revolutionary does definitely apply to Louis Joseph Papineau because...