Boer War

(1900) JOHN BULL: Comme ces Canadiens se souviennent bien, comme ils sont reconnaissants de la tendresses que j'ai témoignée à leurs pères!

John Bull is a caricature of the stereotypical Englishman. As John Bull sends French troops to go and fight against rebels in South Africa (the Boer War), this cartoonist asks us to remember the patriots who were hanged after the Rebellions of 1837-1838. Why would French-Canadians want to go and fight for the oppressors oversees? 

Many of the cartoons that I use in class were taken from this book by Charles Hou (former Socials 10 teacher in BC):

Great Canadian political cartoons, 1820 to 1914

Forgotten Patriots

This book follows the lives of several people who were involved in the rebellions of 1837-1838. It gives a good summary of what happened in the rebellions and then focuses on the response of the government.
I had intended to only read the first few chapters, as I was more interested in the history of the rebellions than in Australia, however the stories captured my interest and I read on as the book followed the lives of convicts as they were sent to Australia and even as some managed to return.

I am not sure if there is any content that I will actually use in the classroom, although you could tell some interesting stories about what happened to some of the rebels. But this book is interesting enough that an interested high school student could read themselves as an interest-project. I usually give the option of doing a book review for extra credit, and this one would qualify.

Here is the amazon link for more information: Forgotten Patriots