Book review: David G.

Bell, Loyalist Rebellion in New Brunswick:

A Defining Conflict for Canada’s Political Culture

Caroline Landry
HI4033: Loyalists in the Atlantic World
October 2, 2018
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In Loyalist Rebellion in New Brunswick: A Defining Conflict for Canada’s Political

Culture, David G. Bell argues, “how, at the very founding of Canada’s Loyalist province, some

exiled Loyalists clung to power by branding other Loyalist exiles with the high Loyalist crime of

disloyalty,” (9). Bell writes an interesting account of the Exodus granted to those who remained

loyal to the crown. He shows the diversity of the Loyalists throughout by providing real Loyalist

accounts of their life. With the separation of the Saint John Region from Nova Scotia came a

division between the Loyalists settled there. The division between the Upper and Lower Coves in

Saint John was evident from the beginning, when bitterness was expressed towards “higher

class” loyalists, who received favoritism with the land grants and power. This division is what

evidently led to Loyalist claiming disloyalty against another Loyalist.

In chapter one, Bell sets the reader up in the historical period of the American revolution

and contributes to his thesis by giving hints throughout the chapter of what and who a Loyalist

was. What exactly did it mean to a person barring that title in the thirteen colonies? Bell answers

this by giving different accounts of real people, who suffered because they barred this title. “Ten

of the thirteen sent active Loyalists to the gallows,” (16). These people were treated harshly.

They were, “threatened, mobbed, beaten and dispossessed,” (17). They may have had the same

beliefs, but Bell shows in his very first chapter, how numerous and different the Loyalists were.

There were farmers, lawyers, Anglican ministers, British and German soldiers serving for the

British, as well as black civilians.

Bell, also shows in the first chapter, the heartbreak the Loyalist’s felt when the crown

made peace with the thirteen colonies, allowing them independence. They were tired and sullen

around mid-1782, and some considered making peace with their old rivals, but they were not

welcomed back with open arms. There was no peace for the Loyalists. They could not return and
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those that did were, “beaten, robbed and expelled,” (26). They had no choice but to leave, as in

America, they were no longer wanted.

Bell finishes up this chapter with a description of the Exodus, that was put together with

the help of Guy Carleton and his staff working with the crown. The motivation to compensate

the Loyalists was the failure of the peace treaty to protect the Loyalists from the rebel. Some

Loyalists, especially the wealthy or well-connected, made Britain their refuge. There were other

options, but most refugees, at the mouth of the Hudson, found their refuge in Nova Scotia. There

were, “thirty thousand loyal migrants to Nova Scotia alone,” (29). They were not allowed to

bring much, as “the British would not allow the exiles to ship much in the way of household

goods at public expense,” (34). The entire evacuation of New York took over a year and most

left in low spirits for their new destination.

Bell builds on the Exodus by giving the Loyalist’s disappointment at seeing Nova Scotia

in the next Chapter. Bell provides an account from Sarah Scofield’s journal, “it is I think the

roughest land I ever saw,” (49). He throws us into the difficulties that John Parr and his officers

faced at receiving and settling the Refugees and Provincials. There were many delays in land-

granting, and Parr was hesitant to act without the approval from London. This created much

tension between the refugees and government, as not all towns could offer enough shelter, and

some stayed in tents. “Fleet after fleet of exiles was precipitated on shore without so much as a

shelter to go under, with no one ready to point out their promised lands,” (58). Again, it would

seem to the Loyalists that their government was failing them. They expected that their lands

would be surveyed prior to their arrival, but that did not happen.

On top of all that, there was a volcanic eruption in Iceland, which made “the winter of

1783-84 in the Maritime region the second coldest of the modern era,” (59). Sickness and death
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was common. Most faced physical and emotional hardship. But despite all of this, a newspaper

was developed called Saint John Gazette, which shows that they already had a sense of their own

identity. Bell gives us a sneak peek of what is to come, when he mentions the Upper Cove in this

chapter, and how favoritism was shown to them in granting land. Already, there was a separation

between the Upper and Lower coves. Geographically and socially they were separate, which

adds to Bell’s thesis of Loyalist against Loyalist.

Chapter three sets the stage for the political battle that supports Bell’s thesis. London

formed the Saint John region in to its own separate colony, on the account that it was too far

away from Halifax to be governed properly. There were many grievances from the Saint John

region. First, they were about single men receiving blankets with holes in it, and their superiors

responded by giving them no blankets. Their trust in the government was fragile, as they felt

betrayed by them in the peace agreement and favoritism was constantly shown to the aristocratic.

For obvious reasons, this caused discontent amongst the colonies.

These people were unhappy, and they did not trust that Governor Parr was properly

hearing their grievances. They wanted someone to speak on their behalf, and their hero showed

up on the stage – Elias Hardy. He went to Halifax and told Governor Parr of Saint John’s

dissatisfaction. Edward Winslow, an Upper Cover, dreamt of partition early on and suggested

that Ward Chipman place himself in London to get the cause going back when they were in New

York. Hardy did not work for partition; his faction was just looking for personal security. But

when separation was granted, Edward Winslow’s circle, the practitioners, became the rulers of

the new colony. Hardy’s the “main losers”, “who were marginalized from power once again,”

(98). Again, the separation between the two groups of Loyalists comes down to class.
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Chapter four shows more displeasure from the Loyalists, as their new governor, Thomas

Carleton, combines the twin settlements in to Saint John. This was the Lower Covers and the

Upper Covers, who did not associate with each other. The Royal Gazette and Saint John Gazette

is a good symbol of this divide between the two. The Royal Gazette vowed, “to publish only

what would promote good Order and Morals and to reject anything intended to serve “Party”

purposes or “Disrespect to the Government,” (109). One can easily read between the lines and

see that the Royal Gazette was looking down on the Saint John Gazette, which was run by the

Lower Covers. They were basically saying my paper is better than your paper!

When an election was called, it further divided them. There the nicknames Upper and

Lower Covers came from this election. The Mallard House riot is a good example of that. It was

a tavern, where the Upper Covers were drinking. The Lower Covers went to siege it, as they

wanted to teach them a lesson. Soldiers were used against them, and the dispute was resolved.

However, not without creating more unhappiness amongst the Lower Covers. When the election

was called in, the Lower Covers had won by quite a bit, “an average of 625 votes to 508”, (116).

This is when the charge of disloyalty came in. The Upper Covers did not believe the Lower

Covers had followed all the rules for their votes. They called in Sheriff Oliver to look at the

votes and he added a disallowance to nearly two hundred votes. The Upper Covers were back in

charge again!

Obviously, the Lower Covers were upset. There was an article published in the Saint

John Gazette to reflect this, and at the same time a petition was drew up, but the government

responded by disallowing petitions. They also shut down the Saint John Gazette. In direct

defiance of the new act, some Lower Covers drew up a petition with talk of a return to the states.

The Upper Covers felt there was a “deliberate confrontation with authority,” (130), as they
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brought it to the Governor five days after the law was passed. The governing elite finally got

their passive colony after they jailed the petitioners.

Bell’s last chapter sums up his thesis with “perfect tranquility”. He takes all the facts that

he presented throughout the novel to support his thesis and builds upon them. Making his

argument clearer overall. He shows there was a divide even on the ships, when they were put in

to sections based on their former colonial home. There were prejudices and hates from the

opposition, as the Upper Covers were mainly aristocrats from Massachusetts. The Lower Covers

were the democratic, mainly farmers, from New York and newly freed blacks. Bell sums it up

well when he says, “political divisions at Loyalist Saint john were colored by class, sectional and

geographic distinctions, and these cleavages were mutually reinforcing,” (152). This gave birth

to the “Loyalty Cry” that shows up elsewhere in Canadian History ever since this event.

Overall, I think the book supported its argument well. All the events worked off each

other to create a “revolution” in the colony of New Brunswick. The Lower Covers were like the

rebels to the governing, Upper Covers. They felt the Upper Covers were not being fair to them,

and had reason to believe this, as their government before had let them down with the

favoritisms of land and allocation of governing jobs. They rebelled in a subtler way than their

Southern neighbors, but they did stand up for themselves. This caused the Loyalists to consider

the Lower Covers, “enemies of loyalty,” (148). Lucky for them, this rebellion ended quite

peacefully with no one having to go in to exile.