A French-Canadian uprising of those seeking democratic reforms and protesting against the proposed union of Upper and Lower Canada. The Speaker of the Lower Canada Assembly, Louis-Joseph Papineau (1786–1871), led the reformist movement in French Canada (now Quebec) and in 1837 he agitated for armed insurrection against the British, but fled to the USA before fighting broke out. Clashes between a few hundred of his supporters and regular troops occurred at Saint Denis in November. The rebellion broke out again in 1838, but was suppressed, and 12 supporters were executed. Papineau received an amnesty in 1844 and returned to Canada in 1845, by which time the establishment of parliamentary “responsible” government had been achieved by such moderate reformers as Robert Baldwin.