Why did William lyon Mackenzie go to rebellian?

Answer 1

Mackenzie did not go to rebellion, he started a rebellion. A rebellion is not like a war, especially not his. They were a group of disorganized men with barely any guns and mostly just pitchforks and farm tools who marched up Yonge Street, in Toronto, to protest the government system. At that time, Upper Canada (now called Ontario) was governed by a small group of powerful, inbred politicians nicknamed the ''Family Compact''. They held all the power in Upper Canada, and were misusing it. They did not give enough good land to farmers, giving it instead to the church; and they were far more interested in businessmen than farming men. So Mackenzie and his band protested, during a time when the millitia was away fighting in Lower Canada (now Quebec) and could not defend Toronto. They began lighting the opposition's houses afire, and shooting and/or killing everyone in their way. Almost as soon as they began, however, the government collected a group of equally disorganized and unqualified men to defend the city, and there were 1000 defenders verses 400 rebels. The rebels lost. Many of them were deported to Australia, some escaped to the States, and two or three were hanged publicly as a warning.