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Caroline Affair
Caroline Affair In 1837 a group of men led by William Lyon Mackenzie rebelled in Upper Canada (now Ontario), demanding a more democratic government. There was much sympathy for their cause in the United States, and a small steamer, the Caroline, owned by U.S. citizens, carried men and supplies from the U.S. side of the Niagara river to the Canadian rebels on Navy Island just above Niagara Falls. On the night of Dec. 29, 1837, a small group of British and Canadians loyal to the Upper Canadian government crossed the river to the U.S. side where the Caroline was moored, loosed her, set fire to her, and sent her over the falls. One American was killed in the incident. Americans on the border were aroused to intense anti-British feeling, and soldiers under Gen. Winfield Scott were rushed to the scene to prevent violent American action. The affair passed over, though it had an aftermath, when one of the men who had taken part in the attack boasted of that fact when he was in the United States and was arrested as a criminal. That matter, too, was smoothed over, but the Caroline Affair and the Aroostook War helped to make relations with Great Britain very tense in the years before the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. |
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"Caroline Affair." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Caroline Affair." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-CarolineAf.html "Caroline Affair." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-CarolineAf.html |
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Caroline Affair
CAROLINE AFFAIRCAROLINE AFFAIR. In November 1837, William Lyon Mackenzie launched a rebellion in Upper Canada. Defeated by government forces, his followers fled to Navy Island in the Niagara River. Sympathizers supplied them from the American side of the river, using the American-owned steamer Caroline. On the night of 29 December, Canadian troops crossed the river and seized the Caroline, killing an American in the ensuing struggle before towing the steamer into midstream, setting it afire, and turning it adrift. President Martin Van Buren lodged a protest at London, which was ignored. For a time feeling ran high, but the case dragged on for years before the Webster-Ashburton Treaty settled the affair in 1842. BIBLIOGRAPHYDeConde, Alexander. A History of American Foreign Policy. New York: Scribner, 1978. Milledge L.BonhamJr./c. w. See alsoCanada, Relations with ; Great Britain, Relations with . |
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"Caroline Affair." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Caroline Affair." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401800682.html "Caroline Affair." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401800682.html |
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Caroline Affair
Caroline Affair the destruction by burning and casting adrift on the Niagra river the USS Caroline in 1838 by loyal Canadians. The ship had been dispatched with supplies and ammunition to aid rebel Canadians. The incident increased Anglo-American tensions until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty.
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"Caroline Affair." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Caroline Affair." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-CarolineAffair.html "Caroline Affair." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-CarolineAffair.html |
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