The Death of private William Hands
Ethnic tensions, antipathy between soldiers and citizens, and an insufficient police presence ; multiple causes can explain the death of private William Hands on April 23, 1835, following a scuffle involving a few Canadians. However, the significance of the event and the controversy it created lies rather in the intensification of political pressures acting on the administration of criminal justice in 1835. The political significance of the trial that ensued was obvious, and the Patriotes made every effort to exonerate the accused, Édouard Monarque and Joseph Chapeleau, at a time when imperial authorities were launching a commission of inquiry on the affairs of Lower Canada.