A Rebellious Spirit: Daniel Tracey

A poor Irish farmer, Daniel Tracey of Tipperary, finds himself fleeing to America in 1815 on a deportation vessel alongside a number of migrant fishermen bound for the annual fishing season which takes place every spring and summer in the lucrative fishing waters off the coast of Newfoundland. He overcomes many struggles in his desire to settle on a homestead in St. John's while working in the fishing sheds alongside numerous other Irish immigrants. His son obtains a scholarship to study for the priesthood at the St. Sulpice monastery in Montreal, and eventually moves to St. Colomban, a newly settled village near St. Jerome north of Montreal. He becomes acquainted with Doctor Daniel Tracey, a fiery orator and editor of The Vindicator, a newspaper that helps inspire a rebellious movement, the Patriotes, and challenges the British Parliament to root out the oppressive and elitist politicos in the unelected Legislative Assembly in Lower Canada in 1832. Dr. Tracey wins the election in Montreal West by a hair's breath but succumbs to cholera during the terrible epidemic of 1832. Daniel eventually takes up the torch and ends up in a life and death struggle at the Battle of St. Eustache in the 1837 Rebellion. The Patriote Rebellion unfortunately ended in a dismal failure, but the event sparked reforms in Upper and Lower Canada which led to the modern, democratic form of government which Canadians enjoy today. This is a work of historical fiction; it has been carefully researched and presents a record of the events of the early 19th century in Canada.