Graduate Students

McIsaac, J. - M.A

Running in Circles: Fenianism in Rural and Small Town Ontario, 1865-1868 - Dr. Catharine Wilson       

         This thesis is an investigation of the Fenian Brotherhood as it existed within rural and small town Ontario from 1865, when the Canadian government and public first became worried about the Fenians, to 1868, the year Thomas D'Arcy McGee was assassinated. Sarnia, Stratford and Guelph are examined above all other towns because they were centers of Fenian activity in the countryside and had access to the newly built Grand Trunk Railroad line. Although not as obvious or numerous as urban members, Fenians in rural locations and small towns were given an important role within the American Fenians' 1866 invasion plan and continued to operate for years after the raid was attempted. Intended to be used as support for the invading American divisions, rural Fenians gathered supplies and money, but more importantly, they helped recruit members and sustain the wide-spread rumour of a large underground Fenian army waiting within Canada. While examining how rural areas and small towns were incorporated in the original 1866 invasion plan, who the rural Fenians were and what they did as well as how the Canadian government and rural public reacted to them, it becomes clear that rural Fenians were an important faction of the organization and posed a considerable threat to Canada.