Born on March 12, 1795, in Dundee, Scotland, William Lyon Mackenzie immigrated to Canada in 1820 and founded a political newspaper, the Colonial Advocate, in which he criticized the ruling oligarchy. He later founded a more radical paper, the Constitution, in which he supported ideas of Jacksonian democracy. In 1837, Mackenzie and 800 followers tried to seize the governor and set up a provisional government, but the effort resulted in failure.
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