Dalhousie Law Journal Volume 21 Issue 2 Article 6 10-1-1998 The Course of Law Cannot be Stopped': The Aftermath of the Cumberland Rebellion in the Civil Courts of Nova Scotia Jim Phillips University of Toronto Ernest A. Clarke McGill-Queen's University Press Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.schulichlaw.dal.ca/dlj Part of the Legal History Commons Recommended Citation Jim Phillips and Ernest A. Clarke, "The Course of Law Cannot be Stopped': The Aftermath of the Cumberland Rebellion in the Civil Courts of Nova Scotia" (1998) 21:2 Dal LJ 440. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Schulich Law Scholars. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dalhousie Law Journal by an authorized editor of Schulich Law Scholars. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Atlantic Legal History Ernest Clarke and "The Course Of Law Cannot Be Jim Phillips* Stopped": The Aftermath Of The Cumberland Rebellion in The Civil Courts Of Nova Scotia This article examines a series of cases launched in the Nova Scotia courts following the Cumberland Rebellion of 1776. In these cases loyalists sued former rebels, including those granted amnesty by the authorities, for losses sustained during the rebellion. The article traces the history of the cases and places them in the context of post-rebellion government policy. It argues that such proceed- ings were without precedent and effectively took the place of official schemes of expropriation of rebel land and compensation to loyalists. It also suggests that the use of civil courts in this way prolonged and exacerbated the social and political tensions in a county badly split in its reactions to the American Revolution.