Additional Makers
J. Grieve (firm, London); Publisher - John Robins (firm), London
Description
Former frame (with mat and caption) stored separately. Framers' label in Acc. File. deVolpi 23; Jefferys 242.
Inscribed on the stone, u.l.: Schlosser.; u.c.: Navy Island; u.r.: Chippewa , l.l.: J Grieve litho 33 Nicholas Lane, Lombard St; b.: From a Sketch by W.R. Callington, Engineer, - Boston. / The American Steam Packet Caroline, Descending the Great Falls of Niagara, after being set on fire by the British, Decr 29th 1837. with a distant view of Navy Island, Chippewa, & Schiosser / Published by J. Robins, Bride Court, Fleet Street.
Descriptive Medium
Lithograph with watercolour on wove paper. Laid down on cardboard
Image Licence
Public Domain
Image Credit
Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
Location
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Country
Canada
Medium
Print
Tags
Category
Landscapes & Seascapes
TWW Comment
On the night of 29 December 1837, British and Canadian loyalist forces crossed the Niagara River into U.S. territory, seized the S.S. Caroline and, after chasing off its crew, cast the vessel over the edge of the Niagara Falls in flames. One man, Amos Durfee, was killed in the altercation. The British claimed to have acted in self-defence – the steamboat was being used to provide supplies to the Canadian rebel leader William Lyon Mackenzie – but the act was met with outrage in the U.S.A. and led to increased tensions along the border. Ultimately, it resulted in a new formulation of customary international law which said that the necessity for pre-emptive self defence must be ‘instant, overwhelming and leave no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation.’ This is known as the ‘Caroline test’.
