The Question of Quebec • The Proclamation of 1763 had assumed Quebec, like

other British provinces in America, would have English law and representative government.

• It was believed that the spread of British settlers from the Thirteen Colonies northward into Quebec would lead to assimilation.

• It did not work out that way.

• Few colonists other than traders came up to this cold northern land already settled by a people of different language and religion, and long regarded as enemies.

• Instead American colonists preferred to look west, and resent the barrier of the Proclamation line.

• This made the assimilation of the French impossible

• The Canadiens were an isolated community.

• Although their government had fallen into British hands, the religious authority of the Roman Catholic Church had continued in French Canada, and indeed began to grow again following the British conquest.

Royal Proclamation of 1763 • The Royal Proclamation of 1763

granted control of New France to Britain. It was designed to create stability in its newest colony.

• The French-Canadian inhabitants feared that British rule would assimilate them into English society, causing them to lose their culture, language, religion, and traditions.

• The new British settlers who arrived to the colony were to become Canadians and the French settlers who had always lived there would be known as les Canadiens.

• This would mark the first time that Britain granted legal recognition to prior Aboriginal land rights:

“Any Lands whatever, which, not having been ceded to or purchased by Us…are

reserved to the said Indians.”

The Quebec Act of 1774• This Act effectively dropped the Proclamation

plan of assimilation and the promise of an elected assembly for Quebec.

• The Roman Catholic church was recognized by the Quebec Act, and allowed to collect tithes (taxes).

• It established French civil law to govern the relations of Canadian subjects in their business and other day-to-day relations with each other.

• Quebec was plainly not to be a province like the others; but would receive very distinctive treatment within the British empire.

• The borders of the new province were expanded to include Newfoundland, the Island of St. John (PEI) and what is now Ontario.

• More importantly it gave control of the Ohio Valley to the French population.

• These gestures on the part of the English government won the admiration of the religious leaders in Quebec and goodwill of the people themselves.

• The American colonies were outraged at the Royal Proclamation.

Why did the Thirteen Colonies begin to revolt against British authority ?

• Britain had levied a series of taxes on the 13 Colonies and had restricted personal and political freedoms.

• Britain did this through a series of measures the Thirteen Colonies called the Intolerable Acts.

• The Proclamation of 1763 had closed the North American interior to further settlements in order to protect the lands for the Aboriginal peoples.

• With the Quebec Act of 1774, Britain allowed the interior lands to be used for the fur trade by the French population from the captured colony of New France.

The Dividing of Empire • American Revolution: also known as the

American War of Independence.

• Lasting from 1775 to 1783, the Revolution was founded on discontent in the Thirteen Colonies regarding taxes, representation in government and limitations on growth set by British treaties.

• Most French Canadians remained neutral, while most in Nova Scotia, Île St. John (now Prince Edward Island) and Newfoundland were loyal to the Crown.

• In 1781, British forces were defeated and, in 1783, Britain recognized the independence of the United States in the Treaty of Paris.

• After the war, 40,000 Loyalist refugees moved north into what is now Ontario, Québec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This formed the nucleus of what would later become Canada.

How did the American Revolution actually create two nations?

• In retrospect, the American Revolution was as important to Canada as it was to the United States.

• By dividing the continent in two, the treaty created one country and provided for the evolution of another.

• North America now consisted of two distinct “entities.”

• The American Revolution created two countries: by design it gave birth to the United States, and by circumstance it sowed the seeds for the future nation of Canada.

What were the consequences of the American Revolution?

• The Americans with the aid of France, finally defeated Britain in 1781, thereby forcing the British government in 1783 to recognize the sovereignty of the United States.

• The Loyalists (Americans who did not want independence from Britain) were persecuted for their stand, and their property and possessions were stolen from them.

The United Empire Loyalists • During the American Revolution, those who stayed loyal

to the British Crown were known as Loyalists.

• Their property was confiscated, all rights taken away, and some even suffered physical abuse, such as being tarred and feathered.

• Some of these men formed Loyalist Regiments and fought for their beliefs, but eventually had to join the other Loyalists who had to leave behind most of their possessions as they tried to escape persecution, or even death.

• Approximately 50 000 Loyalists left the United States from 1776 to 1783.

• In 1783 about 34 000 Loyalists arrived in Shelbourne, Nova Scotia but few stayed.

• Many settled in what is now New Brunswick, others went on to Ontario.

• This would also include the first influx of African Americans to Canada.

• Because of the Loyalists pressures and expectations, the Constitution Act of 1791 separated the colony of Québec along the Ottawa River, creating the colony of Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec).

• It was clear that these United Empire Loyalists who had come to the western wilderness of what was still part of Quebec would not long be satisfied with the limited rights and French laws established by the Quebec Act.

• Accordingly, in 1791 the British Parliament enacted the Constitutional Act, whereby Quebec was split into the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada.

• Each of these was to be governed by a legislative council appointed for life and a legislative assembly elected by the people.

Upper and Lower Canada

• The right to be represented in a lawmaking assembly was something new for the French-speaking inhabitants of the lower province.

• Legislative assemblies had been in existence in Nova Scotia since 1758, in Prince Edward Island since 1773, and in New Brunswick since 1786.

• Representative government, however, was not responsible government, as was to be demonstrated before another 50 years had passed.

How did the American Revolution affect the Aboriginal peoples?

• The Aboriginal peoples tried to protect their lands, cultures, and way of life, and they joined whichever side offered to protect their sovereignty.

• Joseph Brant was an Aboriginal leader who supported the British during the War of Independence.

• In the peace treaty that ended the American Revolutionary War, Britain agreed to give away the lands west of the Mississippi River that had been promised to the First Nations people.