Download
1 / 106
E N D
Consider This… • Canada has successfully been invaded by Japan. Since the population in Japan is increasing, it has decided that Canada can provide the needed space for the millions of Japanese living in large, overcrowded cities. Canadians are outnumbered three-to-one across the country. The Japanese decide to rename the country Japanda and will soon form the new government. Canadians are outraged but feel extremely intimidated.
Do these Canadians have any rights? Should they be involved in forming the new government? No, because… If you lose…you should lose Highly expensive to accommodate a separate culture. Cultures will clash violently. • Yes, because… • Human rights are undeniable? • If you repress a larger population, they eventually will rebel? • Fusing of two cultures creates a new and better one?
Governing the Peoples of BNA • War in N.A ends in 1760 • as you know, Britain wins • France formally cedes Nouvelle France to the British in 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris • In the meantime the former French colony has a military government led by James Murray (who had served under Wolfe)
Initial British Control • Murray takes a different approach than was seen in Acadia • The population of New France is French speaking and Roman Catholic • While peace negations go on in Europe the citizens of Quebec are allowed to worship and live according to their custom • This was a practical approach as he had about 1500 British soldiers to patrol and control 70 000 Canadiens
New Questions of Loyalty • Mistrust between British leaders and Quebec residents occurs in the early days of British rule • Who will the population support if war between Britain and France breaks out again? • Probably not Britain… • New France no longer exists on paper, but certainly still did in the hearts of many of the Canadiens • 150 years of history could not be erased by the results of the Seven Years War • Also, the Canadiens new very well what had happened in Acadia, and feared another expulsion • Church leaders and seigneurs feared a loss of power and influence
The Aftermath of War • The Seven Years War had left Britain in debt and New France’s economy in disarray • Quebec merchants were cut off from France and now had to develop contacts in Britain • Farms had been destroyed, and many seigneurs returned to France, however the majority of Canadiens do not have this choice • They could not afford to move to France • Many were born in North America- France was not their home
The Beginning of British Influence in New France • Some British entrepreneurs move into Quebec hoping to profit • Some British military officials but land from departing seigneurs • The small British population assumed they would control France’s population and resources for their own benefit
The Ohio Valley and Pontiac’s Resistance • In addition to figuring out how to rule the population of New France, the British had another problem – How to deal with the First Nations ,living in the Ohio Valley • This area saw intense fighting during the Seven Years War • Despite this First Nations had not been a part of negotiations for the Treaty of Paris and the were not consulted about the future of their traditional lands • Some First Nations in the area had already been displaced from the areas were the thirteen colonies were established, and they were not inclined to move again
French Influence in the Ohio Valley • The French had built many trading posts in the area • First Nations had been treated as independent, sovereign nations • Alliances had been maintained with gifts of guns, ammunition, and trade goods • These gifts were expected by First Nations in exchange for allowing the French to use their land
The New British Approach in the Ohio Valley • After the fall of New France the British began to occupy French forts around the Great Lakes and in the Ohio Valley • General Jeffrey Amhurst oversaw the area • The British sought to control both the fur trade and the colonization of the area • Amhurst saw First Nations as conquered people and thus saw no reason to distribute costly gifts • Amhurst also only allowed those licensed by Britain to trade in the area • This caused hardship in many First Nations communities which had grown to rely on the fur trade and the system of gift distribution • Amhurst treated First Nations as a problem he did not want to deal with • British forces gave 2 blankets and a hankerchief that they knew were infected with smallpox to First Nations leaders • The disease then spread throughout the Ohio Valley
The Influence of the Thirteen Colonies in the Area • Residents of the Thirteen Colonies felt that they could settle the Ohio Valley after the fall of New France • Yankee land speculators ignore British attempts at controlling settlement and begin selling land to settlers who came to stake their claim
Pontiac’s Resistance • Pontiac was an Odawa First Nation War Chief and had been an ally of the French on the Plains of Abraham • After the fall of New France attempts to build alliances with the British were not successful, and his people suffered under British rule • He led a united resistance of First Nations from the Ohio Valley, around the Great Lakes, and the Northwest • In 1763 the allied First Nations overtake 9 of the 12 British forts in the area to the north and west of the Thirteen Colonies • Peace negotiations begin in 1766 • British were allowed to have their forts back in exchange for protected First Nations hunting grounds • Pontiac also affirmed the position that the French had only been using First Nations land, and their defeat did not mean the British took control of that land
1952 film poster Monument in Pontiac Illinois
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 • Pontiac’s resistance convinced the British that pacifying First Nations was a less costly alternative to war • The Proclamation created a clear boundary between British Colonies and land reserved for First Nations • The intent was to avoid conflicts, and ensure a slow, orderly settlement of the West • Under the Royal proclamation the British took control of treaty negations assuming that it was the role of Britain, not First Nations and Colonists to decide the time and place for negotiations • Another goal of the British in the process was to limit westward expansion, and force colonists to move north, thereby decreasing the Canadien majority and forcing assimilation into British colonial rule
The French Under the Royal Proclamation • The Royal Proclamation officially establishes the province of Quebec and gave the French residents their first civil government since conquest • French laws were abolished • People had to take the Serment du Test to participate in government • This was an oath in which people swore that they were a part of the Anglican Church, therefore ensuring that Roman Catholics could not hold public office • The territory of Quebec was restricted to the St Lawrence Valley and those wishing to travel west had to apply for a permit from the new governor
Responses to the Royal Proclamation • While the rights of First Nations to lands in the West were established, French speaking religious and landholding elites felt threatened • The previous French laws protecting their positions were gone • A major goal of the Proclamation was to increase English speaking immigration to Quebec • Britain hoped that putting British laws in place would encourage this, however few British immigrants arrived in the years following the Proclamation and the Canadien population remained the majority
The Main Provisions of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 • Western interior for the First Nations • Reduced the size of Quebec • Government by a governor and council appointed by the British monarch • Promised an elected assembly • Introduced the British legal system To what group (British, immigrant, Yankee, Canadien, First Nations) was the Royal Proclamation most significant? Why?
James Murray • Military governor of New France 1760-1763 • Murray did not see the decline of les habitants happening soon • Saw the hierarchical, aristocratic traditions of the Catholic Church and seigneuries as more stable than the democratic demands of the residents of the Thirteen Colonies • He ignored the provision of the Royal Proclamation for an elected assembly (he feared that this would cause a revolt by les Canadiens) • Britain recalls Murray in 1766 and the Royal Proclamation is reviewed due to many complaints by British residents of Quebec • The assimilation plan had failed • Would Quebec keep is Canadien culture?
Sir Guy Carleton • Carleton replaces Murray • He is worried that the discontent brewing in the Thirteen Colonies might spill over into Quebec • He also ignored the complaints of British merchants in Quebec and realized that a flood of British immigration into the cold and politically inhospitable environment of their former enemies (The French) was not going to happen • Carleton agreed with Murray that for both political and military reasons maintaining the support of les Canadiens was more important than appeasing British merchants
Quebec Act, 1774 • The Quebec Act was passed in 1774 at Carleton’s urging • The Act : • revoked the Royal Proclamation and enlarged Quebec’s territory to include the Ohio Valley • Guaranteed French language rights • Had provisions to allow Roman Catholics to take some roles in governance (this is quite unique in the British Empire, and allowed nowhere else) • Reinstated French property and civil laws • Seigneurs role is reinstated • Kept British criminal law • This legal blend still exists today • Reintated a tithe (tax) to support the Catholic Church • Church officials feel more secure
Let’s Think… • Who in Quebec is happy with the Act? • Who is not-so-happy? • Who’s interests are served with the reinstatement of the Church tithe?
Carleton cont’d • Like Murray he ignores demands for an elected assembly for fear of instability • An appointed council governs instead • However, other British North American colonies had elected assemblies • 1758 Nova Scotia has the first elected assembly in Canada • 1773 PEI elected its assembly • However, even in these colonies governors and executive councils had most of the power and could block any laws passed by elected legislative assemblies
The Reaction in Quebec • Overall, the seigneurs and the Roman Catholic Church are content with the terms of the Quebec Act • British residents are however outraged • Many believed that they were being forced to live in foreign colony and had been misled into moving there • In the Thirteen Colonies the Act was seen as one of the many “Intolerable Acts” that Britain had passed since the mid 1760s • The colonies viewed this as an abuse of Britain’s power over the colonies and residents feared the loss of their own political, economic, and social rights
What are the Major Differences Between the Royal Proclamation of 1763, and the Quebec Act of 1774? • After the fall of New France the British faced the dilemma of how to govern a French-speaking colony • The Royal Proclamation of 1763 tried to assimilate the French population. Britain assumed that Quebec would come to be dominated by a British majority. When this failed, the Quebec Act was proclaimed. • With the Quebec Act of 1774 Britain changed course. They hoped to develop Canada as a dual community, English and French
What Was in the Quebec Act of 1774 to Accomplish This? • The Quebec Act: • Opened the appointed council to French Canadians. • Allowed freedom of worship for Catholics. • Retained the seigneurial system.
Discontent in the Thirteen Colonies • The problem of governing Quebec was not the only problem for the British • Britain had instituted a number of taxes in the colonies to help pay for: • The military costs of the Seven Years War • The military costs of Pontiac’s Resistance • The cost of keeping British soldiers in the Colonies • These taxes outraged colonists and contributed to the growing sense that the relationship of the Colonies with Britain was unbearable • The Colonists argued that they should have more of a voice in how they were governed and taxed • “No taxation without representation!” became a call to arms
Other Sources of Discontent • Many colonists felt the boundaries set out in the Royal Proclamation were a betrayal • They had fought the French over the Ohio Valley during the Seven Years War only to be excluded from the territory • The Quebec Act was the last straw for many • For many colonists the denial of the right to an elected assembly was the ultimate violation
The American War of Independence 1776-1783 • The ager against Britain united the Thirteen Colonies which had been traditionally separate entities • In 1774, 12 of the Colonies agreed to boycott British trade • In 1775, the rebels had several armed clashes with British soldiers • On July 4th, 1776 the rebels drafted the Declaration of Independence which proclaimed that the Thirteen Colonies were no longer part of the British Empire • The American War Of Independence had begun
Canadiens Called to Action • The rebels in the Thirteen Colonies hoped that the Canadiens would support their cause and called for them to overthrow the British in Quebec • Britain hoped that the Quebec Act had appeased the Canadiens, and the Church in Quebec advised the population to side with the British • When Yankee rebels attacked the Quebec City and Montreal in 1775, most Canadiens were indifferent and stayed neutral
Let’s Think… • In light of the events occurring in the Thirteen Colonies, what may have been a primary motivation for the British passing the Quebec Act? • Why did the Yankees feel that the Canadiens would be natural allies considering their cultural differences? • Why would The Church in Quebec advise Canadiensto support the Protestant British occupiers of their colony?
