History of Quebec French - British Regime

British Regime

On September 13, 1759, Quebec City, then the political capital of New France, was taken by the British army. New France (Canada) fell a year later.

According to the terms of the 1760 Articles of Capitulation of Montreal, the French army was to leave the conquered territory. The ruling elite — French nobles and leading merchants — also left. Ordinary people, the Roman Catholic clergy, lesser merchants, and some members of the civil administration, the majority born in Canada, stayed in the country. Those who stayed were to become British subjects. Shortly after the conquest, British general Jeffrey Amherst established a military government which was to last until 1763.

The military occupation led to the establishment of a provisional administration. Because the fate of the country was still uncertain, no political actions were really undertaken to transform. The status quo prevailed. Because the population was unable to understand English, it was decided that ordinances would be published in French. To accomplish this, numerous Canadians were permitted to participate to the administration of justice.

In 1763, France ceded Canada to Great Britain through the Treaty of Paris. Rapidly, the new ruling elite determined the future of the French-speaking colonists: they were to be assimilated, that is to say, they were to be absorbed in the English-speaking and Protestant society of British North America.

On October 7, the British Royal Proclamation of 1763 set the new political conditions of Canada. The territory of the colony, renamed the Province of Quebec, was reduced to the inhabited area along the St. Lawrence River. James Murray was appointed governor and became responsible for enforcing the new policy concerning the colony. His tasks were to encourage English immigration, establish the official religion, Anglicanism, and the administrative and legal structures of England. Time brought the gradual establishment of anglophone British officials and colonists. Trade quickly passed on to British and British-American merchants who migrated to Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, and Montreal.

French, up until then the lingua franca in all aspects of social life, was quickly relegated to second rank in trade and government. The educated classes began to practice French-English bilingualism by necessity.

The Quebec Act of 1774 granted many of the requests of the Canadians, who up until then, had been petitioning the British crown for the restoration of French civil laws and guarantees as to the usage of their language and faith.