Horton High School's Canadian
History 12 Web Page and Student
Resource
Chapter Nine - The Conquest:
The Plains of Abraham and its Aftermath
1758 - William Pitt, Britain’s new Prime
Minister, sent Regular Forces from England to do battle against the French,
as well he blockaded the French from sending troops or supplies to New
France.
1759 - defining year. Montcalm mustered
12-15,000 militia to defend Quebec, fearing an English invasion. The English
Regulars were under the command of General James Wolfe. He sailed for Quebec
with 13,000 Regulars, 4,000 of whom were specialized in amphibious landings
[marines]. They sailed up the St. Lawrence under the naval command of Captain
James Cook, and made it to Quebec in three weeks.
the western walls of the city, those facing
the soon to be famous Plains of Abraham, were without guns, for the French
assumed the western slope too difficult to climb. Wolfe began a barrage
of gun fire on the city, yet seemed to make no progress.
by 1759, the French had lost four important
forts along the Mississippi and the St, Lawrence, thus it was critical
that they hold Quebec.
Wolfe’s initial eastern assault in
the summer of 1759 was fruitless, so he resigned himself to destroying
the villages and homes surrounding the city, in total over 1500 homes were
razed.
by the Fall, Wolfe had resigned himself
to a probable withdrawal in order to avoid the potentially disastrous winter.
Yet by a stroke of luck, an English lookout found a path to the west of
the city which led onto the Plains above. It was, as aforementioned, lightly
guarded, so the English sent their force up this hill, again by luck as
they were able to pass a French lookout. They did this in the night.
at daybreak, 4500 English were assembled
on the Plains. This was September 13th, 1759. Here Montcalm made a fatal
mistake. At Cap Rouge, some 9 miles upstream, sat a French force of 3000
Regulars, which would deploy at his command. He simply had to play a waiting
game.
Instead, he chose to rush out, fearing
they would not arrive in time. He sent 4500 militia onto the Plains, and
requested the Regulars make haste from Cap Rouge. When they arrived, all
was over.
the battle lasted less than ½
hour! The French marched into thunderous English volley, which was followed
with a bayonet charge by the English. The French retreated back to the
city. Both Wolfe and Montcalm were killed in the battle. Both sides lost
about 650 men, yet the English were prepared to take the city. The French
prepared a counter-attack, but the citizens of Quebec pleaded for peace
and feared for their homes. On September 17th, the French opened the gates
of Quebec to the English.
the British established laws which
served both the English and the French, and tended to show respect to the
French in Quebec. A loose alliance developed.
Interestingly, the last battle between
the English and French in North America took place in 1762 in St. John’s,
Newfoundland. A French force had eluded a British blockade and took the
unguarded city. Soon after, a British force from Halifax and Louisbourg
landed in Torbay, near St. John’s, and took Signal Hill, which overlooks
the city’s harbour. The English placed guns on the hill and pounded away
at the French ships and troops below. The French capitulated soon after.
After the Conquest, the English sent in
military forces to quell any potential revolts. The wealthy of New France
mostly departed for France prior to the battle, leaving behind the Habitants.
The British wanted to keep these people happy, thus they permitted Catholic
worship, priests were allowed to collect tithes [church tax of 1/13th of
each person's income], French language was preserved and many Frenchmen
were hired to serve in the lower branches of the new government. The governor,
of course, was English.
in 1763, the Royal Proclamation was signed,
which ended the Seven Years War. This served to pacifiy the native tribes
to the west, as the British guaranteed they would not exploit the lands
of the natives. It also established the new government structure for British
North America, replacing the prior military rule. This new civil government
had a governor [Murray being the 1st English governor of the former New
France], and a governing council, which prohibited Catholic contributions.
The French fur traders were generally happy, as lands once owned by the
13 Colonies was given to Quebec. This led to animosity between the French
and English traders.
by 1763, 500 British ruled over 80,000
"Canadiens", thus the British had to try to keep the French happy.
the Quebec Act of 1774 saw to the betterment
of Anglo-French relations. Indian lands, once deemed untouchable by the
British in the Royal Proclamation, was now opened up to the merchants and
traders - this made the English merchants happy once again. The governing
council could now have Catholics on it, as well more religious freedoms
were given to the Catholics. They also incorporated French civil law into
the British common law system, something unheard of in the colonies, however
the British wanted to keep the French happy.
an important act which was passed came
in 1791, called the Constitution Act. This act led to the start of two
Canadas, and Upper[English] and Lower[French] Canada. Within these
Canadas, two governor-generals would rule, two governments would be established,
all under the command of one governor. This allowed the French to have
their own leader and government in Lower Canada, all the while preserving
their language, laws and culture. They remained, however, under the control
of the British. Again, this was done to appease the French, for the British
had no desire for another revolution.
