American Canada = More Catholic Influence

Whether how Canada joins let's not talk it here, but assuming Canada success in joining the American side, would Catholic influence in government be better? And how would that change things?
 
Whether how Canada joins let's not talk it here, but assuming Canada success in joining the American side, would Catholic influence in government be better? And how would that change things?

I think the how is fairly important.

The colonists (like most English) were not too fond of Catholocism. So really not sure how that would change; it wasn't like all the French aid and soldiers fighting on their side seems to have changed their minds about Catholocism.

In fact the British tolerance of catholocism was one of the grievances that led to the revolution in the first place.
 
Definitely not. The US has never been overly tolerant of Catholicism, but inheriting some (depending on the era) half a million French speaking Catholics who have entrenched their views and political power over a century?

If anything it will be worse for Catholics as the government tries to mitigate their power and the average American would be apathetic at best and outright intolerant at worst.
 
Definitely not. The US has never been overly tolerant of Catholicism, but inheriting some (depending on the era) half a million French speaking Catholics who have entrenched their views and political power over a century?

If anything it will be worse for Catholics as the government tries to mitigate their power and the average American would be apathetic at best and outright intolerant at worst.

States did have laws relaxing discrimination against Catholics.
 
I read a lot of threads on that topic, and they all say that there are solutions if done right.

Just give Quebec an ATL American Quebec Act.

The question is would they keep Quebec as a separate state or join it with the Anglo population to dilute the voting power of the Catholics?
 
The question is would they keep Quebec as a separate state or join it with the Anglo population to dilute the voting power of the Catholics?

Too few Catholics comparing to the millions of Protestant Americans. I think the U.S. could manage with Quebec. The question is whether having Quebec would cause more European Catholics to immigrate to the U.S.
 
I don't think it would change things much at all. The last state anti-Catholic laws had already been repealed by the start of the 19th century (federally at the time of the adoption of the constitution), and the number of Catholics would be too small, and anti-Catholic sentiment too high, for Catholics to have much of a chance at gaining high office in the federal government until the 20th century.
 
Last edited:
I read a lot of threads on that topic, and they all say that there are solutions if done right.

Just give Quebec an ATL American Quebec Act.

The Quebec Act is the biggest reason why the Americans rebelled against the Crown in the first place. In the minds of the colonists, they fought a war against France...only for the Frenchie Catholics to keep the land after the war and bar any speculators who have already 'sold' land from entering the new territories. Taxation without representation, and the other 'Intolerable Acts' pale in comparison. Thus an American Quebec Act is not going to happen.

If anything, Quebec would end up like Louisiana and Northern Mexico OTL.
 

birdboy2000

Banned
The Quebec Act is the biggest reason why the Americans rebelled against the Crown in the first place. In the minds of the colonists, they fought a war against France...only for the Frenchie Catholics to keep the land after the war and bar any speculators who have already 'sold' land from entering the new territories. Taxation without representation, and the other 'Intolerable Acts' pale in comparison. Thus an American Quebec Act is not going to happen.

If anything, Quebec would end up like Louisiana and Northern Mexico OTL.

A Quebec Act covering only Quebec would be a lot easier to swallow than a Quebec act covering as far as Ohio and Indiana. The thirteen colonies felt stabbed in the back... and I don't blame them given that Britain, after conquering Quebec, decided to resolve the border dispute that led to the French and Indian War in Quebec's favor!

That said, there's "easier" and then there's "easy". If Quebec join the revolution and signs onto the Articles of Confederation, it's decentralized enough not to matter. But I can easily see Quebec go its own way rather than sign onto OTLs constitution, and if it does sign it will come with some guarantees regarding the legal system that might amount to almost an American Quebec Act.

Quebec refusing to sign onto a constitution because they don't think it sufficiently protects their distinct society. Imagine that. :p
 
Top