Is this plausible, and what might some long-term effects be?
It's likely that Anglophone loyalists would have either left Canada, perhaps for South Africa, or swallowed their pride and stayed in the US. Some may have settled in Quebec giving Montreal and the south bank of the St Lawrence a much more Anglo population but a truly dual Anglo-Franco Quebec is unlikely. Loyalists would not have wanted to share power with Catholics and the Quebecois would have been unhappy to have so many Anglos in their midst.
The line would follow the Ottawa river, and then cross Lake Nipissing to Lake Huron.Does anyone have a map showing where this line would be exactly? I tried googling it, but this thread and another were the only relevant results.
The line would follow the Ottawa river, and then cross Lake Nipissing to Lake Huron.
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Yeah, exactly. It will also speed up the development of the Great Lakes, which will make the most powerful region of the country during that time, New England, even more influential.That is a large fraction of useful Canada inside that line already. Even if they follow OTL borders west of the Great Lakes.
The horror....The line would follow the Ottawa river, and then cross Lake Nipissing to Lake Huron.
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I wonder if the Empire Loyalists could have been settled in Upstate New York in particular while New England settlers go to Ontario.Prevent? Not, completely. Greatly reduce...very much so. It was free land on the Ottawa peninsula that drew many loyalists to Canada after the war. As I said, perhaps this could occur on the south bank of the St. Lawrence but the numbers would be reduced.
Amending the Quebec Act would have some major repercussions and lead to unrest within the Francophone/Catholic population of the region. That combined with more loyalists living along the disputed Maine boundary would cause some definite changes in American-Canadian relations in the forthcoming decades.
As I also said, a boundary along the Lake Nipissing line would greatly hinder Britain's ability to control the vast backcountry west of the Great Lakes. This gives the US an insurmountable advantage when it comes to settling the region north of the 49th Latitude. It is very likely that by the 1840s the HBC will have sold much of this territory to the United States or risk there being a northern "Texas situation". And that then alters the balance between Free and Slave states...which changes the Civil War...which changes other stuff. Etc. Etc.
Benjamin
Prevent? Not, completely. Greatly reduce...very much so. It was free land on the Ottawa peninsula that drew many loyalists to Canada after the war. As I said, perhaps this could occur on the south bank of the St. Lawrence but the numbers would be reduced.
Amending the Quebec Act would have some major repercussions and lead to unrest within the Francophone/Catholic population of the region. That combined with more loyalists living along the disputed Maine boundary would cause some definite changes in American-Canadian relations in the forthcoming decades.
As I also said, a boundary along the Lake Nipissing line would greatly hinder Britain's ability to control the vast backcountry west of the Great Lakes. This gives the US an insurmountable advantage when it comes to settling the region north of the 49th Latitude. It is very likely that by the 1840s the HBC will have sold much of this territory to the United States or risk there being a northern "Texas situation". And that then alters the balance between Free and Slave states...which changes the Civil War...which changes other stuff. Etc. Etc.
Benjamin