Pilgrims land in Quebec/Acadia?

So I decided to postpone A Dream Deferred for now if only because there's too much of a glut of Confederate TLs right now and it seemed better to explore something more original (yay Canada!) . Namely, for a TL idea I'm thinking, what if instead of landing at OTL Plymouth, or landing further south (namely NYC or Virginia, which seem to be the most considered options) what if the storm that diverted the Mayflower sends it even farther north?

So the options I'm thinking of are (going up the coast from Plymouth)

a) Pilgrims land near Halifax, starting conflict with the French colonies in the region

b) Pilgrims land on Cape Breton Island, and *Boston is in Louisborg, which like OTL becomes a fortress holdout.

c) Pilgrims go to PEI or NE New Brunswick, and drive a wedge between Quebec and Acadia, putting the French colonies in immediate danger

d) Pilgrims somehow get to the Gaspe Peninsula, and they, (and the subsequent Puritans) expand down the St. Lawrence defeating the French. French colonies instead expand from Acadia south through OTL New England

A note: All of these options assume that the Puritans still decide to settle near their fellow dissenters, and most likely France or the Netherlands would expand into the void in OTL New England.

Which of these seems most plausible, or interesting to do as a TL?
 
I'd say a Puritan St. Lawrence Valley is probably the most interesting out of all of those- especially if the Acadiens and Candadiens migrate southwards to OTL New England. This would be even more interesting if the Dutch still colonize the Hudson Valley and the Swedes the Delaware valley so you'd have a much more diverse eastern seaboard.
 
Thing is: why should the bother: They had alot of free land farther south, it was easier just to colonise them then to try to take land from the french from the go.
 
Thing is: why should the bother: They had alot of free land farther south, it was easier just to colonise them then to try to take land from the french from the go.

That's a fair point, but I would also keep in mind that England is trying to take Quebec at this point (and it was in fact captured in 1629 OTL and then returned) so it doesn't seem that strange that the Puritans decide to help bump the French out of the area. (and once Quebec falls, Montreal could be an excellent location for a *City upon a Hill)

So do people thinks it's plausible enough that the Mayflower ends up landing on the Gaspe Peninsula?
 
That's a fair point, but I would also keep in mind that England is trying to take Quebec at this point (and it was in fact captured in 1629 OTL and then returned)

England only did that during the 1627-29 war when it supported the Huguenots. In 1620 this was not their aim.
 
England only did that during the 1627-29 war when it supported the Huguenots. In 1620 this was not their aim.

I realize that was not the aim of the Pilgrims in 1620; but if they unintentionally have to land farther north (as they landed at Plymouth despite it not being their preferred destination) it seems likely that rather than clear out England will in future be perfectly happy to try and take over the French colonies in the St. Lawrence rather than retreat from them.
 
I realize that was not the aim of the Pilgrims in 1620; but if they unintentionally have to land farther north (as they landed at Plymouth despite it not being their preferred destination) it seems likely that rather than clear out England will in future be perfectly happy to try and take over the French colonies in the St. Lawrence rather than retreat from them.

Your claim above that "England is trying to take Quebec at this point" is untrue prior to 1627. This is important to remember. In 1620, England and France were at peace and James I (not a particularly bellicose monarch) would likely not condone any attacks on another country's colonies. Note that the two countries agreed to divide the island of St. Kitts shortly afterward.
 
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They could land on the Modern Day Island of Anticosti. It was a key strategic island in the 7 years war because it controlled pretty effectively what came in and out of the St Lawrence river and was considered as the Gibralter of New World at one point. Only problem being is that it was famous for rocky and dangerous shores with shipwrecks being hauntingly common. Not sure if 1620 is before or after it bacame the worlds largest private island but fairly certain it's before so there shouldn't be any major problem with land disputes unlike the mainland.
 
so it doesn't seem that strange that the Puritans decide to help bump the French out of the area.
I would just like to point out that by Puritans I don't mean the Pilgrims but the 1630 Massachusetts Bay Colony which is arriving after the Anglo-French War (the 1627-1629 one anyway). And since the Massachusetts Bay Colony is being chartered during the war, the idea that they go for more northern land is not improbable. Certainly people are right that it's not as simple as "England continually assimilates Quebec" but I don't think the French colonies are going to be seen as an insuperable barrier by the English settlers.

Anticosti is an interesting idea; would the Pilgrims survive their first winter there though?
 
They could land on the Modern Day Island of Anticosti. It was a key strategic island in the 7 years war because it controlled pretty effectively what came in and out of the St Lawrence river and was considered as the Gibralter of New World at one point.

Actually that was Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island. Anticosti was privately owned by a single family during French rule.
 
Actually that was Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island. Anticosti was privately owned by a single family during French rule.

No it was a fairly important island. After the British captured it in the 7 years war they were able to tip the scales in the region and was necessary as a launching pad for the invasion of Quebec. And you can always go around Louisbourg, it's really inconvenient but alot easier to avoid then Anticosti.
I know that it was a private island under the French but what year did it become a private island. Before or after the POD he's aiming for.
 
Anticosti is an interesting idea; would the Pilgrims survive their first winter there though?

It's a miracle that they survived OTL. And perhaps if they became more of scavenger or reclaimer society from shipwrecks, it's not the most ariable island in the world and anywhere in in the Maritimes is going to be colder during the winter than Boston.
 
No it was a fairly important island. After the British captured it in the 7 years war they were able to tip the scales in the region and was necessary as a launching pad for the invasion of Quebec.

That was Louisbourg. The British captured it in 1758 and this cut off New France from naval support. The British then invaded Quebec the following year.

On a map, Anticosti might look like a strategic bottleneck but it was not used in that way. It was privately owned and I don't believe it ever held any fortifications.
 
So does Louisborg seem like a plausible place for an English colony instead? And would they be able to coexist with the French slightly better by being off the mainland?
 
So does Louisborg seem like a plausible place for an English colony instead? And would they be able to coexist with the French slightly better by being off the mainland?

That's somewhat more plausible. It's far enough from the French settlements that the Pilgrims are not likely to run into any settlers from Port Royal or the St. Lawrence valley, at least for a few years. Still, it's pretty far north and the Pilgrims might realize that there are lands to the south to settle in.
 
Hmm so in this scenario do you think the puritans in 1630 would still try to found a colony near their fellow dissenters(and where exactly in the maritime a would that be) or would they decide to stick to the more temperate climes of Virginia colony and end up settling more south than OTL. My gut says the first option, but I don't know where they would go precisely in either case. And it's the puritans that were the base for larger scale settlement in OTL...
 
Any more thoughts on this are welcomed, and I think I have rough ideas for where the Pilgrims and Puritans (and Dutch and Swedish!) could all be settling.
 
So I've done some more looking into the topic; and it seems rather like a Pilgrim colonization of Canada would gel into 3 main different possibilities.

a) Pilgrims land in Halifax or points south, and 7 years later or in a subsequent war end up bumping the French out of Nova Scotia; the Puritan colonies remain isolated and considerably farther north, while New France still expands from Quebec, and New Netherlands (and maybe New Sweden) get more of a foothold in OTL's New England. If the French and Dutch aren't decisively kicked out; the British colonies are rather permanently divided geographically and any revolution or subsequent nation are really hampered by this.

b) The Mayflower gets to PEI or somewhere in the Gulf of St. Lawrence instead (Maybe they aim for Newfoundland instead of N.Y.?). The Kirke brothers benefit from having a local base that can tell them how weak Champlain's forces are, and Quebec falls before the treaty signing. As a result, British settlement is channeled down the St. Lawrence instead of through OTL New England and Acadia.

c) Plymouth end up decisively bottlenecked by the French and their Mikmaq allies or even destroyed or captured. Subsequent Puritans either squeeze onto the islands or settle on lands further south (maybe OTL Maryland) , while the French colonies are somewhat stronger for having defeated an English threat in the cradle.

I'm really curious about which variant people would find the most interesting, since I'd really prefer to explore more original colonization patterns with this one. I also don't know whether option b) is even plausible (since the Mayflower would have to mess things up pretty badly to get as far off course as the Gulf of St. Lawrence) Also, with the French having less of Canada to focus on in A and B, are there any other areas they can put resources into colonizing now?

So anyway, do people like A, B or C?
 
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