Why didn't Quebec join the American Revolution?

So we are studying The American War of Independence in class, and I can't figure out why Quebec didn't use the chaotic situation to assert it's own independence for GB. One of the reasons the Brits had put troops in North America was to control the French population to the north, and I can't imagine that the Quebecois were happy with British rule. So, why didn't they either join the colonists in rising up or at least take the opportunity afforded by English distraction to stage an uprising of their own?

Especially once France got involved, why didn't they try to get Quebec back as part of their support for the patriots?
 
1- They just had just fought the 7 years war and lost lots of mens
2- The British just gave them the right to speak French and keep their religion in addition of enlarging the Province of Quebec to inlcude the great lakes (the ''intolerable acts'')
3- The American were still seen as their historical ennemies
4- The British kept a lots of troops there, especially in Quebec city

*EDIT* you might want to put your thread in the Before 1900
 
They're is a few issue with the way you see things:

1) You seem to blend two pretty distinct time periods toguether: the Patriots didn't exist as a party until the late 1810's, possibly, and them being a revolutionary movement with independentist goal is very much an 1830's thing (and even then they where divided on it). By that point France was pursuing a policy of Entente Cordiale with the UK, and therefore never supported the patriots in any meaningfull ways.

2) Related to 1), by the time of the British conquest the whole Saint-Lawrence valley was home to 60 000 settlers, that's it. It did grow somewhat between that and the American Revolution but it never reached anything to what you need to make a bid for independance. It don't quite know where you got the idea that it was that fear who led the brits to keep large forces in North America but its inexact.

3) As Undeadmuffin was saying, the Canadiens and the Colonists tended to hate each other way more then they hated the other metropolitan overlord in the past, engaging into bits of irregular warfare and war by proxi in peace time and being more belicists then their metropolis. To that one must add the fact that the Brits did make pretty conciliant decisions after the conquest, decisions witch the colonists made allot noise against. Now, the revolution did give the newly minted american pretty compeling reasons to forget their historical hatred and led bygone be bygone with the Canadiens but the Canadiens didn't have any so when they had to choose they choose the Brits.

4) France never made an attempt at regaining Nouvelle France because she had come to consider it more trouble then it was worth by that point and was more focused on making conquest in the Caraibean, recovering in India and generally undercuting Great Britain.
 
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The people of Quebec viewed the 'founding fathers' similar as to how the American people today view Al Queda.

The North American theater of the Seven years war started from a year of back and front localised war where independent militias raided into each other's territory killing people. The Quebecois narrative at the time of the Revolution was that the revolutionaries were state sponsored terrorists that started the French and Indian war and were biting the hand that fed them in the British. If they got independence they were going to come back to Quebec raiding and killing as they did before the Seven Years war.

Britain weren't bad rulers, sure there was taxes but everyone pays taxes, they got their own language which made them happy and they were protected from the Americans.

Sure Britain ruled but the independent militias didn't get to March into Quebec and seize lands.

I'm not saying this is fact but it's the narrative at the time in Quebec.
 
So we are studying The American War of Independence in class, and I can't figure out why Quebec didn't use the chaotic situation to assert it's own independence for GB. One of the reasons the Brits had put troops in North America was to control the French population to the north, and I can't imagine that the Quebecois were happy with British rule. So, why didn't they either join the colonists in rising up or at least take the opportunity afforded by English distraction to stage an uprising of their own?

Especially once France got involved, why didn't they try to get Quebec back as part of their support for the patriots?

In the 13 colonies only 60% of the people were actually in favor of succession. Many of the remaining 40%went to Canada I don't have the figures with me because I'm on my phone but they need doubled or tripled Canada's population I don't know how many of the people were French speaking but in general Canada stayed loyal to the crown I'm guessing I would not be surprised if that was the reason they were allowed to keep French as their language as kind of a payment for staying loyal to the crown. I've always found New Orleans and surrounding area ability to use Creole which if I'm wrong please tell me is a language as much as it is used. Part of that may be the fact that the IS. needed to strategically keep that place .control
 

CalBear

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There were major religious issues. At the time the 13 colonies were pretty much uniformly hostile to Catholics, the French in Quebec were virtually all Catholic. The final treaty language that ceded Canada to Britain included considerable protections for the Catholic minority (something that did not sit well with many of the colonists who had fought as militia in the North American portion of the Seven Years War).

There was a goodwell of support for the Rebellion when the Arnold & Allen led force advanced into Canada, but it faded with the defeat at Quebec.
 
*snip*

There was a goodwell of support for the Rebellion when the Arnold & Allen led force advanced into Canada, but it faded with the defeat at Quebec.
My history teacher in college made the joke that the Continental army was appreciated in Quebec... until their money ran out :p
 
What? Only about 60,000 left the USA in total. 90% of the loyalists remained in America.
I wrote this on my phone when I can get to a real computer I'll answer your questions. I've seen the higher number that did emigrate North used several times on just bored plus other places.
 
there aren't too many fates worse for the French Canadians than joining up with the patriots, and they were well aware of that. The Patriot sales pitch went: "we hate you. we've always hated you. we'll do you wrong as soon as possible, but we both hate the British, so come join us". Canadian response: "we stay as is, life isn't too bad. We join and lose, life gets bad. We join and win, life gets worse yet"
 
there aren't too many fates worse for the French Canadians than joining up with the patriots, and they were well aware of that. The Patriot sales pitch went: "we hate you. we've always hated you. we'll do you wrong as soon as possible, but we both hate the British, so come join us". Canadian response: "we stay as is, life isn't too bad. We join and lose, life gets bad. We join and win, life gets worse yet"

Where was it proposed that the US authorities sought to do the québécois harm? As I have pointed out several times, the annexation of Louisiane was easily made and the Catholicism and culture of Louisiana was universally respected and tolerated until the Civil War.

This included cultural practices that were likely far more disliked by the wider US authorities than simply being catholic. One such is the practice of plaçage which amounted to widespread miscegenation outside marriage and outside plantations. Or any number of traits the colony held that made it seemingly incompatible with this perceived intolerable personality of the early US.
 
In the 13 colonies only 60% of the people were actually in favor of succession. Many of the remaining 40%went to Canada I don't have the figures with me because I'm on my phone but they need doubled or tripled Canada's population

The population of the 13 colonies was about 2.5 million at the time of independence. 40 % leaving would have been 1 million people. In reality it was no more than 100,000 that left, and not all went to Canada.

It seems that most Loyalists finally ended up switching sides, or else just kept quiet after the war ended.
 
Also, I don't remember were I read this, but I'm pretty sure when the Continental Congress sent a delegation to Lower Canada to try and get them to join the rebellion, they basically insulted everyone and left. If some some finds a source for this please post it.
 
Why would Francophones largely happy with the tolerance enforced by the Treaty of Paris (1763), fairly conservative Francophones to boot, decide to ally themselves with an Anglophone Protestant republic?
 

Georgie777

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The French were much smaller in population than the American colonies and thus not as much of a hard mob to squash. Also for a good portion of the war it seemed Britain would prevail I'd assume.
 
One of the "intolerable acts" was letting Canadiens keep their language and Catholic institutions. They had no reason to rebel neither did the other 13 though.
 
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