About Michael Troy Expertise I can answer just about any question on early American History. My specialties are the American Revolution through the Civil War/Reconstruction. I also have greater expertise in matters relating to military, political or legal history.
Experience I have lectured at George Washington University regarding the Civil War, as well as several elementary school Civil War demonstrations. I was also a member of a Civil War reenactment group for about 10 years.
Education/Credentials J.D. University of Michigan
B.A. George Washington University
Question Canada was a British holding prior to the Revolution. Why were they not asked to participate in the conventions or the Revolution? Had the Stamp Act and other Acts not applied to them? Were the provinces considered colonies?
Answer Hi Craig,
Canada had not been a British colony for very long. It had been a French colony until the Treaty of Paris of 1763, when France reliquished control to Britain at the end of the Seven Years War. That same treaty caused Spain to relinquish Florida to Britain.
The 13 colonies, had been settled by British colonists for several generations. By contrast Canada and Florida had European residents from France or Spain respectively. They did not have a history of guaranteed "rights of Englishmen". They were a foreign people conquered by war. They did not share a common language or culture with the other colonies and were more linked by trade language and culture to the Caribbean and elsewhere. They were also primarily Catholic, which was distasteful to most British colonists. As a result, there was no natural connection to the other colonies.
The Quebec Act, which Britain passed in 1774, gave certain benefits to the residents of Canada, but was seen as a threat by the other colonists. It became known as one of the so-called "intolerable acts" that the British colonists opposed.
But to answer your question, most of the taxes that caused the original protests, such as the Stamp Act, did apply to all British Colonies in America, including Canada. Canadians did oppose the tax and submitted protests to Britain, but they never seemed to cooperate in the coordinated resistance with the other colonies. This is likely because most Canadians were either French decendents who already considered themselves a people conquered by war and therefore subject to unfair treatment, or British immigrants who had lived in England until very recently and were used to paying such taxes.
Once the resistance became war, Americans did attempt to invade Canada and convince the locals to join the Revolution. However, after their defeat in the 1775 Battle of Quebec, they did not make any more serious efforts to join Canada to the fight.
