The document summarizes Britain's conquest of North America from France during the Seven Years' War and the subsequent changes in governance over the French colonies of Quebec and Acadia. Key events included Britain seizing control of Quebec in 1760, the Treaty of Paris in 1763 that ended the war and ceded French territories to Britain, and the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that established British rule over Quebec and aimed to assimilate the French colonists. Dissatisfaction with these policies led Britain to pass the Quebec Act of 1774, restoring some French civil law and religious freedoms in order to gain the allegiance of the French Canadians against the American revolutionaries.

1. Chapter 5
War and British Conquest

2. The British Conquest of North America
• Fighting broke out between Britain and France to
control the Ohio Valley in 1754
– This was along the western boundary of the Thirteen
Colonies
• This dispute turned into a fight for the whole
continent
• By 1756 the fight had gone global and nine
European countries had chosen sides
• In 1760 Britain seized control of Quebec
• Britain also took control of the French colony of
Guadeloupe in the Caribbean

3. Treaty of Paris
• The war ended in 1763 with the signing of the
Treaty of Paris
• The treaty allowed France to keep the colony
of Guadeloupe and a small base in North
America
– The islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
• In the treaty they also gave up its other claims
in North America to Britain and Spain

4. History Happens
• Read “It Only Lasted an Hour” on page 156
• Read “The Battle of the Plains of Abraham” on
page 157.
– Answer questions 1 and 2

5. Britain’s Victory: Change and Challenge
• The Treaty of Paris was signed in order to end the
Seven Year War
• France had to give up almost all of its claims to
North America under the Treaty of Paris
• In the negotiations for the Treaty of Paris, France
made Britain guarantee that they wouldn’t
retaliate against any of the French allies
• They also made sure that the people of New
France would still be able to practice their
religion

6. The Visit from Pontiac
• Pontiac was the leader of the Odawa
• The Odawa were part of the Anishinabe
nation and were a long time ally of the French
• He spread word from village to village trying
to get people of the First nations to join
together and fight the British.
• His reasoning was to try to maintain their
claim to the land which they believed was left
to them by their ancestors.

7. The Last Governor of New France
• The last governor of New France was Pierre de Rigaud
de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial
• He was forced to give up New France in the
negotiations in the Treaty of Paris
• He was the one who surrendered to the British in 1760
• He surrendered because he felt France couldn’t win,
and that the population had already suffered enough
• Vaudreuil was arrested for surrendering and spent
several weeks in prison
• France withdrew from New France, but the Canadiens
remained because that was their home

8. The Royal Proclamation of 1763
• This was Britain’s attempt to create everlasting
peace
• A proclamation is a statement of law and
policy
• They set this proclamation a few months after
Pontiac began to organize the First Nation’s
resistance

9. Proclamation’s Aim to Assimilate the
Canadiens
• Establish the Province of Quebec
– The province would have a British style government with a
governor and appointed council
• They also promised an elected assembly, but Britain didn’t
come through with this promise for almost thirty years
• They disallowed Catholics from holding positions in
government
• Abolished French civil law (the relationship between
seigneurs and habitants, and the tithes (taxes that
supported the Catholic church)
• Encouraged settlers from the Thirteen Colonies to move to
Quebec
– They did this by disallowing free movement west

10. Proclamation’s Aim to Make Peace
with the First Nation
• Started by setting a proclamation line that
separated the Thirteen Colonies from “Indian
Territory”
• They would not allow settlements in the
“Indian Territory” until the First Nations came
to an agreement about these lands with
Britain

11. The Quebec Act of 1774
• By 1776 the Thirteen Colonies were at war with
Britain, trying to become an independent country
– This was the American War of Independence
• This brought issues of identity into focus, just like
it did with the Acadians
• Unlike during the Seven Year War, the British
looked at the French Canadiens in a different light
– They no longer saw them as enemies, but as potential
allies

12. • The Royal Proclamation of 1763 made it clear
that Britain expected the Canadiens to
assimilate
– They hoped the Canadiens would choose to
become British on their own
• However, the Canadiens did not give up their
language, custom, or religion

13. • The Canadiens had little in common with the
British rulers
• They were not allowed to participate in
government because they were Catholic, and
Britain still had not set up the elected
assembly they promised in the Royal
Proclamation of 1763

14. • By 1774, the population in Quebec was larger
than 70,000 people
• Not many British people lived in this colony

15. • Britain decided to return some of the French
Canadiens rights that the Royal Proclamation
of 1763 had taken away
• They did this by passing the Quebec Act of
1774
• The act ensured that French language and
Canadien culture were maintained.

16. What the Act Ensured
• Allowed Catholic people in Quebec to practice their
religion
• Allowed Canadiens to hold government positions, only
after they swore the Oath of Allegiance to Britain
• Reinstated the French Civil Law that the Royal
Proclamation of 1763 had taken away
• Extended the boundaries of Quebec beyond the
proclamation line
– Britain changed these boundaries without consulting the
First Nations people, even though the Royal Proclamation
of 1763 required consultation