Chapter 5

1. Chapter 5

2. The Struggle for Acadia • The competition between France and Britain to control all of North America had two main geographic divisions. • Atlantic Coast – where Britain and France had trade routes with their North American colonies • Interior – where the best fur country lay

3. Why did the British & French want to control Acadia? • For France and Britain: Acadia represented a base for attacking each other, and for protecting their own colonies and trade routes. • For the Mi’kmaq: Acadia formed part of their homeland.

4. Mi’kmaki • This what the Mi’kmaq called their homeland. • Mi’kmaq had a trading partnership with the French • They allowed the French to settle on their lands • The Mi’kmaq and the French got along very well. • The Mi’kmaq became allies of the French, but did not consider themselves conquered by the French.

5. Acadia • The French, however, claimed Acadia as “French”, even though they had never fought the Mi’kmaq or asked for their surrender in anyway. • France called Acadia “home since 1604. By the time the struggle for Acadia came along, there were already several generations of Francophones or Acadians living there. • They had built farms, planted orchards, built relationships with the Mi’kmaq and marriages between Mi’kmaq and French had taken place.

6. Treaty of Utrecht • 1713: Britain gained control of Acadia through the Treaty of Utrecht. The British had won the War of the Spanish Succession and gaining control of Acadia was part of the terms for peace. • Relationships with the First Nations: The British rarely sought partnerships with First Nations. In the Thirteen Colonies, just south of Acadia, the British had forced the First Nations people off the land. The Mi’kmaq knew this and fought British colonization for almost 40 years (1713 – 1752). The war against Britain was the longest war against colonization in history. • Britain’s takeover of Acadia did not end French& British conflict. In 1720, France built a hugefort and military base, called Louisburg, on what is today Cape Breton Island. Britain responded with a military base of its own in1749 in Halifax.

7. The Great Deportation • 1713: Britain took control of Acadia and told the Acadians they had to leave within a year. The Acadians didn’t want to give up their farms and settlements. So, most of the Acadians stayed. • 1730: the British required the Acadians to take an oath of neutrality. This meant that the Acadians stay neutral if a war between Britain and France broke out. • 1755: A French – British war seemed likely, so the British required a new oath from the Acadians – an oath of allegiance. This meant that the Acadians would fight for Britain in a war against France. When the Acadians refused Britain decided to deport them. Some Acadians escaped to New France and others found protection with the Mi’kmaq.

8. The Great Deportation • 1755 – 1763: During the Great Deportation, Britain captured and shipped 11,000 Acadians to the Thirteen Colonies, to England, and to France. Because… • Britain believed the Acadians were still loyal to France: Even though Acadians were Catholic and spoke French, they had lived peacefully under British rule for more than 40 years. But they still had more in common with the culture of France than Britain. • Britain knew that the Acadians outnumbered them and that they would lose control of Acadia if the Acadians fought against them because: In 1755, Acadians settlers (12,000) outnumbered the British settlers (6,000). • Britain didn’t trust the Acadians to stay neutral because: Although the Acadians promised to remain neutral, they refused to fight against France in a war. SO Britain assumed that: they could not trust the Acadians, because the Acadians were of French descent • This also affected the Mi’kmaq people. Acadians and Mi’kmaq had a history of alliance, friendship and intermarriage. The Mi’kmaq people lost friends and family in the deportation.

9. Seven Years War • 1754: war broke out between Britain and France to control the Ohio Valley but expanded into a fight for all of North America • 1756: war became global as Britain aimed to destroy French navy • 1760: Britain seized Quebec at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. • Few months later, French army returned to Quebec anddefeated British at the Battle of Sainte-Foy • 1763: France signed the Treaty of Paris with Britain to end the Seven Years War. • Under the treaty, France gave up almost all claims to North America; but France got to keep colony of Gaudeloupe and islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon in North America for its cod-fishery • Britain guaranteed that it would: • not retaliate against French allies • allow Catholic people of New France to practise their religion

10. Royal Proclamation of 1763 • This was Britain’s attempt to establish lasting peace in North America • Was issued as a statement of law and policy, but it aimed to assimilate the Canadiens by: • Establishing the province of Quebec with a British style government with governor, appointed council and elected assembly • Disallowing Catholics from holding positions in the government • Abolishing French civil law which defined relationships between seigneurs and habitants, and tithes which supported the Catholic church • Encouraging settlers from 13 colonies to move to Quebec by declaring settlers could not move west • It aimed to make peace with First Nations by: • Establishing a “proclamation line” separating 13 colonies from ‘Indian territory’ which meant no settlement could occur there until First Nations had come to agreement with British about the land.

11. 1700 1763

12. Quebec Act of 1774 • During 1770’s Britain and 13 colonies came into increasing conflict. 13 colonies wanted to become an independent country. • Britain had to change its attitude toward its Catholic, French-speaking subjects. WHY? • According to the Royal Proclamation of 1763, Britain hoped that the Canadiens would choose to “become British” on tier own but the Canadiens did not give up their language, customs or religion. • Quebec also did not become a popular destination for British colonists to move to. • Britain was afraid that if the 13 colonies rebelled, then Quebec would rebel too because the Canadiens had very little in common with the British rulers. • The Canadiens were not allowed to participate in the government, and Britain never set up an elected assembly in Quebec • By 1774, the Canadien population of Quebec was far greater than the few British people who lived the colony

13. Quebec Act of 1774 • So Britian decided to return to the Canadiens some rights by passing the Quebec Act of 1774 which ensured that the French language and Canadien culture could be maintained: • Allowed Catholic people in Quebec to practise their religion so the Catholic church play an influential role in the politics of the colony • Allowed Canadiens to hold government positions, if they took an oath of loyalty to Britian • Reinstated French civil laws • Extended boundaries of Quebec without consulting the First Nations

14. Royal Proclamation 1763 Quebec Act 1774