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Before the colonies in ''middle america'' declared their independence from Great Britain the entire British North American Colonies all 21 of them were called ''British America'' from 1607 to 1783 with the British Monarch as head of state and the Pound Sterling as the common currency and we even had our own ''British America'' flag that was solid red with the Union Flag of Great Britain in the left hand corner but i've always wondered why the 13 colonies in middle america aligned up and not the other eight British colonies to the north and south i.e. New Foundland, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Island of St. John, Prince Ruperts Land (middle canada), East Florida, West Florida and the British West Indies.
The availability of Tim Horton's tended to pacify them and make them less resentful of Royal authority, tea taxation and the long time it was taking to get hockey invented.
In the cases of Florida and the island colonies, we are speaking of small numbers of British settlers surrounded by a great many hostile natives, as well as being threatened by the French and Spanish navies. A revolt against Britain would have only meant them getting gobbled up by locals or taken over by a Catholic European power.
The Canadians are a different story and the general belief in the American colonies was that they very much wanted to join in the revolt and only required a nudge in that direction to enlist in the revolution. That is what the ill fated first invasion of Canada was all about..the assumption that the Canadians would be on the rebel side if given a chance.
However, the British had been wise and after they had chased the French from Canada, they didn't disturb any of the French institutions, especially Catholicism. The 1774 Quebec Act guaranteed freedom of religion. The British triumph in Canada was a good deal for them...they shed themselves of their French masters without having to shed themselves of their French culture. And now they were hardwired to the most prosperous trading dynamic on the planet.
In sum, they lacked a motivation to rebel. There were individual Canadians who went South and fought for the Americans, but most, having endured the deprivations associated with the Seven Years War, had little stomach for more fighting.
Quebec, I think, felt that since Britain had made the concessions toward religion, language, etc, that they stood a better chance of keeping their culture by sticking with the English.
The others, I'm not really sure about. There was fairly strong loyalist sentiment in some of the colonies, maybe the northern ones had that as well?
Another reason Canada didn't rebel was that much of Canada was under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company a London based business venture. The West Indies were mostly settled by planters who used slaves who worked sugar plantations and made rum. Even in the 13 colonies the enthusiasm for rebellion varied. Downstate New York was a loyalist area and on Long Island it was those loyalists who gave Nathan Hale his chance to give his one life for his country. Hale was captured by loyalists and turned over to the British who hung him as a spy.
Quebec, I think, felt that since Britain had made the concessions toward religion, language, etc, that they stood a better chance of keeping their culture by sticking with the English.
The anti-Catholic reaction to the Quebec Act was very strong in many parts of the 13 colonies. The Catholic Quebeçois weren't about to commit suicide by joining them.
It is interesting that Carleton, the governor responsible for the conciliatory aspects of the Quebec Act, returned to frustrate the rebel Americans at the end of the war.
He was in charge of New York City, and he refused to leave until he had evacuated all Loyalists that he could from the new U.S., and that included slaves that had been freed by the British.
Washington demanded a conference about this situation, and Carleton met him and gave him the straight dope that given the hostile actions against Loyalists he wasn't about to change his policy, nor was he going to abandon those black slaves that had already been promised their freedom. And he did not depart fromt the city until he had kept his word
An unusual man in an intolerant and unforgiving era.
If you look areas around savannah and chalrleston were where the richer; more loyal colonist came to settle.The reason for the revolutionary war were really comproised of northern merchants wanting more freedom to make profits without the taxes imposed by britain.Even thru the last days of India the british impoised some crazy laws designed to biring wealth to the home islands and spur independence.
As well, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were settled by land grants during the 18th century, given to people the king liked, which likely would mean they would remain loyal.
As well, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were settled by land grants during the 18th century, given to people the king liked, which likely would mean they would remain loyal.
I think you have to make a distinction between the royal grantees in New World colonies and the people who actually were the vast bulk of the settler population. Most grantees never set foot in the colonies, and settlers were often at odds with their representatives over various day to day issues or ignored them.
What matters is what the feelings of the actual settlers were rather than the royal grantees.
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