European Colonialism In Canada

The first crucial strategy employed by European colonization were political-based influences. The political strategy used by the Europeans played an essential role in past and present day Montreal/Quebec. In September 1759, Quebec was put under British rule. Montreal was placed under British rule the year after (Massicotte, 2013). This event was crucial in terms of the beginning of the political shift that took place in Montreal and Quebec as a whole. Given that the new political power figure was of British descent, this began the automatic shift of attempting to employ British policies in Quebec. (Massicotte, 2013).

It is important when discussing political factors/government to look at Quebec as a whole, and not solely on Montreal in order

The act allowed for the Catholic faith to be practiced in Quebec, while also acknowledging French language rights. It was only in criminal cases that British Law was to be used (according to the act) (Linteau, 2009). Although this act was created as a way to create peace and unity among the French Catholic and the British, British merchants continued to push for representative government. This conflict in regards to representative government continued and eventually lead to the Rebellions of 1837 (Linteau, 2009). Although the Rebellions of 1837 will be discussed in more detail when discussing violence as a colonization strategy, this defeat “gave the new anglophone middle class a political victory, and francophone leaders had no choice but to co-operate with them” (Linteau, 2009). This acts as an example of how political conflict/events shaped the hierarchy and power within Quebec

The result of the rebellions were increased tension between the francophone and anglophone within Canada (Buckner, 2013). Rebellions happened in both Lower and Upper Canada-with both motives being political change. It was the initial immigration and British ruling that caused this source of violence to break out as a result of disagreements. This source of violence was essentially what lead to the British North America Act-which later created Canada’s government (Buckner, 2013).This act of violence is important to recognize as it shows how a colonization can physically impact a given area. The Rebellions demonstrate how colonialism can result in conflict and disagreements between immigrants and natives, as well as the repercussions of such