With the end of the Seven Years’ War and the fall of New France in 1763, Britain assumed control of almost all of North America. The Seven Years’ War was for the possession of the Ohio Valley. A valley rich in the fur trade industry and land good for future settlement. Britain’s newly conquered country would now have to deal with the opposing cultures to which forms their population. Britain’s colony was home to a society of sixty thousand francophone Catholics. Britain was faced with the issue of how to deal with the growing population.
Attempts of both assimilation and accommodation were evident among the newly conquered French population. Since the British were the dominating culture, many English people wished to see the French over turned and eventually live their life solely under British rule. Under the British law they could not recognize the rights of Catholics. Therefore no Roman Catholics could sit on the British Council and have political representation. The governor of Britain, James Murry, although liked by the French forbid any other Roman Catholic churches to be resurrected but promoted the religion of the British, by increasing the amount of Protestant churches built. Another sign of assimilation of the French is the Court of Kings Bench.
An English court, by whom the King sentences foreigners that have no defense and can not even speak the English language. The French no longer had control of the fur trade, they lost their market to the English and could no longer compete to the full extent as the English. Above all, the French out number the British, resulting in the constant fear of a French revolution. In order to stop the French from revolting, Murry pursued a lenient policy toward the newly conquered population.
The Essay on Tensions between the French and English speaking Canadians
... first world war, French Canadians removed from Britain “plight”. French and English tensions were ... cultural expression for Quebec’s French- speaking population. The Quiet Revolution proved ... French and English Canadians because the English speaking Canadians were British and the British ... French and English speaking Canadians because since the first days of New France, the Catholic ...
Murry realized the critical role the church played among the French population. Therefore he allowed the churches to remain within the British colony, allowing people to their own land and practice their dignified religion, while being able to sit on court appointed juries. Murry’s successor, Carleton, quickly adopted his views. His views were reflected in the Quebec Act of 1774. The Act was designed to secure the loyalty of the French and the success of the colony.
It also extended the borders of the colony on all sides except towards the west. Besides extending the Borders, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the colony of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada. Upper Canada was formed with the English speaking loyalists while lower Canada would have an overwhelmingly French speaking population. Accommodating the French with their own French court, The Court of Common Pleas, and allowing them to keep their language and religion provided the British with an unique culture to rule and govern. The situation between the French and the English is very complex but as the Moral Test is performed, it is clear to see accommodation would benefit both cultures. By giving both cultures a chance to survive and co-exist among one another obviously eliminates the need for competition among nations.
If the roles were switched around and Britain had lost the Seven Years ” War, they would be sincerely grateful for being allowed to continue their own religion and have all the same rights as before. Universally people would tend to agree that peace and prosperity would rise above conflict and war. Although accommodation is a high and idealistic view point that deserves the attention of rivaling countries, it is not always seen as the ‘best’ or most ‘beneficial ” decision. Even today, our country is clearly separated into two major cultures, the English and the French. By always accommodation people and giving them the choice, our country as a whole can never truly be united.
The Essay on French culture
France is a Western Europe country with a population of approximately 60. 4 million people as by July 2004. France has a diversity of religions but the dominant religion is Roman Catholic with Jewish religion having the least followers (Kwintessential, 2010). These preliminary diversities in ethnicity and religion signal a diverse French culture. This paper discusses French culture by looking into ...
Instead a divisible line is drawn between different cultures, eliminating all hope for one language, one religion and one law. The cross between accommodation and assimilation would be the perfect solution. If everybody had virtually the same belief and was not forced to believe or behave as others, our country would then and only then become one. Even though accommodation all around the world would be ideal, it is not realistic, assimilation between different ethnic backgrounds was and still is inevitable.
