Proclamation Act Of 1763 Essay, Research Paper
Proclamation Act of 1763
The Proclamation Act of 1763 was a major change for both the English and
the French. For the English, they wanted to assimilate the French. This was
necessary for two reasons.
One, the British had, after all, conquered them, and wished to create a
full British Empire. They thought that the only way to do this was to
assimilate all other cultures (except the Natives) into their culture.
Two, the French were still a threat, and Quebec was the foothold in the
New World for France. The mother country, France, could send armies to New
France and attack the British.
The main purpose of the Proclamation Act was simple, assimilate the
French.
The British needed to ensure that their culture was enforced in Quebec,
The Act also tried to encourage British settlers to come to New France, but,
unfortunately, the settlers did not want to come. This was because the settlers
would rather move to a mostly British society, instead of a mostly French.
Some other aims of this Act were: Limit the size of Quebec, cutting
Montreal from the Fur Trade, and also to reassure the Natives that their hunting
grounds, and fur trade would be protected and remain intact.
Some of the terms of the Proclamation Act were as follows: settlement in
the Ohio and Mississippi was forbidden, and trappers, traders and settlers were
allowed in only with a license given from the crown, stating there reasons for
being in those two areas. The French language was also allowed to continue.
This may seem very strange, but I will explain it in a minute. Also the French
religion (Roman Catholicism) was allowed to continue. Britain also made it very
discouraging to have this culture, disallowing anyone who had anything to do
with these political and official status. The Protestant religion was also
promoted.
The main reason that the Quebec act was created was because the
Proclamation Act was not working. Quebec was rebelling and people were very
unhappy about it. So Britain decided to create the Quebec act. Other reasons
were that the 13 colonies, who had rebelled themselves and become the Americans,
were going to attack. The British people needed an ally, and quickly. They
also wished to increase trade, relations, and unite the French and English under
one Nation.
Some aims that the creation of the Quebec Act was suppose to achieve
were, combining French and English into one Nation, not culture, by keeping
biculturalism.
The French were allowed to continue all aspects of their culture, with
no penalty to status whatsoever. The government for Quebec, however, was to
stay the same, still ruled by a governor and an executive council. The civil
law was French, but the criminal law was changed to British.
Yes, I definetely think so. This worked right after the Act was passed,
as evidenced by the responses, very few people were unhappy. The most obvious
and substantial piece of evidence is today, which proves that the Act worked,
by showing that today we have a bicultural nation.