Canada and the Declaration of Independence, Part 1: The First Two Letters to the Oppressed Inhabitants of Canada

"For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies." In the first of this two-part episode about Canada and the rebellious Colonies, we discuss the important differences in the history, politics, religion, demographics, and economies of the two regions. Topics include the following -The transfer of Canada from France to Britain after the Seven Years' War in 1763 -The complex process of integrating new British settlers and British law into French-Canadian society -The Quebec Act of 1774, which allowed Quebecois (French-Canadian) religious and legal traditions to be maintained in British Canada -The substance and consequences of the First Letter to the Inhabitants of Quebec, authorized by the First Continental Congress in October 1774 -The turbulent spring of 1775, including the Battle of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775, which was shortly followed by the official imposition of the Quebec Act on 1 May 1775 -The Second Letter to the OPPRESSED Inhabitants of Canada, authorized by the Second Continental Congress on 29 May 1775