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.