Committee Description

When the dust settled at the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, Britain emerged as the master of colonial North America east of the Mississippi River. The Saint Lawrence Valley , once the heart of New France, now formed the basis of the new British Province of Québec. The Québécois, however, did not welcome their new Anglo-Protestant rulers. Their rights to practice Catholicism and follow French civil law were greatly restricted.

In the years that followed, British authorities, concerned that the Québécois might join the growing rebellion in the Thirteen Colonies to the south, passed the Quebec Act in 1774. This legislation restored the right to Catholic religious practice, reinstated French civil law in private matters, and significantly expanded the colony’s boundaries beyond the Saint Lawrence Valley to include the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley. While the Act helped ease tensions between the Québécois and the British, it infuriated the American colonists, contributing to their grievances and fueling revolutionary sentiment.

Provoked by the Quebec Act and other so-called “Intolerable Acts,” the American Revolutionary War erupted in April 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

Just weeks later, the newly formed Continental Army launched its first major military initiative: an invasion of Québec. Aimed at preventing British attacks from the north and encouraging the Québécois to join the American cause, the invasion was approved by the Continental Congress in June. After impressive victories at Fort Ticonderoga and Fort St. Jean, the road to the under-defended province lay wide open. With Québec’s Governor Guy Carleton having fled Montréal, American forces under Richard Montgomery marched into the city unopposed in November.

Yet for the Americans, the enemy of their enemy was not necessarily their friend. The Québécois were far less enthusiastic about revolution than hoped. With British reinforcements en route, the Continental Army must now act swiftly to solidify alliances and seize strategic Québec City, before the British return.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Rian Reichel at crisis@ssuns.org

McLain Boege

Assistant Crisis Director

Arnaud Menard

Vice Chair