PEACE, BUT NOT FOR LONG…

Between 1713 and 1744, the French and English colonies in America lived in peace, but war was not far off… The English colonies wanted to expand west of the Appalachians, in the Ohio Valley, on French territory. In 1756, the Seven Years War officially began.

THE FORCES AT WORK

England chose to focus its efforts on taking conquering New France. About 20,000 English soldiers went into battle against 7,000 French soldiers. So the English had a big advantage in terms of the number of soldiers at their disposal. Moreover, the English navy completely dominated the seas and prevented France from sending additional troops to help.

THE CONQUEST OF NEW FRANCE

The soldiers of New France won a few battles despite receiving no help from France. After taking the fortress of Louisbourg in 1758, the English bombarded the city of Quebec throughout the summer of 1759. They won the battle of the Plains of Abraham and captured Quebec city. In the spring of 1760, the French and the English waited to see which flag would fly on the first ships that would sail up the river. It was the English who won this race. Montreal was captured in September 1760. Governor Vaudreuil burned the French flag to confirm the defeat. The English had conquered New France.

In 1763, the English and French signed a treaty confirming that New France was now an English colony. The 55,000 French inhabitants were now ruled by the English.

Author: Léon Robichaud. RECITUS. Translated by LEARN.