Quebec in the British American Orbit 1760-1774

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Gareth Davis (UCL History) - Conquered in 1760 and abandoned by France in 1763, the Province of Quebec entered the British Empire, and Canadiens became subjects of George III alongside their longstanding enemy, Britain's American colonists. Over the next decade, Quebec would adjust itself to a new role on a transformed continent but assessing the relationship between the new province and its British American neighbours is complicated by the silence of the existing historiography. Canadianists and British imperial historians are introspective, focusing on the relationship between Quebec and London. Americanists are uninterested until the 1774 Quebec Act looms onto their horizon. This paper explores a forgotten decade, using evidence provided by colonial newspapers, and argues that between 1764 and 1774 Quebec metamorphosed from conquered territory to continental partner. It suggests that for rebel Americans on the brink of revolution, the province was indeed a Fourteenth Colony but one which they seriously misunderstood. 

Gareth Davis is currently a second year postgraduate research student at UCL where he also completed a BA in Ancient History, and an MA in Modern History. His area of research is North America in the 18th and 19th centuries, specifically exploring American attitudes towards, and ideas about, British North America 1760-1871 as expressed in private correspondence, political discourse, travel writing, newspapers and journals. He has been a journalist and broadcaster for over 20 years, and has filmed in and reported many times on Canada, most recently for The Guardian on the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. He has won numerous awards and is the only journalist to have been twice awarded Top Canadian Travel Story in the International Category by the Canadian Tourism Commission.