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Battles of early settlers

The French and British destroyed each other's settlements, each side recruiting Indian tribes as allies the British navy raided French coastal forts, and French troops attacked British garrisons and trading posts. The issue was finally settled in the Seven Years' War of 1756-63. In 1759, a British army led by General James Wolfe routed the French in the battle of the Plains of Abraham and took Quebec. The French surrendered MONTREAL. In 1760, and the French colonies were ceded in 1763.

Despite Britain's military victory the country continued to supped separate British and French cultures, languages and institutions. French settlers far outnumbered the British in Quebec and the surrounding area, so it was decided to recognize the Roman Catholic religion and retain french civil law and language (the Quebec act, 1774). This separate system continues today.

After the American war of independence (1775-81) more than 30000 loyalist refugees moved north from the new republic to new Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario, increasing the population fourfold in many areas. From 1815 the British government encouraged settlers, and in the next 40 years more than a million immigrants landed in HALIFAX, SAINT JOHN and Quebec.

Next: Making modern Canada