The treatment of the French This essay looks at how the French people were treated throughout Canadian history.

Essay by nisanthanvCollege, UndergraduateA-, March 2003

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The bitterest rivalry in world history can be easily seen as that of the English and French. This rivalry can date back into the earliest times and the two distinct nations easily adopted a nationalist attitude. The British and French had a deep and emotional sense of being a superior nation over the other. The two shared the same continent but they had a distinct language, religion and culture. These three distinct characteristics made the rivalry extreme and at times in history intense. What started out as a conflict in Europe, travelled the oceans, and ended up in a conflict in North America. The earlier conflicts between the French and English in North America sparked the French people living in New France; to want to be subject to French civil laws and they were keen on keeping their religion, language and French heritage under any circumstance. The English at first denounced this form of ideology from the French speaking population.

The early theory of the British crown was that, French ties and France's influence on the people of New France could be lost if an invasion or occupation to conqueror French territories was launched. Therefore a carefully drafted plan had been set up by British forces to invade and conqueror the remaining French territories. Victory over the forces defending New France in 1760 was celebrated by both Britain and the colonies in North America. The conquest in 1760 was conducted at suppressing the French people's right to live in dignity and peace in New France. However, in the years following the conquest of the French territory, British solution to the question of how to govern and treat a foreign people was guided by benevolence than pragmatism or chance. The British felt extremely sympathetic to the French cause. This...