Why didn't British colonists in Canada join the American revolution?

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  1. The French Candadian's weren't interested, as they didn't get along with the New England Protestants, and had been at war with them a few short years previous. They were content to mostly sit out this new war.

  2. Most of the English in what is now Canada lived in the maritime provinces; these were dominated by the British navy, as they controlled access to the St. Lawrence river and Quebec. The presence of the British navy at Halifax was due to the prior wars with France, plus it is the closest port to England.

  3. The British interests in the western regions, such as Detroit, Michilimacinac (south of modern Sault Ste. Marie), Niagara, and most other points west of Fort Frontenac (now Kingston, Ontario) were due to the fur trade, and required good relations with the local Indians. This presence was used to stir up trouble on the American's western frontier, and led to thousands of documented deaths between 1776 and 1794, when the American General Wayne defeated the Indian coalition at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Only then did the British agree to evacuate these western posts that, by the Treaty of Paris, 1783, were to be part of the United States. The French who lived in these new American territories remained, and became American citizens, fighting the British in the War of 1812.

  4. Some American appeals were made to the British and French Canadians; these were successful when their interests were well aligned, such as Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Vincennes, but otherwise fell flat for the reasons given above, or were quickly suppressed, as in Nova Scotia, as at the Battle of Fort Cumberland.

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