Qymaen

While reading through one of my old threads a member stated that the US tried to get Quebec to join the US. If America had succeeded in acquiring Quebec what do you all think would have been the immediate and long term effects of an acquisition of Quebec by the US? How would the Quebecois have reacted to their new countrymen? The Americans? The French? The British? The Canadians?

tjadams

Given enough time, it would have been American-ized much like New Orleans
carries on with its tradition, but, still assimilated into the US.

Qymaen

I'm not so sure about that. Quebec is a much larger place than New Orleans and southern Louisiana. Plus the climate would have impacted immigration to Quebec. A problem the French, themselves, had experienced back in the 1500s, 1600s, and early 1700s.

Kraken

I don't think it would be a very smooth assimilation at all. The Quebecois are known to be exceedingly proud of their culture and identity - a leading factor for wanting separation from the rest of Canada in the first place. The USA has a similar national mindset but it encompasses the entire country, while the Quebecois wanted independence more than anything else.

Dr Realism

Well Canada wouldn't have to bother with pretending that they are bilingual. The US wouldn't allow Quebec to be bilingual because it simply isn't that nice. I guess Nova Scotia and PEI and New Foundland would be cut off just like Alaska. The US would control the St. Lawrence and thus control Canada. Fait Accompli.

Qymaen

Just to clarify, I mean when the US tried to acquire Quebec in the mid-nineteenth century.

Jake10

This would have led to the other Maritime provinces to join the US, since they would be cut off. Without access to the Atlantic, Canada's economy would be in deep trouble. In the end, all of Canada would have become American, making the population in Quebec a smaller minority and easier to assimilate.

Norg

ive never been to quebec .............. sooo i leave it at that LOL

monsieurdl

Independence from the English, yes, for the English chose to dominate Quebec in its infancy as conquered territory instead of as a partner. The United States would have welcomed Quebec as a partner and Quebec would be utilized much better and would have been happier. In fact, the Quebec migration in the 19th century would not have been necessary at all and of course I would not be here. As a product of Quebecois ancestors, I could easily see Quebec enjoying a golden economic age that would have make it lucrative for the people and for the United States. A Canada dominated by the English and their past grudges from far away cost Quebec many years of development.

Believe me, I think it would be great, because at least the United States appreciates the Cajun culture of New Orleans (who were there, by the way, because of the evil Deportation) and as tjadams said, survived just fine. The ONLY reason why Quebec is as it is today is because the upper classes of British subjects in Canada didn't give Quebecois a fair shake from the beginning, and the old French-English wars lived on. This would not exist with Quebec as a US state.

Linschoten

A Quebec that had been brought into the United States would have retained its distinctive identity to far less a degree than in has in Canada. The Quebecois would just be Americans with a little added folklore; some of them would even be able to speak a little French.