British Options for French & Native Peoples in New France: 5 Historical Alternatives

After the Seven Years' War (1763), Britain faced choices for the 70,000 French Canadiens and diverse Indigenous nations in New France:

1. Extermination – Military eradication. Rejected: morally repugnant, strategically unnecessary, costly.
2. Expulsion – Forced removal (like Acadians 1755). Rejected: scale too large, international backlash, labor loss.
3. Assimilation – Impose English law, language, Protestantism. Attempted (Royal Proclamation 1763, Quebec Act 1774 reversed it). Failed—Canadiens resisted.
4. Segregation – Separate reserves, no political rights. Applied to Indigenous peoples (reserves); not to Canadiens.
5. Coexistence / Accommodation – Chosen path (Quebec Act 1774): Guaranteed French civil law, Catholic religion, seigneurial tenure. Indigenous: Royal Proclamation 1763 reserved lands west of Appalachians, nation-to-nation treaty framework.

Outcome

Britain chose pragmatic accommodation for Canadiens (loyalty during US Revolution) and treaty-based segregation for Indigenous nations—setting Canada's bicultural/bijural foundation and ongoing Indigenous rights struggles.