Montréal, the Americans and Benjamin Franklin

I don’t think many of us “cyberspace folk” realize that the forces of the American Revolution invaded Canada in 1775 when the British were in control.

On a Sunday November 12th, 1775 the Americans, under the leadership of
Major General Richard Montgomery landed on the Island of Montreal.

Four delegates were chosen to represent the citizens of Montreal
in order to meet with the General and they immediately asked why he was in Montreal?
His answer was that he came as a friend in order to bring them independence and true liberty.

Montgomery did not divulge to them that the grand scheme of the American General, George Washington, was to draw Canada away from the British.

Washington reasoned that the British would pose a threat to American independence and could very easily regain their colonies by launching attacks from Canada.

Montgomery told the delegates that they had four hours to draw up the terms of capitulation. The document was drawn up and twelve prominent Montreal citizens signed the document, one of whom was James McGill, founder of McGill University.

It is interesting to note that Montgomery’s occupation of the City of Montreal is still recalled by a tablet of his headquarters on an old stone house on rue Notre Dame.

Unfortunately for the Americans, the French Canadian noblesse and clergy were not too enthusiastic in supporting the Americans.

General Montgomery did not stay very long in Montreal and his replacement, Brigadier-General David Wooster proved to be a very harsh and oppressive administrator. As a result, the possibility of gaining the support of the Montreal inhabitants slowly dissipated.

In order to save the situation Benjamin Franklin was sent to Montreal a few months after the American invasion in order to see if he could win the support of the citizens.

Franklin was even accompanied by a Jesuit priest, Father Carroll, in the hope that the latter may have some influence over the Catholic clergy. However, all of this maneuvering proved in vain and the Americans were never able to win over the support of the citizens.

After 188 days, the Americans retreated and the British were once again in control.

One of the side consequences of Benjamin Franklin’s trip to Montreal was the establishment of the craft of printing in Montreal which eventually led to the founding of the Montreal Gazette.

When Franklin came to Montreal, a printer also accompanied him by the name of Fleury Mesplet. The idea was to establish a free press and perhaps publish articles, which would be favorable to the Americans.

When Franklin left Montreal, Mesplet stayed on and eventually published the first newspaper in 1778 called “La Gazette du commerce et littéraire“. However, this newspaper proved to be very abusive of the judges and M. Mesplet found himself in jail for a period of time. After being released from jail Mesplet revived the newspaper and called it The Montreal Gazette which still exists today.

We may ask ourselves what would have happened if the Americans did not retreat and remained in control of Montreal and Canada. Would Canada have become the 14th colony and what would have been the consequences? Would Canada have been better off?

I welcome your opinions and possible discussions.

This article was originally published at Suite101.com.

Did you like this article?

    

 

Share it

 

Place a comment