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National Post

Raymond J. de Souza: America's 1775 invasion of Quebec ended in retreat. Trump should ponder that

Article content It was not a matter only of heated rhetoric. The American Revolutionary War began in April 1775 at Lexington and Concord. Soon after George Washington was appointed first commander of the Continental Army, the founding of which in June 1775 was marked by the military parade in Washington last month. Article content Within months, Gen. Washington moved troops north to attack Quebec, partly motivated by the hope that French Canadiens might join the Americans and turn against the British, reversing the results of the 'Battle of Quebec' 1759. Instead, French Catholics rejected an alliance with the anti-Catholic American revolutionaries, and the British prevailed that winter in the 'Battle of Quebec' 1775. Article content The 250th anniversary of that battle this fall is a salutary occasion for Canadians to recall that the future existence of Canada as a continental country was in peril then, and was preserved in part by toleration for the religious liberty of French Catholics. Article content Article content Undaunted by the loss of the Battle of Quebec 1775, the Americans continued to see Catholic liberty as a threat. While the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 contains some of the noblest aspirations of the human spirit, it also includes a litany of grievances, namely 'Abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies.' Article content The 'free system of English Laws' meant the discriminatory laws against Catholics in England and Ireland — restrictions on worship, owning property, standing for office, etc … The Catholic culture of Quebec was thus seen as a clear and present danger of tyranny — 'absolute rule' — to the American colonies. Article content This story, with an ominous beginning, had a happier end. After the revolution, the new American government did not aggressively seek to restrict Catholic liberty, and the Bill of Rights guaranteed religious freedom. Article content Canadians are wise in these semiquintcentennial observances to recall the whole story, not just the parts favourable to the American telling. This fall, 250 years ago, American forces were marching northward to Canada. Had they succeeded, Confederation in 1867 would have looked much different, if being possible at all. Article content