Fall of Montreal Ends French Canada

September 8, 1760

Three British armies converged on Montreal from Quebec, Lake Ontario, and Lake Champlain. The governor surrendered without firing a shot. New France - a century and a half of fur traders, Jesuits, and voyageurs - passed to British rule. French-speakers stayed; their church and language survived. The Quebec Act of 1774 would guarantee their civil law and Catholic worship, binding them to the Crown through accommodation.