Rhonda Levinson, age 14, of Buffalo, N.Y., for her question:
WHAT WAS THE BATTLE OF QUEBEC?
The fate of the French empire in America was settled with the
Battle of Quebec. France's defeat in 1759 led to the Treaty of Paris in 1763 that gave Canada and all of the French territory east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain.
About 2 million British colonists were living along the Eastern seaboard when the Seven Years' War started in 1756. About 60,000 French lived in America, mostly in Canada.
In 1758, the British seized Louisbourg, a French fortress protecting the mouth of the Saint Lawrence. They assembled a huge fleet of ships and set sail for Quebec in May, 1759. About 8,000 men were on 250 ships, and for three months the British urged the French in the fortified city to surrender. Then on the night of September 12 they landed. Fighting followed.
The French retreated in disorder after a time. The townspeople surrendered on September 18.