The conquest of Canada was followed by a period of transition which saw the establishment of the English administration in the former French possession, and the gradual union of the English “Thirteen Colonies” prior to the Declaration of Independence.

It was more than a coincidence that the birth of the United States followed so comparatively soon after the termination of the French rule in Canada. One of the strongest ties which bound the Colonies to England was the ever-present fear of French aggression which was doubly magnified in the absence of an ocean boundary between the two territories. England's insularity had proved an agelong safeguard to her people, but her colonists could only view with apprehension the presence of a foreign power separated from them by artificial barriers. As early as 1748 the Swedish traveller Kalm had opined that the presence of the French in America would most effectually ensure the Colonies’ obedience to England, and at the close of the Seven Years’ War the Due de Choiseul (the negotiator of the famous “ Family Compact”) warned the English envoy at Versailles that the colonists would assuredly declare their independence as soon as France relinquished Canada. Nevertheless these emphatic warnings were disregarded, the Home Government conceiving that the increased prosperity consequent upon the English absorption of Canada would serve to bind the “Thirteen Colonies” more closely to the parent country.

The new government was inaugurated by the division of the territory into three districts, Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal, which were placed under a military régime. This was, perhaps, unavoidable as the negotiations for a peace treaty continued for many months.