1775
Montréal is briefly occupied by the Americans
In 1775, discontent shakes the Thirteen Colonies, and rebels foment a revolt in a dispute over taxes and other issues of colonial administration. The unrest is fuelled by the signing of the Québec Act of 1774, which raises the ire of anti-Catholic English Protestants because it protects French and Catholic cultures in America and offers Montréal merchants a significant advantage on fur resources.
Revolutionary grievances are echoed in the colony, mainly in Montréal, where a pro-American movement appears.
American troops led by Richard Montgomery appear on Canadian soil, capturing Fort Saint-Jean and then Montréal after British General Guy Carleton withdraws his troops from the city. The city is occupied from November 28, 1775, to May 9, 1776, when the failure of the siege of Québec forces the revolutionary troops to fall back to New York. Despite their failure to hold Canada, the rebels achieve their revolution, and a new country is born in the south. The 1783 Treaty of Paris seals the victory.
From 1775 on, around eighty thousand citizens faithful to the Crown immigrate to Canada. Few go directly to Montréal but, because it is a growing economic centre, the city eventually draws in many Loyalists.