So people always talk about the 13 colonies but there were clearly more because Canada. So did the 13 just exclude the Canadian colonies when discussing independence, or were those colonies just always separate? So I guess what I'm asking is, was it 13 out of say 20 colonies that decided to band together, or were the American and Canadian colonies always separate (ex. American colonies interact with each other, Canadian colonies interact with each other, but less interaction between the groups)?
There is always more to be said, but in the meantime you may find some answers in this thread.
The situation in Quebec differed from the majority anglophone Maritime colonies because of its unique and homogenous cultural identity: some 80,000 French Catholics, absorbed into the Canadas as they were known aka British North America, after New France fell. Their language, religious and property rights were protected under the 1774 Quebec Act -- one of the Intolerable Acts that drove the Thirteen Colonies to revolution.
Why was it intolerable? Because the majority of New England colonists were Protestant, largely anti-Catholic and saw Quebec as an obstacle to westward expansion. They were outraged at Britain's generous treatment of the French in Quebec, since they regarded French Catholics as the enemy. We need to remember that French Canadians lived in relative peace under British rule for about 15 years by 1775.
The political, military and commercial heart of the Canadas remained in the St. Lawrence Valley even under British rule. Quebec City was a formidable fortress (ask Benedict Arnold) and the seat of the Governor-General of the Canadas aka the British colonial viceroy, Sir Guy Carleton. The lieutenant-governors of the Maritime colonies were his subordinates.
There were attempts to enlist Quebec into the Revolution and there were even local agitators who recruited sympathizers, but most of the population had little interest in rebellion. Both the ruling elites and the Catholic hierarchy encouraged the locals to remain loyal to the Crown, framing the rebellion as the road to anarchy. Benedict Arnold's failed invasion of Quebec and American privateering raids in coastal areas only encouraged this impression. They trusted America even less than the British and weren't interested in receiving "liberty" at the point of a bayonet.
The Maritimes were sparsely populated compared to their New England cousins. The colonies had recently been forcibly vacated of Acadians by the British in the 1750's and there was a gradual infusion of English Protestant settlers -- some from Britain, many more from the Thirteen Colonies. So the Maritime colonies had a large proportion of Yankees in its population. With their strong cultural and trade ties, it would have made sense to recruit the Maritimes into the rebellion, especially the largest colony of Nova Scotia (the prospective "14th Colony"). It had its own legislative assembly too.
There was even an aborted attempt among Patriots in Nova Scotia to rise up in revolt, but it was difficult to coordinate between the various scattered cells due to the colony's rugged terrain and the looming presence of the Royal Navy in Halifax -- the North American station for the fleet. The Halifax political and merchant elite controlled the assembly, were mostly Loyalists/Tories and voted in favour of the Crown. The locals were largely indifferent to rebellion and wanted to be left in peace.
George Washington was unenthusiastic in his reply to the NS Patriots' request for Continental support, wisely concluding that Patriot support in NS was lukewarm at best and that a Continental army would be seen in NS as invaders, not liberators.
When the revolt failed in NS, the British instituted harsh sedition laws, razed Patriot homes and arrested or exiled Patriot sympathizers.
After the Seven Years War and the conquest of Quebec, the British had to absorb some 80,000 French, Catholic subjects as New France became part of British North America aka Canada -- or 'the Canadas', as it was known at the time.
The British were more forward-thinking in their approach in 1763, compared to their iron-fisted treatment in the 1750s of the Acadians (who were deported, vacating the land for English Protestant settlement). They granted their new subjects property and language rights, and recognized both their civil code and Catholic faith. Quebec was a unique situation in the British Empire and Britain's generous accommodation of a potentially hostile population likely ensured their support, if not their loyalty by 1775.
The New England colonists, especially those on the frontier who hoped the fall of New France meant unimpeded westward expansion, found this to be unacceptable. The British also safeguarded the former French territory west of the Appalachians as a future homeland for its native allies. When the British confirmed these rights into law in the 1774 Quebec Act, it became one of the Intolerable Acts that triggered the American Revolution.
New England was still virulently anti-Catholic and English laws had anti-Catholic discrimination built in. The French in Canada weren't fond of their British rulers, but they trusted their American colonial neighbours even less.
Acadia evolved into the British maritime colonies of Nova Scotia, and later, St. John's Island (PEI) and New Brunswick. Nova Scotia, with the naval port of Halifax, was the most populous Maritime colony -- but sparsely populated compared to New England. It was similar to New England in many ways, but different in others. Around the time of the revolution, there were some Patriot sympathies and local agitators, but a groundswell of support for the rebels never materialized despite Patriot-led attacks. The locals were largely indifferent and just wanted to farm, trade or fish in peace. American privateering raids also turned any local sympathies for rebellion into opposition.
There were plenty of familial and cultural ties between the Maritime and New England colonists and trade between them was prosperous, even during the revolution. The legislative assembly voted in favour of loyalty to the Crown, securing its support for the British cause in the war.
I had a previous post on the Maritime situation and how the aftermath of the revolution led to an exodus of Loyalists (Tories, 'King's Men') to Canada, which would transform the evolution of Canada in the decades to come.
Link: