Canada: America’s Neighbor to the North - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 363

WHY A MELTING POT FOR AMERICANS AND A MOSAIC FOR
CANADIANS?
Americans see their country as a melting pot, but Canadians views theirs as a mosaic.
Why the difference? The metaphor of melting pot reflects the motto emblazoned on the
Great Seal of the United States, E Pluribus Unum , “one from the many”; in effect, out
of diverse national origins, religions, and cultures emerge one nation. The metaphor of
the mosaic reflects the reality of a picture made of small multi-colored stones. The pieces
touch but do not interpenetrate. The two largest Canadian “pieces” are the French-speak-
ing and the English-speaking communities. The French were the first European settlers of
Canada. When Canada passed to British control following the battles for Quebec (1759 and
1760), the British victors gave the French guarantees of religious, educational, and linguist-
ic freedoms, as well as recognition of their land titles and patterns of settlement. That, says
a distinguished historian, was the most generous and enlightened colonial policy every pro-
mulgated.
These two metaphors, melting pot and mosaic, underscore a profound difference in
national outlook and national aspiration. The metaphor of the melting pot is manifest in
the American Constitution. The rights laid down in the first Ten Amendments (the Bill of
Rights) are given to each person individually. The metaphor of the mosaic, manifest in the
Quebec Act of 1774, gives rights and liberties to members of an entire group, the former
subjects of the King of France.
WHY “JE ME SOUVIENS” (“I REMEMBER”) ON QUEBEC LICENSE PLATES?
The slogan comes from a popular song: “I was born under the lily (the fleur-de-lis—the
emblem of the kings of France); I live now under the rose (the Rose of the Tudor kings of
England).” In that slogan, the province of Quebec laments more than 200 years of history.
In the decade following Columbus' first landing in the New World, both France and Eng-
land tried to find what Columbus had failed to find: a sea route to Asia. John Cabot sailed
in 1497 under the English flag of Henry VII and touched the North American coast. His
son, Sebastian, also seeking the “Northwest Passage,” landed in 1509 at what was later to
be called Hudson Bay. French claims to Canada began with the voyages of Jacques Cartier,
who traveled the St. Lawrence River in 1535 as far west as the Iroquois town of Hochelaga,
the present site of Montreal.
In the 263 years that followed Cabot's first landing, England and France fought a series
of wars to settle rival claims to the empire. The Hudson Bay Company was chartered by
the British crown in 1670, inaugurating territorial rivalry between Britain and France. In
Europe, the War of the Grand Alliance (1688-97) preceded the War of Spanish Succes-
sion (1701-14), which, in turn, made way for the War of Austrian Succession (1740-48).
In Asia, British and French struggles over India ended with British victory at the Battle