And why, pray tell, did the British draw a distinction between the Canadians and the Americans in how they ruled the North American colonies?
What part of British rule was different for the Canadians?
Canada was managed by the French & later the British to exploit the resources of the colony. People as settlers (Colonists) having independent prosperous lives was an after thought, a happy consequence but not policy. Royal French governments either made leaving for the New World difficult or discouraged it. The Indians were also not keen on the “new settler” idea. New France always had a low population problem.
The British colonies whether they be private or royal were also originally set up to be engines of natural resource exploitation. However it didn’t work out that way. Benign neglect and actively recruiting colonists created conditions where people became Americans. People had the opportunity to build their lives, have things they couldn’t have in the mother country. By the time England felt compelled to reassert control it was too late. The colonies had their own governments, strong local cultures/traditions & the will to do things their own way. England’s only choice was to continue the policy of “benign neglect”. England chose not to do so & the rest is history.