history of quebec

For information on the History of Quebec, see Timeline of Quebec history.

Pre-European History

(Beginnings-1533)

French Exploration

(1534-1607)

French Regime

(1608-1759) Quebec was part of the territory of New France, the general name for the North American possessions of France until 1763. At its largest extent, before the Treaty of Utrecht, this territory included five colonies, each with its own administration:

Canada
Acadia
Hudson Bay
Terre-Neuve
Louisiana

The borders of these colonies were not precisely defined, and were open on the western side.

Company Rule

(1627-1662)

Sovereign Council

(1663-1759)

British Rule

(1760-1931)

Following the victory of the army of England over that of France in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the capitulation of Montral on September 8, 1760, Canada was subjected to a military rgime. The colony was divided into three districts. Quebec City was administered by General James Murray, Trois-Rivires by Ralph Burton, and Montral by Thomas Gage. Each of them were turn were responsible to commander-in-chief General Jeffery Amherst in New York City. After France chose to keep Guadaloupe instead of the Quebec portion of New France in the 1763 Peace Treaty of Paris, civil government was established in Quebec via the British Royal Proclamation of 1763 and inaugurated on August 10, 1764. The three Quebec districts were united into the province of Quebec.

Quebec Act

(1774-1791)

The Quebec Act of 1774 was enacted to assure the loyalty of the newly acquired Quebec, through assuring the existence of the Catholic faith and the re-enactment of French civil law. The boundaries of Quebec were expanded to include the Ohio Country and Illinois Country, from the Appalachian Mountains on the east, south to the Ohio River, west to the Mississippi River and north to the southern boundary of lands owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, or Rupert's Land.

Constitutional Act

(1791-1840)

The Constitutional Act of 1791 divided Quebec into Upper Canada (the part of present-day Ontario south of Lake Nipissing plus the current Ontario shoreline of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior) and Lower Canada (the southern part of present-day Quebec). Upper Canada's first capital is Newark (present-day Niagara-on-the-Lake); in 1796 it is moved to York, now Toronto.

Union Act

(1841-1866)

1841–Upper and Lower Canada are united by the Act of Union (1840) to form the Province of Canada, as recommended by Durham. Upper Canada becomes known as Canada West and Lower Canada as Canada East.

Federal Dominion

Province of Quebec (1867 and after) (1867-1930)

1867–The parliament of the United Kingdom passes the British North America Act, by which the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia join to form the country of Canada. Canada East becomes the province of Quebec. Canada remained self-governing locally, but the British continued to control its external affairs.

Sovereign Canada

(1931-1981)

1931 - The Statute of Westminster removes the legislating power of Britain over the Dominion of Canada.

Modern Quebec

(1960-Today)

1960 - the Quiet Revolution ushers in an array of socio-political transformations, from secularism and the welfare state to a specifically Qubcois national identity

Independent Canada

(1982-Today)

1982– Canada Act 1982, an Act of Parliament passed by the British Parliament that severed virtually all remaining constitutional and legislative ties between the United Kingdom and Canada.

Summary of Quebec's political transformations

Names in bold refer to provinces, others to sub-provincial levels of government; the first names listed are those areas mostly nearly corresponding to modern Quebec.

Canada, the core of New France (1608-1761): a French colony
Province of Quebec (1763-1791): a British colony
Lower Canada, one of the Canadas (1791-1841): a British colony
the Canada East portion of the Province of Canada (1841-1867): a British colony
Quebec (1867-present): a province of Canada (since 1960 frequently characterized as a State in its own right)