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1500
First Occupants
The Iroquois did have a matriarchal society, meaning that decisions were made by the women.
The Alqonquins had a patriarchal society, meaning that decisions were made by men.
If there was a chief, it was the best warrior, hunter and spokesman. -
Power relations between the Native Americans and the French
The French allied with the Amerindians to protect their interests. The French traded furs with the Hurons and the Algonquins. They also had a military alliance with these groups. The Iroquois, who were allied with the British, were their enemies, with whom they fought over control of the fur trade. The Iroquois would've been better allies, since they are semi-sedentary. The Iroquois stay in one place, so they would be easier to find and meet with. -
Captain of the Militia
The captain of the militia did not sit on the sovereign council, but still had power. He was a sort of police chief; he dealt with issues in the seigneuries. He is in charge of the militia army. -
The Intendant
The Intendant is a member of the Sovereign council in New France. The first intendant in New France was Jean Talon. The Intendant controlled the budget and taxes. He influences the daily life in New France by overseeing the seigneurial system, building roads, and setting up industries. He was the chief administrator of the colony. -
The Bishop
The Church is implicated in political decisions because of its role on the Sovereign council. The Clergy was everywhere in society, since the Church controlled education, health, and social services. The Bishop, who sat on the sovereign council, oversaw anything that was controlled by the Church. He was the head of the Catholic religion in New France. He collected the tithe and he could excommunicate people. He was appointed by the king and the pope. He had some say, but he had no real power. -
The Governor
The Governor was a member of the Sovereign council. The Governor had the most power of anyone in New France, since he had veto power. He was the commander of the army and dealt with external affairs. The Governor basically ran New France. -
The Minister of Marine
In 1663, the minister of marine was Jean-Baptiste Colbert. The minister of marine was in charge of all the King's colony. He never sets foot in these colonies. He is sent information from people in the colonies, which he reports directly to the King. -
The Royal Government
The King of France, Louis XIV, realized that the chartered companies controlling New France were destroying the colony. The King ended the monopoly that these companies had and implemented a royal government. He appointed Jean-Baptiste Colbert as the Minister of Marine. The absolute monarchy of the King of France still applies in New France. The King names administrators of the colony, but he can reverse any decision they make. The members of the Council controlled the colony nevertheless. -
James Murray
James Murray was the first Governor of the Province of Quebec.
Murray realized that the Royal Proclamation was inapplicable, because the French-Catholics made up 99% of the colony's population. Murray bent the rules of the Proclamation to make the French Canadians happy and prevent a rebellion.
He allowed a new Bishop to be appointed.
He allowed French civil laws in lower courts.
He did not call en elected assembly because it would favour the British merchants. -
Royal Proclamation
The King needed to do something about the large population of French speaking subjects in the colony. This need to assimilate the French and Catholic population lead to the creation of a constitution, the Royal Proclamation.
The Royal Proclamation:
gave the colony a new name: "The Province of Quebec"
decreased the colony's territory to only the St. Lawrence Valley to bring the subjects close together and to placate the Amerindians. -
Guy Carleton
Carleton became the new Governor. Carleton realized that the assimilation of the French was impossible, as Murray had, so he kept the same tolerant policies that Murray had created. Carleton wanted to placate the French because of the tensions in the Thirteen Colonies. Carleton feared the French Canadians would align with the Americans if they were to rebel. He tried to make the French Canadians happy to ensure their loyalty to Great Britain. -
Treaty of Paris
The Seven Years' War ended in 1763. The Treaty of Paris, which officially established the passage of the territory of New France from France to Britain, was signed the same year. All of New France is given to the British, except for two fishing islands called St. Pierre and Miquelon, which France retains. -
Quebec Act
The purpose of the Quebec Act was to guarantee the loyalty of French Canadians, in the face of a possible American rebellion. The Act enlarges the territory of Quebec. It denied an elected assembly, but allowed an appointed council. French civil laws (tithe, and the seigneurial system) were re-established. Catholics were allowed to occupy administrative positions if they swore their allegiance to the British King. -
American War of Independence
Great Britain was upset with the Americans, because they didn't think they fought hard enough during the war. Great Britain imposed ridiculous taxes on the Americans and strict trade rules.
The Americans were unhappy with the British for not giving them the Valley of Ohio. This leads to the War of Independence, which the Americans win.
Those who are still loyal to Great Britain and living in the Thirteen Colonies leave. They move to British colonies, like Quebec. They are called loyalists. -
Loyalists
36 000 loyalists come to Canada, 6000 of them settle in Quebec. The English population increases from 1% to 10% of the total population of Quebec. The loyalists settled according to the township system and gave their settlements English names. They were used to English civil laws and an elected assembly. They started writing petitions to London. After years of complaining, they got their wish in the form of the Constitutional Act in 1791. -
Constitutional Act
The Constitutional Act split the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
Lower Canada was almost entirely French with a total population of 160 000. The French kept their religion, civil laws, and Catholics could work in administration
Upper Canada was entirely English with a total population of 20 000. The English kept their religion, civil laws, and the township system. -
Act of Union
The Act of Union officially unites Lower Canada and Upper Canada to form the province of Canada. Canada would consist of Canada West and Canada East. Canada East and Canada West would each have 42 members in the assembly and they would equally pay for the debt (even though Canada West had ten times more debt than Canada East). There was still representative government. This system was still flawed and eventually responsible government was accepted. -
Durham's Report
Lord Durham was sent to Canada during the rebellions to council Great Britain on the situation there. After the rebellion, he wrote a report outlining what the British should do. He believed that English immigration should be increased to assimilate the French. He also thought that Lower and Upper Canada should be united, so the English would have the majority in Canada. Also, he believed the British should allow responsible government, eliminating veto power. -
Responsible Government
Responsible government slowly came into effect. The Prime Minister would select members of the executive council from the assembly. Lord Elgin was the first governor to not use his veto power.
The people would elect the legislative assembly.
The Prime minister would choose the members of the executive council from the legislative assembly.
The executive council would propose laws that had to be approved by the assembly.
The governor and legislative council did not intervene. -
Influence of the Church
The Church had a lot of power at the beginning of the 19th Century. It continued to control education, with many Protestant and Catholic universities. Religious universities taught biblical studies. The Church managed charities, orphanages, and hospitals. Church attendance was very high. -
CharlotteTown Conference
After responsible government was enacted, no one knew what to do about who should be in charge and winning a majority government was very unlikely. Representatives from New Brunswick, Canada West, Canada East, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia met to discuss a merger between the colonies. At the Charlottetown Conference, they decided to move forward with the Confederation project. -
Quebec Conference
The following month, the same provinces, including Newfoundland agreed on 72 Resolutions to make the Canadian confederation possible. They agreed on a federal system that would oversee all the colonies. Each colony would have 24 seats in the federal government. The assembly would be elected according to "rep by pop", the colony with the largest population would have the most seats. They agreed to build a railway between the colonies. -
London Conference
In 1867, the confederation received the support of Great Britain to become a "self-governing" colony. The British North American Act was adopted. The BNA Act established the Dominion of Canada. It had four provinces: Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Ottawa was the capital. The other provinces joined the confederation over the next century. -
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Duplessis was the premier of Quebec and was a large supporter of the Catholic Church, because of the traditional values that it supported. So, the Church controlled education, health and social services. The Church continued to support large families, rural life, and Christian values, which Duplessis also promoted.
Duplessis believed that the government should not intervene in the social and economic sector which made American companies dominate the market. -
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution began with the election of Jean Lesage of the Liberal Party in 1960. The Quiet Revolution was meant to catch Quebec up with the rest of the provinces, which progressed during the 50's, while Quebec did not. The goals of the Quiet Revolution were to:
Increase government intervention to make Quebec's government a major force behind social and economic progress.
Modernize Quebec's education system to catch up with the rest of the provinces.
Weaken the influence of the Church.
