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1500
Aboriginal chefs
For the First Nations peoples, there was no elected governing body. The only true power was held by either men or women, depending on which group it was. For the Iroquois, it was a matriarchy, meaning that the women played a part in leadership roles. For the Algonquians, it was a patriarchy, meaning that the men played the total leaderships roles. -
Period: 1500 to
First Occupants
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Period: to
French Regime
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Royal government
The King and the Minister of Marine lived in France, and put various people and groups in charge of the colony. Firstly, the governor was of the highest rank. He was in charge of defence and external affairs. There was the intendant, who had the most influence. He was the chief administrator, controlled the colony's budget, collected taxes, built roads and set up industries. The Sovereign Council was the high court. It included the governor, bishop, intendant and councillors -
Great peace of montreal
In 1701, 40 nation groups and the french agreed to sign the great peace of Montreal to end wars and conflicts between the iroquois and the Great lakes nations over the fur trade. This peace lasted for 60 years until the british take over. -
Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht was signed to officially end the war of the Spanish Succession where Britain and France fought. The british won so france had to give up Acadia and hudson Bay area. -
Articles of Capitulation
When Canada was given to the British in 1760, the Seven Years War continued in Europe, so it was placed under the military rule of James Murray. The articles of capitulation of 1760 stated that French militia could return home and no one would lose their property.The French regular military had to lay down their arms. The bishop had to leave and people who stayed were British subjects. The French elite left to live as elite in France. -
Period: to
British Regime
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Royal Proclamation
The first constitution was signed in 1763, and had the goal of assimilating the French speakers, now that they were living in a British colony. It gave the colony a new name: the Province of Quebec, decreased its borders to the St. Lawrence Valley, put in place a new government where the King appointed a governor and he had a council, applied English laws and did not allow Catholics to hold public office unless they took the Test Oath -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed to signify the end of the Seven Years War. It officially made New France a British colony. The only territory that France had left in North America was the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. -
Act of Quebec
The Quebec Act was created in order to ensure that the French would be loyal to the British crown and not join the American revolution. This act benefitted the francophones. It enlarged the area of Quebec to include the Great Lakes, denied an elected assembly, appointed a council, put in place French civil laws, and replaced the Test Oath with the Oath of Allegiance, so they could now hold public office. -
American independence
13 colonies were angry because Britain wanted to place strict rules about trade and income taxes. The Americans ended up declaring their independence and winning the revolutionary war, becoming the United States. -
Constitutional Act
The Loyalists who came to the colony wanted to live under British laws and have an elected assembly like they did in the 13 Colonies. They wrote petitions to London for change that led to the Constitutional Act. It split the territory into Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec). Lower Canada had 160,000 people and was mostly French, Catholic, and used French civil laws. Upper Canada had 20,000 people and was English, Protestant and used English laws only. -
Representative government
A new mode of government was put into place in 1791: the representative government. It consisted of the governor, who had veto power .The executive council, which was chosen by the governor and could advise him. The legislative council, which was chosen by the governor and could pass laws proposed by the legislative assembly and the legislative assembly, which was elected by the people and could create laws or approve/disapprove taxes. -
Political parties in Lower and Upper Canada
In Lower Canada, the two opposing political parties were the Parti Patriote, which was comprised mainly of French intellectuals and professionals, and the British Party, which was comprised of wealthy people who supported British rule. In Upper Canada, there was the Family Compact, which was wealthy British conservatives, and the Reformers, who were intellectuals and professionals. -
92 resolutions
In 1834, Louis Joseph Papineau, the leader of the Parti Patriote, wrote a document containing 92 demands of the elected assembly. The main demand was for a responsible government, meaning that the executive council should be made up of elected members instead of appointed ones. The document was sent to London. -
10 Resolutions of Russel
The response to the 92 Resolutions arrives in the form of the 10 Russell Resolutions. All of Papineau's requests were denied, and power was taken away from the elected assembly; now, the governor could take money from the provincial treasury to pay officials. This document truly began the rebellions, because it upset the Patriotes. -
Rebellions
William Lyon Mackenzie lead the rebellions in Upper Canada, and Papineau lead the rebellions in Lower Canada. In Lower Canada, there were 3 main battles: St. Charles (won by the British), St. Denis (won by the Patriotes), and St. Eustache (won by the British). The Patriotes ended up losing the battle, because they were poorly organized and unequipped to fight. As a consequence, many rebels were executed or deported. -
act of union
After the Durham report, the fourth constitution was put in place: the Act of Union. Britain took Durham's advice to unite the Canadas, but rejected the grant of a responsible government. Lower Canada became Canada East and Upper Canada became Canada West. English was the official language of the colony. Both Canadas had the same number of seats on the legislative assembly. Debt was combined between both Canadas. -
Responsible government
In 1848, the responsible government was granted to Canada. This meant that now, the members of the executive council were taken from the elected legislative assembly. This meant that the people were now represented and more laws could pass in their favour. -
Quebec conference
In the Quebec Conference, the same participants as the Charlottetown Conference wrote a document containing 72 Resolutions about how the Dominion of Canada would be run. they agreed that there would be a railroad going across the territory, a centralized federal government and a representation by population of each province's population in the assembly. After this conference, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island withdrew. The union was passed by the assembly. -
Charlestown conference
The Charlottetown Conference was held in Prince Edward Island. Its purpose was to discuss the Canadian Confederation. There were multiple benefits to the union. Economically, it would be beneficial because it would increase the internal market and would combat international competition. Politically, it would stabilize the political tension between the French and the English. It would also enlarge the army, which was needed since they were at risk of being taken over by the US. -
London conference
The London conference was the final conference that lead to the formation of the Dominion of Canada. 16 representatives from Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick gathered with members of the British government to draft the British North America Act, which was a continuation of the 72 Resolutions. -
British North American Act
This constitution created the Dominion of Canada, which consisted of the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The capital was Ottawa. This constitution also created the government departments. The government was a centralized federal government, and it accorded certain powers to the federal and provincial governments. The Dominion of Canada had become a self-governing colony. -
Period: to
Contemporary period
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Louis Riel
Louis Riel was the leader of the Metis and the Manitoba government. He lead two rebellions against the Canadian government because he felt that the Metis were losing their rights. The first rebellion, the Red River Rebellion, which was in 1869-70, ended with a negotiation with the government about Manitoba joining the union. In 1885, he was hanged. -
Duplessis and his views
Duplessis stood for various ideas when he was in power in the 40s and 50s. He believed in the idea of having a rural life and that agriculture should be at the centre Quebec's economy. He was therefore against urbanization. He believed that the Quebec government should not be interventionist. He had various nationalist policies, such as the Quebec flag and provincial income taxes. -
The Quiet revolution
Jean Lesage's liberal government took power in 1960 after Duplessis' death, so the Quiet Revolution began. This lead to political and social changes in Canada. The government began interfering in various areas of society. It also involved the separation of Church and State in various areas. The most important aspect of the Quiet Revolution was the nationalization of Hydro-Quebec in 1962. -
October Crisis
The October Crisis occurred when members of the FLQ kidnapped Pierre Laporte and James Cross. This was an example of the extreme measures taken by some political parties in order to promote separatism and Quebec nationalism.
