Quebec Act to the Constitutional Act (Older Notes)

What was the Quebec Act of 1774?

The purpose of the Quebec Act was to appease and make peace with the French Canadians so they would not join the Americans in their revolt against Britain.

1) Government:

- Quebec was still to be governed by an appointed governor and council
-An elective legislative assembly was again denied
-The Test Act was changed: Catholics could now hold government office by taking a special oath of allegiance to the king
-Roman Catholics could now be appointed to the council
-Seigneurs had a chance to take part in government

2) Religion

-Catholics were to have full freedom of worship and the right to collect tithes by the Catholic Church was restored

3) Legal System

-It allowed from French civil law and English criminal law

4) Territory

-Quebec’s territory was enlarged to include the Ohio Valley. This was a major change from 1763

5) Seigneurial System

-It kept the seigneurial system but also allowed for freehold tenure which was the British form of landholding

What were the reactions to the Quebec Act?

1) In Quebec:

-The French elite (seigneurs and clergy) were pleased because the seigneurs were allowed to keep their seigneurial system and allowed to sit on the appointed council

-The Catholic Church pleased because they could again collect tithes and their freedom to worship was guaranteed

-The British Merchants disliked French civil laws and the British refusal to establish an elected legislative assembly

2) 13 Colonies

-The Americans were angry because the Quebec Act stopped their westward expansion and allowed French Roman Catholic institutions in Quebec

What Consequences did the American Revolution have on the British colony of Quebec?

-In 1783, the Treaty of Versailles recognized the independence of the United States of America (formerly the 13 colonies)

-The American Revolution and its subsequent independence had a tremendous impact on the province of Quebec

Consequences for the Province of Quebec

-It demonstrated that the policies established by Governor Carleton in 1774 were not exactly successful

-When the Americans invaded Quebec in late 1775, the habitants remained neutral despite urgings from church leaders to fight with the British against the American invaders

-The Ohio Valley became part of the United States of America

-Forced fur traders from Montreal to shift to the area northwest of Lake Superior. In 1783, Montreal’s fur traders founded the North West Company to compete with the Hudson’s Bay Company

-Thousands of Loyalists (Americans who had remained loyal to the British crown during the American Revolution), including many blacks, came to British North America

Following the war they faced rough treatment from the American revolutionaries

1. Loyalists were tarred, feathered and hung
2. Many of their houses were burned
3. About 6000 Loyalists settled in Quebec’s increasing English population
4. Their arrival leads to the eventual passing of the Constitutional Act in 1791. This act divides the province of Quebec into two territories: Lower and Upper Canada
5. Grants each province an elected legislative assembly
   
   Effects of the Loyalists Settling in British North America
   
   1) Quebec was no longer entirely French
   a. There was a sudden increase in the English population
   2) The Loyalists were a protestant minority and they brought a different culture with them
   3) When they settled the land, they used the freehold (or township) system to divide it up. This system consisted of large squares or rectangles rather than the thin slivers of land used in the seigneurial system
   4) The Loyalists were used to British civil laws and having a legislative assembly to which they elected representatives (contradicts Quebec Act)