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PRE-COLUMBIAN (PREHISTORY–1533) See Also: Aboriginal peoples in Quebec Paleoindian Era (11000–8000) Existing archeological evidence attests to a human presence on the current territory of Quebec some time around 10,000 BC. Paleo-Amerindian populations preceded the arrival of the Algonquian and Iroquoian people in southern Quebec about 8,000 years ago. Archaic Era (8000–3000) Woodland Era (3000–500) Agriculture appeared experimentally towards the 8th century. It was only in 14th century that it is fully mastered in the St. Lawrence River Valley . The Iroquoians cultivated Corn , Marrow , Sunflower s, and Bean s. the guy in the red uniform brought over his drinking buddies and rapped all of the natives and built strip bars NEW FRANCE (1534–1759) See Also: History of New France , Acadia , Hudson Bay , Terre-Neuve , and Louisiana . The borders of these colonies were not precisely defined, and were open on the western side. Acadia (1604–1759) See Also: Acadia Acadia was first established as a settlement on Saint Croix Island , in the Saint Croix River between modern day Maine and New Brunswick , in 1604 by Pierre Dugua, Sieur De Monts and his navigator Samuel De Champlain . The settlement at Saint Croix failed due to the harsh winter and lack of Fresh Water , over half of the settlers died in the winter of 1605 and it was moved to the opposite side of the Bay Of Fundy at Port Royal . The settlement was again disbanded in 1608 and Champlain sailed to modern day Quebec City where he began the settlement that would become New France. Though settlers returned to and re-established Acadia in 1611 and it remained a de facto French colony until 1713 it was largely left to its own governance and its people became known as the neutral French. French Canada (1608–1759) Three quarters of a century after being explored by Jacques Cartier and unsuccessfully colonized by Roberval, Samuel de Champlain laid out the foundation of French Canada, the most important and historically most successful French colony in North America. Founding of Quebec Québec City was founded in 1608 by Samuel De Champlain . Some other towns were founded before, most famously Tadoussac in 1604 which still exists today, but Québec was the first to be meant as a permanent settlement and not a simple Trade Post . Overtime, it became the capital of French Canada and all of New France. The first version of the town was a single large walled building, called the Abitation . This arrangement was made for protection against perceived Indian threats. The difficulty of supplying the city from France and the lack of knowledge of the area meant that life was difficult. A significant fraction of the population died of hunger and diseases during the first winter. However agriculture soon expanded and a continuous flow of immigrants, mostly men in search of adventure, increased the population. Between 1663 and 1673 , orphaned girls from France, known as Filles Du Roi emigrated and restored the balance of population, helping to stabilize the population and fix the people to their lands. Down the Saint Lawrence River , the next two towns to be founded were Trois-Rivières in 1634 and Montréal in 1642 . Company Rule (1627–1662) France, in company with other European countires in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, looked upon colonies as sources of wealth to be exploited for the benefit of the homeland. It was felt that the best means of administrating and exploiting the new colonies was through chartered companies which were granted monopolies to open up trade in the new lands. Before 1627, a wide variety of companies had held this monopoly and had exercised virtually absolute powers of government. The Roman Catholic Church would be given '' En Seigneurie '' large and valuable tracts of land estimated at nearly 30% of all the lands granted by the French Crown in New France . . In 1627, after meeting with Samuel de Champlain, Cardinal Richelieu granted a charter to the Compagnie Des Cent-Associés (or Company of One Hundred Associates). This gave the company control over the booming fur trade and land rights across the territory in exchange for the company supporting and expanding settlement in New France (at the time encompassing Acadia, Quebec, Newfoundland, and Louisiana). Specific clauses in the charter included a requirement to bring 4000 settlers into New France over the next 15 years. The company largely ignored the settlement requirements of their charter and focused on the lucrative fur trade, only 300 settlers arriving before 1640 . The early years of their rule were disastrous for Quebec. The first two convoys of ships and settlers bound for the colony were waylaid near Gaspé by British privateers under the command of three French Huguenot brothers, David , Louis and Thomas Kirke. Quebec was effectively cut off. On 19th July 1629 , with Quebec completely out of supplies and no hope of relief, de Champlain surrendered Quebec to the Kirkes without a fight. De Champlain was taken to England as a prisoner of war and released in 1632. In 1632, under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye , Quebec and all other former French possessions in North America were returned to New France. De Champlain was restored as governor but died three years later. On the verge of bankruptcy, the company lost it fur trade monopoly in 1641 and was finally dissolved in 1662. Sovereign Council (1663–1759) The establishment of the ''Conseil souverain'', political restructuring which turned New France into a province of France, ended the period of company rule and marked a new beginning in the colonization effort. British Conquest (1756–1760) ''Main articles:'' French And Indian War ''and'' ''' Seven Years' War ''' In the middle of the 17th Century , the British North America had grown to be close to a full-fledged independent country, something they would actually become a few decades later, with more than 1 million inhabitants. Meanwhile New France was still seen mostly as a cheap source of natural resources for the metropolis, and had only 60,000 inhabitants. Nevertheless, New France was territorially larger than New England. When the Seven Years' war started, it was an obvious and easy target for the English. The first battles were fought inland, in present day Upstate New York . However the French could still retain the advantage in this region due to rough terrains, already built fortresses and alliances with local native tribes. The battle of Fort Carillon (nowadays Fort Ticonderoga ) is well-known as one of the few French victories of the time. The present-day Flag Of Québec is based on the flag carried by the militia at this battle. However the next phase of the battle aimed directly at the heart of New France. General James Wolfe lead a fleet of 49 ships holding 8640 British troops from the fortress of Louisbourg . They disembarked on île D'Orléans and on the south shore of the river; the French forces under Marquis De Montcalm held the walled city and the north shore. Wolfe lead siege to the city for more than two months, exchanging cannon fire over the river, but neither sides could expect resupply during the winter. On September 5th, 1759, after successfully convincing Montcalm he would attack by the Baie de Beauport east of the city, the British troops crossed close to Cap-Rouge, west of the city, and succesfullly climbed the steep Cap-Diamant undetected. Montcalm, for disputed reasons, did not use the protection of the city walls and fought on open terrains, in what would be known as the Battle Of The Plains Of Abraham . The battle was short and bloody. Both leaders died in battle, but the British easily won. Now in possession of the main city and capital, and furthermore isolating the inner cities of Trois-Rivières and Montréal from France, the rest of the campaign was only a matter of slowly taking control of the land. The last battle was fought in Montréal in 1760. BRITISH RULE (1760–1867) Following the capitulation of the government of New France in Montréal on , administered by General James Murray ; Trois-Rivières , administered by Ralph Burton , and Montréal , administered by Thomas Gage . Each of them were responsible to the Commander-in-chief , General Jeffery Amherst , in New York City . The regime ended with the arrival of James Murray, the first British governor of the new Province of Quebec, a few months after the signing of the Peace Treaty Of Paris on February 10 , 1763 . The treaty contained a Royal French renunciation of their claim to Quebec in exchange for the right to retain possession of Guadaloupe . Royal Proclamation (1763–1774) Issued on October 7 , 1763 , the British Royal Proclamation Of 1763 laid out the policy of Great Britain regarding its newly acquired colonies of America. The three Quebec districts were united into the Province of Quebec. Quebec Act (1774–1791) Part of the Quebec Act of 1774 gave French Canadians continued use of their French Civil Law and recognized the Roman Catholic Church with the continuation of its right to legal collect Tithe s. 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 was Newark (present-day Niagara-on-the-Lake ); in 1796 , it was moved to York, now Toronto . The new constitution, primarily passed to answer the demands of the Loyalists, created a unique situation in Lower Canada. The Legislative Assembly, the only elected body in the colonial government, was continually at odds with the Legislative and Executive branches appointed by the governor. When, in the early 1800s, the Parti Canadien rose as a nationalist, liberal and reformist party, a long political struggle started between the majority of the elected representatives of Lower Canada and the colonial government. Lower Canada Rebellion (1837–1838) From 1791 Upper and Lower Canada were ruled by governors directly named by the British Parliament in London. The local legislatures were only consultative. Political parties campaigned for Responsible Government ; in Quebec this party was called the Patriotes and were led by Louis-Joseph Papineau . They won the 1834 elections; however, the governor Lord John Russell rejected their demands. Many rebels refused to surrender and fled to the United States or formed small rebellious groups in the countryside. These rebels had a first unexpected victory at Saint-Denis-sur-le-Richelieu . However the professional British troops in the country soon took the offensive and crushed the rebellion. The village of Saint-Eustache was burned to the ground and the rebellion's leaders fled to the United States . There were risings the same year in Upper Canada . In the summer of 1838 another battle occurred in Lower Canada. From bases in the United States, the exiled Robert Nelson led a second attack. He led his forces back into Quebec in early November but on December 9th he was defeated at Odelltown. After the leniency shown following the battle at St. Eustache, this time the government placed a number of the patriotes on trial, charged with high Treason . Of those found guilty, twelve were hanged and fifty-seven were banished to Australia . The Canadian statutory holiday Victoria Day is also known in Quebec as National Patriots Day in commemoration of these events. Martial law and Special Council (1838–1840) Union Act (1841–1866) Federal Dominion (1867–1930) Province Of Quebec (1867 and after) CANADA (1931-TODAY) MODERN QUEBEC (1960–PRESENT) Throughout the 1960s the movement to separate from Canada attracted more and more followers. Yet the first vote, or referendum, on the issue was not held until 1980 .The timeline below illustrates some of these events. The most important, perhaps, was President Of France , General Charles De Gaulle 's speech in Montréal where he uttered the famous phrase "''Vive le Québec Libre!''" (Long live free Quebec!). , 1950 , Fleurs-de-lis was approved as the official Flag Of Quebec ]] delivering his "Vive le Québec libre" speech upon the Montréal city hall balcony.]] 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.
REFERENCES Dalton, Roy. ''The Jesuit Estates Question'' 1760-88, p. 60. University Of Toronto Press , 1968.
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