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Period: Oct 6, 1497 to
Economy of Fish
ECONOMY: Newfoundland was discovered in 1497 by explorer John Cabot. After this discovery, fish was in great demand, especially in Europe, for religious reasons: meat consumption was banned in the Catholic Church for almost 150 days during the year. The distance of time required to bring fish back across the Atlantic to Europe was great, the fish didn't need to be refrigerated and could easily be brought back, even after several weeks. -
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"Les Canadiens"
CULTURE: Throughout the 17th century, les Canadiens slowly changed their ways from those in France: They developped their own traditions, social behaviours and routines. During this time, the Catholic Church had the biggest impact on culture (it looked after education, hospitals, conversion of Amerindians, parish organization and administration of religious services). -
Québec Founded
POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT: Samuel de Champlain founded Québec in 1608 as a settlement that became very important. He did this in order to be able to trade furs with the Amerindians. -
Trois-Rivières Founded
POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT: Trois-Rivières was founded by Sieur de Laviolette. Trois-Rivières allowed furriers to communicate with one another while preventing the Iroquois from taking hold of their trades. -
Ville-Marie Founded
POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT: Paul Chomedy, Sieur de Maisonneuve founded Ville-Marie (Montreal) in 1642. The main purpose of this settlement was to evangelize the Amerindians, but it actually became a major trading post because of its location (Ville-Marie was located in the heart of the Amerindian territory). -
First Bishop of the Colony
CULTURE: Monseigneur François of Laval was sent to New France in 1659, by the Pope, to direct the Canadian Church. François of Laval was the first bishop of the colony. He founded the Grand Séminaire de Québec in 1663, to train future priests. -
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Jean Talon's measures to populate New France
POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT: The first intendant,Jean Talon implimented measures in order to populate New France:1)The "Thirty-six Months" who were men that came to New France for 3 years to learn some work experience.2)Soldiers were encouraged to stay in New France, the highest-ranking soldiers given a seigneury to start a family.3)The Filles du Roy were mostly orphans who were brought to New France and were encouraged to get married and start a family. -
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Beaver Crisis
ECONOMY: In the 1690's, any fashion that was related to fur was now no longer "in" and the demand for beaver pelts decreased. In France, because the fur trading was way too intense, pelts started piling up in warehouses. The fur trade gained strength again after 1715. -
Slavery legalized in New France
POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT: Intendant Raudot legalized slavery in New France, in 1709, to be able to grant property rights to the people who owned slaves. Most of the slaves were Amerindians from the Panis nation, and it was the Amerindians themselves who captured them and gave them to the French. -
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The Royal Proclamation
POWER/COUNTER POWER: The Royal Proclamation was founded by James Murray in 1673 right after Great Britain acquired New France. The Royal Proclamation was put into action to assimilate the French and to control the population. It had a new political regime: the Province of Quebec was directed by a British Governor and the British and Protestant institutions were put into place. -
British Merchants Opinions
POWER/COUNTER POWER: Right after the Royal Proclamation in 1763, British Merchants who had settled in the Province of Quebec wanted to assimilate the French Canadians. The British merchants wanted to subject them to the British institutions: they were opposed to Governor James Murray and Governor Guy Carleton's decision to apply the Royal Proclamation as not to alienate the French Canadian majority. -
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The Quebec Act
POWER/COUNTER POWER: The Quebec Act took place because Guy Carleton, the Governor, was a smart man and knew that the 13 Colonies was starting to rebel against the Britsh (they didn't get any extra territory...) The way Guy Carleton saw it was that if he would be nice to the French (Québec), the Americans wouldn't have been able to have an alliance with the French, and they would therefore have at least the Quebec territory to hold onto if the Americans did decide to rebel. -
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Constitutional Act of 1791
POWER/COUNTER POWER: After so much pressure from the Loyalists and the French Canadian petite bourgeoisie, the Constitutional Act of 1791 was created: Great Britain accorded its new colony with a Legislative Assembly. The Constitutional Act also divided the territory into 2 entities: Upper Canada and Lower Canada. -
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Act of Union in 1840
POWER/COUNTER POWER: After the Royal Proclamation, the Quebec Act and the Constitutional Act, the final constitution took place: The Act of Union, in 1840. The Rebellions of 1837-1838 took place in both Canada’s, the reason being that the people were demanding more democracy. This forced the British Parliament to issue the Act of Union, which united the 2 colonies into the Province of Quebec.
