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Sep 8, 1500
Land Bridge
Most common theory about how humans entered North America. -
Period: Sep 8, 1500 to
Population
Everything to do with population! -
Sep 10, 1500
Native Tribes/Groups
There were three major groups when it came to natives in north america; the Inuits, the Algonquiens and the Iroquois. Amongst these 3 major groups, there were of course, many different divisions such as montagnais, etc. who lived in different spots and spoke different languages.
The Iroquois tended to live closer to the water, the lower region of quebec near the St Lawrence.
The Algonquiens lives in the middle of quebec, on the Canadian shield.
The Inuits lived in the northern parts of Quebec. -
Sep 16, 1534
Jacques Cartier
In 1534, Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River region in search of a passageway to Asia and precious metals. France lost interest in the region when Cartier was not able to find a way to Asia. However, the Basque and Breton fisherman who regularly sailed the Guld of St Lawrence communicated with the Native nations and traded different objects for fur. Because of the fact that fur trade proved to be so lucrative, the French decided to settle in Canada. -
Oct 1, 1534
Distribution of Native people on the territory
When the Europeans in the 16th century arrived, the First nations numbered more than 25000. Their geographic distribution was related to their lifestyles. The iroquois nations settled down on the rich soil of the St Lawrence Valley. Their villages had 1500 to 2000 inhabitants. The Algonquians lived mainly in the forests of the Canadian Shield and the Appalachian mountains. The inuits lived as nomads in the north of the territory. -
Samuel de Champlain
In 1608, Champlain founded Quebec in order to facilitate fur trade with the Amerindians.
In 1634, Champlain put Sieur de Laviolette, in charge of finding a second settlement at the confluence of the St Maurice and St Lawrence rivers. The location of Trois Rivieres allowed fur traders to communicate with each other and prevent the Iroquois from intercepting their trades. -
Company of One Hundred Associates
In 1627, the King of France mandated the Company of One Hundred Associates to populate the colony which at that time only had about one hundred European inhabitants. The company attracted several hundred colonists. However, this was well under the 4000 projected. Most of the immigrants who did come were interested in the fur trade or were soldiers to fight against the Iroquois. By 1663, New France had more than 3000 people. -
Politics of Immigration (Jean Talon)
In 1663, the King of France decided to foster the development of New France. Based on the advice of his Finance Minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, he created the position of intendant which was in charge of settlement and the planning of the territory. The first intendant, Jean talon, implemented various measures to ensure that the population increased and became diversified. He wanted to focus on increasing both immigration and birthrate. -
Politics of Immigration (2)
There were 3 types of people that were brought to New France; Soldiers, Engages, Filles du Roy. The new immigrants discovered certain advantages in New France.
They got land at a much more affordable price
Women could easily find a husband because they were outnumbered by men
Fur trade allowed men to earn money. Furthermore, some adventurers found fur trading an interesting challenge while others retired from their marine or military life. -
Portrait of the Canadian Population
In 1666, the King of France mandated Jean Talon to take a census of the population of New France to determine how many men could be recruited for military purposes. This date revealed the presence of 3173 people in the colony. Most of the population was relatively young. -
Birth Incentives by Minister Colbert.
Fearful that immigration policies would decrease the population of France, Minister Colbert encouraged the inhabitants of New France to have large families. He mandated Talon to implement a policy supporting a rising birthrate. These policies were things like money to have a lot of kids, punishment for getting married at a certain age to a Fille du Roy within 15 days of their arrival, taxation on fathers with children of a certain age who are single, etc. -
Seigneuries
The territory bordering the St Lawrence River and its tributaries was subdivided into seigneuries. A seigneury was a large estate granted to a seigneur. The seigneur divided the estate into portions that he gave away to peasants called censitaires. The censitaires didn't own land; they had to pay dues to the seigneur. The land was divided into ranks which were rectangular and allowed as many censitaires as possible to have access to the waterway. -
Seigneuries (2)
The seigneurial regime promoted populating the territory because of the mutual obligations established between the seigneur and the censitaire. The seigneur was obliged to reside in his estate, to build a mill and to attract censitaires. Since that had to pay him a yearly annuity along with different taxes, it was in the best interest of the seigneur to increase the population of his seigneurie. -
Results of the Birthrate Incentive
The incentives were a success. By 1720, the fertility rate in New France was more than nine children per woman. The natural growth of the population soon became greater than the rate of immigration which slowed down considerable after 1680. This high birth rate was mainly due to the fact that women got married at a young age, ate well, and had a higher lie expectancy than women in France. The Church and Christian values also encouraged women to have many children. -
British Immigration
After the 1760 conquest, a few British and many Scottish settled in the Province of Quebec. They were administrators or merchants who worked in the fur business. -
The Loyalists
During the American Revolution (1765-1783), tens of thousands of Loyalists left the United States where they were treated with hostility, to settle in a British territory. Among them, two thousand chose Quebec. Most were farmers who settled in Gaspésie and Sorel. Many of them cleared lands south of the St Lawrence River close to the american border and subdivided those lands into townships, based on the British model. As a result, they established the Eastern Townships. -
Increase of immigration from 1815
In 1815, in Europe, Great Britain won a gruelling war against the French. At the same time, the country faced a crisis: the population was increasing very rapidly, the unemployment rate was high, there were periodic outbreaks of famine and epidemics. The British government encouraged the unemployed families to emigrate to its colonies. British immigration to Canada included the Irish, the Scottish, and English and lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. -
Great Britain's Immigration Policies
From 1815, the British government funded the settlement of immigrants in Canada but ended the program after 10 years because it was considered too costly. Private companies were then allowed to acquire lands in Canada and to run ads in Europe to attract immigrants. In general, the government didn't regulate arrivals of British to Canada. Because there were inhabitants of the mother country who emigrated to the colonies, the government considered these moves as internal migration. -
The French Canadian Population
In the 18th and 19th centuries, despite a high infant mortality rate, French Canadians made up the majority of Quebec's population due to the exceptionally high birth rate, which during this period was the highest in the world.
From 1830, the birth rate slowed due to the exodus of French Canadians to Canada West and to the United states. They left because of an agricultural crisis.
From 1840-1870, approximately 200 000 people emigrated from Canada to the US for better factory jobs there. -
Immigration Diversification
From 1867, the federal government, lead by John A MacDonald, suggested an immigration policy to either stimulate or restrict immigration. At the end of the 19th century, the government encouraged massive immigrant settlements to Western Canada. From the 1920s, the great depression, and WW2, the government stopped subsidizing immigration and became more selective.
After WW2, Prime minister King reopened the doors to immigration to ensure economic growth. -
French Canadian Emigration
Between 1870 and 1930, the exodus of French Canadians continued. Some settled as farmers in Ontario or the new provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The provinces were more accessible due to the railroad that now crossed Canada, reaching all the way to BC. However, most immigrants still made New England their first choice where various industries were. Quebec immigration during that period was negative; departures outnumbered arrivals. French people tried to preserve their language in NE too. -
Relatiobships with Amerindians (Indian Act)
The Indian Act clarified that the reserves remained property of the government, who authorized their exclusive use by a Native band or community. The Amerindian territories located in northern Quebec were initially spared from European occupation under the French and British regimes. This situation changed after WW2 when Quebec decided to exploit these region's' natural resources.This resulted in Amerindians groups revolting in different ways. Quebec negotiated agreements to compensate them. -
Population Distribution of The Province (Contemporary)
In the 19th century, the proportion of Quebec's urban population changed from 35% to 80%. The development of industries and the introduction of machinery in agriculture motivated people to leave the countryside for the city. The rural exodus continued for decades. In the late 20th century, city dwellers who wanted to improve their quality of life moved to the suburbs, this was called the urban sprawl. -
Development of the regions
The contemporary period also witnessed the development of regions farther from urban centres. Since the middle of the 19th century, the government had tried to keep the population that wanted to emigrate to the US and Western Canada. It gave access to new regions for colonization and gave this land to French Canadians who wanted to leave. This is how populations grew in areas that weren't as urbanized as places like Montreal or Quebec city. -
Development of the regions (2)
After WW2, attention was focused on other regions then the uninhabited turned inhabited ones like Saguenay and Abitibi. This time, it was for their natural resources and not for potential living space for the poor or unhappy inhabitants.
