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1500
Bering Strait Land Bridge
The First occupants of America arrived way before the Europeens and came from Asia through the Bering Strait Land -
1534
Jacques Cartier : First Voyage
The King of France funded Jacques Cartier first voyage where he went to discover new territory for the king, find precious resources and convert people into Christians. He ended up finding codfish instead which was more important in the long run for the French. -
1535
Jacques Cartier : Second Voyage
After convincing the King of France to fund a second voyage, Jacques Cartier returns to America and thats when he meets the First Nations and discovers the two cities of Stadacona and Hochelaga. -
Quebec City
In 1608, it was Samuel de Champlain who founded the settlement of Quebec which then became the capital city of New France -
Company of 100 associates
A company granted a trade monopoly in New France but as a trade they had to bring over settlers and protect them but they had very minimal expansion of the population because they were getting attacks at sea from the British -
Ville Marie
In 1642, Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and a group of catholics including Jeanne Mance founded Ville Marie which later becomes present day Montreal. -
Royal Government
The King sent intendant Jean-Talon to take over administration of the colony in New France and to populate it. He decided to do 3 things : send soldiers over for 36 months, put in some financial incentives and finally bring over les Filles du Roy -
British Takeover
At first, France surrendered New France to the British. During the same time the 7 year war in Europe was going on so it was natural for there to also be a war in the colonies. Then in 1760, there was the military rule for 3 years until 1763 where a document - The Treaty of Paris was officially signed and New France was ceded to Britain and the 7 year war was finished. -
1763, Royal Proclamation
Document signed that officially gave New France to the British and they renamed the territory : Province of Quebec. The english laws and the anglican chruch were introduced while catholicism and french law were forbidden. -
1774, Quebec Act
An Act made to guarantee that the french wouldn't flee from the Province of Quebec. They decided to enlarge the province of Quebec's territory and to guarantee free practice of the Catholic faith. They restored the use of french civil law for any private matters while maintaining the use of English law for any public matters. -
Loyalists
15 to 20% of the population remained loyal to the British government after the American Revolution. 46 000 loyalist came to British North America because they offered land and 10 000 people settled in Québec. Most of the loyalist actually settled in the Eastern townships near the Great Lakes. -
American Revolution
The 13 colonies declare their independence from the British control, but not everyone decides to stay un loyal to the King and many people flee because they are still loyal to the King of England -
1791, Constitutional Act
The British decided to open up new land to give to all the loyalist and to divide British North America into Upper Canada (mainly English) and Lower Canada (mainly french) -
Population increase
1814 to 1816 the Quebec population triples due to natural growth, then between 1830 to 1840 many rural areas were over-populated an so many french canadiens moved to exisitng or newly created urbna areas. After 1840, between over 22 000 and 35 000 french canadians emigrated to the United States -
Emigration and Colonization
With the agricultural crisis in British North America and the overpopulation many french Canadians decide to leave their homes and flee to the United States for a better life then in the colonies. -
1840, Act of Union
French Canadian rebel group called the Patriotes wanted better representation for French speaking people but were defeated by the English speaking people and they decided to unite both Lower Canada and Upper Canada into one Canada. Where English became the official language and the french were a minority. -
The Great Famine
Between 1845 and 1852, there was a period of mass starvation in Ireland because their main food source ; potatoes, where full of diseases and made them un-edible so the Irish decided to move to British North America to start a new life. -
1867, Confederation of Canada
Under the BNAA (British North America Act), the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia join to create the Dominion of Canada -
National Policy
The First prime ministers of Canada , John A.MacDonald put in a national policy :
1 - Wanted to settle the west of the Dominion of Canada through immigration
2 - Build railways to reach the west for the people
3 - Gives the immigrants some farmland -
First Immigration Act
They allowed immigrants to enter - the British, the French, the US residents and the Asians who already had family in Canada. But they excluded the Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankas and the Asians with no family. -
Baby Boom
After World War 2 many troops and soldiers returned home to their families and it lead to a growth of population as marriages and births increased. So the state had to invest in hospitals , schools and lots of public institutions. -
The Quiet Revolution
It was a period of political and social change in the Province of Quebec because of the baby boom that had lead to many changes in society and the state had to invest in so many public institutions -
The White Paper
A new policy in the immigration act that has criteria now based on skills and knowledge of french and english -
Second Immigration Act
In this document the main objectives are to encourage population growth, enrich culture heritage, facilitate family reunions, facilitate the adaption of new residents in society, selections with non-discriminatory criteria, and to maintain humanitarian attitude toward refugees -
Bill 101
A document put into place to insure that the french language will not be lost and so all children of immigrants are forced to go to french public school. -
Quebec Government Policies
The Quebec government put in daycare for children in 1980, then they also put in place tax breaks for having children meaning if you got pregnant you woudnt have to pay taxes in 1986. CPEs were added in 1997 and in 2005 the QPIP (Quebec Parental insurance Plan)
