When was quebec colonized

At first, indigenous trappers collected, processed, and transported almost all of the furs the colony produced. The fur trade benefited both the French and their indigenous trading partners.

The Iroquois and other indigenous people traditionally shared their hunting grounds with members of their tribe and their allies, only hunted as much as was necessary, and respected the land and animals as part of their spiritual beliefs.

But the colonists demanded many more furs than indigenous groups usually hunted. In response to that demand, indigenous people hunted more, traveled longer distances than usual, and shifted toward individualism.

As overhunting depleted the number of beaver and deer in Iroquois territory, the Iroquois attempted to wrest control of more territory for trapping and hunting.

Throughout the s and s, they also began to attack their indigenous rivals—and anyone who allied with them, which in some cases included French colonists. They believed that family members who had been lost at the hands of their rivals or through deadly diseases brought by colonists had to be replaced by captives, and that carrying out retaliatory attacks was a way of honoring their dead.

War parties would unexpectedly storm isolated settlements or farms, massacring residents and sometimes taking prisoners. Thousands of miles away, the French government decided its investment in New France was not paying off and did not step in to protect colonists. Trade suffered as colonists tried to defend themselves.

Elsewhere, the Iroquois successfully fought most of their indigenous rivals. And many of their raids against the French were successful; by the s, they controlled much of the countryside within New France. After 55 years of oversight by trading companies, New France was turned over to royal rule in In , there was just one woman for every six men in New France.

Recruited and outfitted with the funds of Louis XIV himself, these filles du roi , or daughters of the king, were sent to New France on the royal dime between and Most were poor women between the ages of 16 and 40 who came from urban areas throughout France. In addition to their passage, about half were given dowries and trousseaus, which included items like needles, gloves, and shoelaces that were hard to come by in the rugged colony.

At home, the filles du roi would have faced uncertain fates with low or nonexistent dowries, poverty, and a reliance on male family members to select their partners. Just by surviving the passage to New France, the filles du roi found themselves with more power and higher chances of prosperity than they would have had in Europe.

Armed with hope chests and a promising future, they boarded ships to Canada. Unlike at home, the filles de roi had the freedom to choose their husbands. They interviewed potential mates in speed-date-style meetings as they went from town to town along the St. Lawrence River; if they did not like the selection, they could simply move on. Most married almost immediately, though. Once married, the filles du roi were encouraged to have as many children as possible; the crown promised a financial bonus to any woman who bore more than 10 children.

And because food was so plentiful in the colony, the filles du roi were more likely than their counterparts in continental France to survive their pregnancies and produce healthy, surviving children. In , the French crown ordered a group of French soldiers to reinforce New France and protect its investments there.

When about 1, soldiers arrived in the colony—around the same time as the filles du roi—they were greeted as rescuers. Though they were poorly outfitted and ill-equipped to deal with the guerrilla tactics of their Iroquois rivals, their arrival put France at a tactical advantage. The Iroquois League, weakened by decades of warfare, offered peace. In , New France and the Iroquois League signed a peace treaty that would last 20 years. For the next 15 years, the second phase of what were known as the Beaver Wars pitted the colonists against the indigenous groups whose land they had claimed as their own.

Finally, in , the French and Iroquois signed a treaty known as the Great Peace. The unemployment rate was 7. Approximately 36 per cent of the labour force was unionized, compared with 28 per cent in the rest of Canada. This high rate of union membership may be connected to the province's history of extremely militant Catholic unions.

During the French colonial period, France was Europe's dominant power. Its population during the 18th century was between 20 and 25 million inhabitants while that of the British Isles was estimated at 7 million. Colonial rivalry between France and Britain was already global during the 18th century. Competition between the two nations had implications for all continents. But France, despite an impressive system of colonies, remained mainly a continental power during the 18th century while Britain was building an international system of colonies.

At the end of the 17th century, religious minorities in Europe sought to emigrate in order to build societies according to their religious beliefs. France's minorities, such as the Huguenots, mainly moved to Central Europe while religious minorities in Britain emigrated to North America. The refusal of the church to allow religious minorities to move to New France, and the fertile soil and temperate climate of the Atlantic seaboard, led to a great disparity in the populations of New France and New England.

Between and , despite the success of its expansion on the continent, New France's population had grown little.

New England had a population of , in and more than 2 million in Between and the population of New France grew from 15, to almost 70, inhabitants. It was under the English regime after that the remaining French-speaking population grew substantially, from , in to over , in and almost a million in By , the French-speaking population in Quebec was about 2 million people, 4 million in and almost 8 million in Between and one million French-Canadians, most of them seeking jobs in the manufacturing sector in New England, left Quebec for the United States.

Under the French Regime land was settled in a distinct fashion. The seigneurial system , finally abolished in , was organized to create a sense of community through the close proximity of neighbours.

Individual lots, usually built along a river, were very narrow, about Some have argued that the seigneurial system and the parish were the key institutions of a rural society and encouraged a mentality opposed to urbanization and industrialization. Other observers have argued that the unique fashion of the seigneurial system in Quebec was the main cause of the rise of an early urban civilization. During the 19th century, large numbers of French-Canadians moved to urban centres throughout North America.

From to , the rate of the province's urban population grew steadily. In , only 15 per cent lived in cities. Two decades later, the number had doubled until, by , 52 per cent of the people were urban. This figure was above the Canadian average and comparable to that of Ontario. At the end of the 18th century, people of British origins made up Several thousand of these people had come to Canada after the American Revolution the Loyalists.

During the 19th century, the source of immigration shifted to Britain, particularly Scotland and Ireland. During the 19th century, 17 million people left Britain, 9 per cent of whom came to Canada. These included 53, Irish between and , , between and , and almost , during the Great Famine of About 20 per cent of the Irish immigrants settled in Quebec. By the end of the 19th century, the predominantly Irish immigration was replaced by East European Jews and Italians.

The Jewish population in Quebec grew from 1. The Italian population was only 0. Since the Irish immigration of the s and s, Quebec society has been demographically and culturally diverse. According to the census, the most cited ethnic origins were Canadian, French and Irish, and 13 per cent of the province was a visible minority.

Within the visible minority population, Black, Arab and Latin American were the largest communities. Just over 79 per cent of the population has French of their mother tongue, compared to 8. The three main Aboriginal groups in Quebec, according to linguistic classification, are the Algonquian, the Eskimo-Aleut and the Iroquoian see Aboriginal Languages of Canada.

In , 2. Since New France , the influence of the Catholic Church has been a major factor in the development of the province. There were also seven communities of sisters. By the end of the 19th century, however, there were more than communities of priests and communities of sisters.

The Jesuits returned to Canada in The first Oblates arrived in and settled in the Ottawa region and in the James Bay region before sending missionaries to Western Canada. The Clercs de Saint-Viateur arrived in Communities of sisters were also active, particularly the Grey Nuns , an order formed in Many sociologists, political scientists and historians have argued that francophone Quebec was a society dominated by religion, obsessed with the maintenance of rural values and deeply opposed to modernity and its consequences, mainly urbanization and industrialization.

Some facts are irrefutable. In , the average number of parish members per priest was only Overall, there was one member of the Church for every Catholics in the province. But while the bureaucracy was immense, there remains the question of whether it frustrated the province's development or provided a different road to modernity.

The Church ran a relatively complex school system, invested in real estate and financial markets. At the same time, Catholic unions opposed trusts and big business. Communities of sisters, like the Grey Nuns, managed hospitals. The role of the Church in the history of Quebec is a complex one and continues to be debated by historians and sociologists.

Results of the NHS show that By comparison, In Quebec, 5,, people The other most commonly reported religious affiliations are Islam 3. One year later the French came into contact with Iroquoian villages on both shores of the St. But the real beginning of French colonization in the St. By the beginning of the 17th century, the Iroquois Haudenosaunee had mysteriously disappeared from the north shore of the St.

Lawrence River. The population of the Innu nation Montagnais-Naspaki nation on the north shore was then around 4, people. In the first census revealed a colonial, non-native population of only 3, people. The French North American empire expanded considerably during the 17th century.

In , the Coutume de Paris became the law in the colony. In the Treaty of Utrecht , following France's defeat by a coalition of European countries in the War of the Spanish Succession, demanded that France surrender Acadia in the territory of Nova Scotia, excluding that area which is today Cape Breton Island , Newfoundland and the lands around Hudson Bay. Several thousand Acadians thus became part of the British empire in North America. It was the end of the French empire in North America.

A few years after the Conquest, the remaining French population of the new British colony benefited from tension between the Thirteen Colonies and Britain with the Quebec Act of The Quebec Act enlarged the frontiers of the Province of Quebec, recognized freedom of religion for Catholics, the legality of the seigneurial system and the French civil code. After the American Revolution, the Constitutional Act of reduced the frontiers of the province for the purpose of establishing a new colony, Upper Canada eventually Ontario , and guaranteed a legislative assembly, although with limited powers, in each colony Upper Canada and Lower Canada.

French-Canadians were, during the years to , extremely active both politically and in every aspect of economic life. Local markets, as revealed by recent research, were extraordinarily complex and diversified. At the international level some French-Canadians, like Augustin Cuvillier and Joseph Masson, were also involved in international commerce and banking. In , the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada over the principle of self-government resulted in military repression and the Durham Report of Lord Durham recommended the application of the principle of self-government but suggested that the only solution to the French-Canadian problem was the union of the two colonies.

The aim was to assimilate the French-Canadians. That plan was implemented in through the Union Act , voted in London in and enacted in Section 41 of the Union Act stipulated that English was the only language of the new colony.

But, when Britain abolished the mercantilist system between and , the principle of self-government was granted to the colonies as compensation for the loss of protected access to the British market. Following that decision, a coalition of reformists led by Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hyppolite LaFontaine formed the first democratic government of the Province of Canada the colony formed by the union of Lower and Upper Canada in The right of the French language was recognized by the reformists.

By , during negotiations for a new federation of British North American colonies, it was clear that there was a growing recognition of the French reality in the proposed federation. See also Quebec and Confederation ; Quebec since Confederation.

The economic history of Quebec can be divided into five major periods. The first period started with the arrival of the French and lasted until the Treaty of Utrecht in The main economic activity was the fur trade. The fur trade was the heart of New France's economy. Other economic activities in the colony that might compete with the home country were discouraged. During the second period , the economy of New France remained dominated by the fur trade although an attempt was made to diversify the economy by improving farming and by encouraging projects like the Forges Saint-Maurice.

The Conquest of did not fundamentally change the mercantilist system, at least for a while, as Britain was also a protectionist country. During the third period , wheat and timber see Timber Trade History replaced fur as the main export products. This period marked the rise of commercial capitalism. The major event of the period, between and , was the Britain's abolition of its protectionist laws and the abandonment of the mercantilist system. The solution was to transform Canada into an industrialized country.

That year marks the beginning of the fourth period , which was characterized by the rise of industrial capitalism. In , 51 per cent of Canada's manufacturing capacity was based in Ontario, compared to 32 per cent in Quebec.

The main industries in Quebec were in the sectors of textiles, footwear , food, railways and timber. By , hydroelectricity was the main source of energy while pulp and paper mills and aluminum factories were sectors of high employment and substantial foreign investment.

The fifth and final period is from to today. It is characterized by the rapid development of modern communications and services. In contrast to previous periods, there has been a shift away from manufacturing. During the s, the government invested significantly in the technology sector, and the province became an important international player with companies such as Softimage, CGI, CAE and Ubisoft.

In the s, Quebec's portion of Canadian agricultural production was around 13 per cent. Quebec has 6. After a period of intense speculation and urban growth between and , the government began protecting agricultural land. Quebec farmers have supplied public markets since the s, if not before, according to historians. Recent studies have revealed the presence of a complex local economy during the 19th century.

Pork and dairy products were a Quebec speciality by the end of the 19th century. Specialization increased the industrialization of agriculture and, as a result, the value of agricultural production in Quebec increased by more than four times between and see History of Agriculture.

The Agricultural Land Protection Act Loi sur la protection du territoire agricole was passed in and now protects Quebec's best farmland. Other measures to support the farming industry were also taken, including the introduction of crop insurance and stabilization insurance plans. On the one hand, the French, or "new subjects" as, they were called , complained, though not too highly at the beginning, that their ancient laws and religious privileges had been done away with; and, on the other hand, the English merchants or "old subjects", though still few in number, claimed more and more of the upper hand and insisted noisily on their growing demands.

After years of wrangle, the British House of Commons, moved by a spirit of conciliation, but perhaps stimulated at the end by the troubles which were then bubbling in the American colonies, voted a new constitution called the Quebec Act of , which, among other provisions, restored the ancient civil laws of the majority and conceded a greater liberty for the exercise of their religion.

The invasion of the country in the following year by the American rebels put to a victorious test the fidelity of the French Canadians. Resisting a tendency quite natural and all kinds of other inducements, they followed the guidance of their clergy and remained loyal to the Crown, with the exception of small dissenting groups.

After the repelling of the invader, political dissensions were not long in flaming anew between the two rival sections of the community, and in it was found necessary to frame a second constitution , which like the former one was diversely appreciated. By the new Act the colony was divided into two distinct provinces, namely Lower Canada or otherwise Quebec , and Upper Canada later called Ontario. Each of the two provinces was at the same time endowed with a legislature consisting of two branches, a Legislative Council and a Legislative Assembly.

In Lower Canada particularly, the legislature provided a new field in which were emphasized the differences already existing. The elected representatives of the majority could not go hand in hand with the appointed Council, and each in turn took up the cudgels.

There were also innumerable occasions of quarrel between the governors and the representatives of the people. When the Assembly, after having uselessly claimed during many sessions the absolute control of public expenditure, finally refused in and later to vote the subsidies required by the administration, the situation became acute.

After the adoption of the Ninety-Two Resolutions [see this text in French], especially, in , feelings rose still higher. Papineau and the other reformist leaders went on the stump and aired the grievances of the people throughout the province.

This agitation finally culminated in the two rebellions of and , which were, however, rapidly quashed, like the two coincident ones in Upper Canada. One of the first steps of the imperial parliament, after the rebellion, was to sanction the legislative union of Upper and Lower Canada , as advised by Lord Durham in his famous Report.

The new measure conceded an equal representation to two provinces of unequal population and burdened one province with a large part of the other's debts, but it had at least one good point, that of establishing at last the long-expected responsible government. With the exception of a few flurries like the burning of Parliament House in Montreal in , there was no longer any sign of internal trouble. Lower Canada was one of the first [four] provinces to enter the pact of Confederation in It became thereby autonomous once more as to its essential rights, and regained at the same time the ancient official title of " province of Quebec".

Traditional village scene of Quebec with the Church spire dominating. From a painting by J. Johnstone reproduced. Fourteen-fifteenths of the province form part of the vast Precambrian or Canadian Shield , which is considered the most ancient geological formation in the universe.

The mountains may be classified in three groups, the Laurentians which skirt the St. Lawrence from Labrador to a point not far from the city of Quebec and then recede, leaving a widening lowland between them and the river as far as the Ottawa river; the Appalachians, a continuation of the chain of the same name in the United States, which run in Canada from the frontier in the neighbourhood of lake Champlain to the city of Quebec, and thence to the gulf, down the St. Lawrence lowlands.

In the Laurentians, along the gulf and the river St. Lawrence, the elevations vary from less than 1, to over 3, feet. The Monteregians are considerably lower, their highest elevation slightly exceeding 1, feet. The province is abundantly watered. Its liquid area, not including tidal waters, comprises 71, square miles, compared with 49, in Ontario , the nearest rival.

The main artery is the river St. Lawrence, which brings transatlantic vessels to the harbour of Montreal, nearly 1, miles from the ocean, during seven and a half months of the year. Among the most important tributaries of the St.

Lawrence must be mentioned the Ottawa, the St. Maurice, the Richelieu, and the Saguenay. With the exception of the Richelieu, the importance of which is only local, these rivers are navigable only in part, but they have been long used for the floating of timber. There are besides in the province of Quebec numerous lakes of all dimensions, the largest being Mistassini lake, with an area of square miles. In the upper regions, winters are very long and extremely severe, but in the settled part the seasons do not offer very striking contrasts.

While the winters are still cold, the summers are warm and sunny. In general, the climate is considered healthy and favourable to most kinds of culture. The province of Quebec holds the second rank in the Confederation as to population. According to the latest official census, the total number of its inhabitants was 3,, in , compared to 3,, in Ontario, but a recent estimate of the Bureau of Statistics advances the figure for Quebec to 3,, in [For current population statistics, see this table ].

An immense majority are of French origin, though Canadian-born, the total being 2,,, against , of all other origins, British or foreign. And all of these, while speaking the two official languages of the country, English and French, with the exception of a negligible minority, claim French as their mother tongue. In many of the rural districts, the population might nearly be said exclusively French-Canadian. The habitant is constantly gaining ground even in the Eastern Townships, which were expressly set apart for the settlement of the United Empire Loyalists more than a hundred years ago.

There remains in that region only one riding in which the two elements are about equally balanced. In all the others, which were overwhelmingly English-speaking not many years ago, the French have attained to-day a supremacy of number which is unquestionable. Though it has shown a certain tendency to decrease in the last decade, the birth-rate of Quebec is still the highest in the Confederation, Johnstone; reproduced in the Canadian Magazine , Vol.

Another noticeable fact in the province of Quebec is the great numerical strength of Roman Catholics, who number 2,, against , of all other denominations combined. Montreal , the largest city of the province, is also the largest of Canada [this is not the case any more]. According to the latest available official census, it has a population of ,, but these figures are for the city proper, and do not include Verdun, Outremont, and Westmount, three important cities immediately contiguous but municipally distinct.

Montreal claims to-day a population of over a million, exclusive of the aforesaid adjoining towns. Though coming far behind the metropolis, Quebec, the capital of the province, is still in numerical importance the sixth city of Canada, with its population of over , Other cities worthy of mention are Sherbrooke 35, , Hull 32, , Shawinigan 20, , Lachine 20, , St.

Hyacinthe 17, , Valleyfield 17, , and Chicoutimi 16, [for current statistics of the urban areas, consult this page ].

It is estimated that out of the ,, acres of land which cover the province of Quebec, only 43,,, not even an eighth, are suited for agricultural purposes. The reason is that the major part of the land, about 62 per cent, is in too high latitudes to permit the economic production of cereals.

However, with approximately 6,, acres under actual cultivation at the present time, the province still retains the third rank in Canadian farm production. Farmers sow very little wheat, not because the soil itself is not as well suited for it as any other, but because it is less profitable owing to other conditions. The dairying industry is well established in all the settled parts of the province, nearly every parish having its cheese factory and creamery.

Quebec produces approximately 30 per cent of all the creamery butter and about 20 per cent of all the factory cheese produced in Canada , ,, pounds of the first, and ,, of the second, The making of maple sugar is also an industry of considerable size.

In Quebec produced 2,, pounds of maple sugar and 2,, gallons of maple syrup, respectively 90 per cent. The central area of the sugar industry in Quebec is in the Eastern Townships. Other items of importance are honey production, market-gardening, and tobacco-growing. Primitive methods of farming have been rapidly disappearing, especially in late years, thanks to the policy of the government.

The placing in every county of farm demonstrators trained in agricultural colleges has been especially helpful in that respect. Quebec in ranked fourth among the provinces of Canada in value of fish caught. Sea fisheries, which were formerly controlled by the Dominion government, reverted to the province in They are by far the most important part of the industry. Cod, herring, mackerel, lobster, salmon, and smelts are, the principal kinds caught in the salt water of the gulf and of Chaleur Bay.

Game fish is found in abundance in the numerous streams and lakes of the province. John is renowned as the home of the best ouananiche.