History of Quebec


was first called Canada between 1534 and 1763. It was the most developed colony of New France as well as New France's centre, responsible for a variety of dependencies. Common themes in Quebec's early history as Canada include the fur trade, emphasized by the coureurs du bois who encountered lucrative prospects, which highlights the main commercial advantage. Furthermore, the exploration of North America, war against the English, and alliances or war with Native American groups have contributed to the sense of identity and language as Quebec became surrounded by Anglophone institutions as well as Protestantism.
Following the Seven Years' War, Quebec became a British colony in the British Empire. It was first known as the Province of Quebec, then as Lower Canada, and then as Canada East as a result of the Lower Canada Rebellion. During this period, the inferior socio-economic status of francophones, the Catholic church, resistance against cultural assimilation, and isolation from non English-speaking populations were important themes; some of these issues persist until today, emphasizing the complexity of divergent language, culture, and identity.
Quebec was confederated with Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick in 1867, beginning the Confederation of Canada. Important events that mark this period are the World Wars, the Grande Noirceur, the Quiet Revolution, and the emergence of the contemporary Quebec sovereignty movement.
These three large periods of Quebec's history are represented on its coat of arms with three fleurs-de-lis, followed by a lion, and then three maple leaves.

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 contemporary Quebec.
  • Canada, the core of New France : a French colony
  • Province of Quebec : a British colony
  • Lower Canada, one of the Canadas : a British colony
  • the Canada East portion of the Province of Canada : a British colony
  • Quebec : a province of Canada

    Precolonial era

The Paleo-Indians, theorized to have migrated from Asia to America between 20,000 and 14,000 years ago, were the first people to establish themselves on the lands of Quebec, arriving there after the Laurentide Ice Sheet melted 11,000-10,000 years ago. From them, many ethnocultural groups emerged over time. The vast majority are forgotten today because none of them developed writing. Before contact with Europeans, aboriginals passed down their history and other cultural knowledge through oral tradition.

Paleo-Indian Era (11,000–8000 BC)

Existing archaeological evidence attests to a human presence on the current territory of Quebec sometime around 10,000 BC.

Archaic era (8000–1500 BC)

The Paleoindian period was followed by the Archaic, a time when major changes occurred in the landscape and the settlement of the territory of Quebec. With the end of glaciation, the inhabitable territory increased in size and the environment became increasingly stable. Migrations became rarer and moving around became a seasonal activity necessary for hunting, fishing or gathering.
The nomadic populations of the Archaic period were better established and were very familiar with the resources of their territories. They adapted to their surroundings and experienced a degree of population growth. Their diet and tools diversified. Aboriginal peoples used a greater variety of local material, developed new techniques, such as polishing stone, and devised increasingly specialized tools, such as knives, awls, fish hooks, and nets.

Woodland era (1500 BC–1500 AD)

Agriculture appeared experimentally toward the 8th century. It was only in the 14th century that it was fully mastered in the Saint Lawrence River valley by the Iroquoians, who cultivated corn, marrow, sunflowers, and beans.
In the 1500s, Inuit communities could be found in Nunavik, as well as 11 First Nations:
  • Abenakis
  • Algonquins
  • Atikamekw
  • Crees
  • Innu
  • Malecite
  • Mi'kmaq
  • Mohawks
  • Naskapi
  • Wendats
Each group had their own languages, way of life, economies, and religious beliefs.
Some linguists and archaeologists also consider the St. Lawrence Iroquoians to be distinct enough from the other Iroquoians to be considered their own group.

European explorations

In the 15th century, the Byzantine Empire fell. For the Christian West, this made trade with the Far East, usually for things like spices and gold, more difficult because sea routes were now under the control of less cooperative Arab and Italian merchants. As such, in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Spanish and Portuguese, and then the English and French, began to search for a new sea route.
In 1508, only 16 years after the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, Thomas Aubert, who was likely part of a fishing trip near Newfoundland, brought back a few Amerindians to France. This indicates that in the early 16th century, French navigators ventured in the gulf of the St. Lawrence, along with the Basques and the Spaniards who did the same.
Around 1522–1523, the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano persuaded King Francis I of France to commission an expedition to find a western route to Cathay. Therefore, King Francis I launched a maritime expedition in 1524, led by Giovanni da Verrazzano, to search for the Northwest Passage. Though this expedition was unsuccessful, it established the name "New France" for Northeastern North America.
Image:Jacques Cartier 1851-1852.jpg|left|thumb|A portrait of Jacques Cartier.
On June 24, 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier planted a cross on the Gaspé Peninsula and took possession of the territory in the name of King François I of France.
On his second voyage on May 26, 1535, Cartier sailed upriver to the St. Lawrence Iroquoian villages of Stadacona, near present-day Quebec City, and Hochelaga, near present-day Montreal. That year, Cartier decided to name the village and its surrounding territories Canada, because he had heard two young natives use the word kanata to describe the location. 16th-century European cartographers would quickly adopt this name. Cartier also wrote that he thought he had discovered large amounts of diamonds and gold, but this ended up only being quartz and pyrite. Then, by following what he called the Great River, he traveled West to the Lachine Rapids. There, navigation proved too dangerous for Cartier to continue his journey towards the goal: China. Cartier and his sailors had no choice but to return to Stadaconé and winter there. In the end, Cartier returned to France and took about 10 Native Americans, including the St. Lawrence Iroquoians chief Donnacona, with him. In 1540, Donnacona told the legend of the Kingdom of Saguenay to the King of France. This inspired the king to order a third expedition, this time led by Jean-François de La Rocque de Roberval and with the goal of finding the Kingdom of Saguenay. But, it was unsuccessful.
In 1541, Jean-François Roberval became lieutenant of New France and had the responsibility to build a new colony in America. It was Cartier who established the first French settlement on American soil, Charlesbourg Royal.
France was disappointed after the three voyages of Cartier and did not want to invest further large sums in an adventure with such uncertain outcome. A period of disinterest in the new world on behalf of the French authorities followed. Only at the very end of the 16th century interest in these northern territories was renewed.
Still, even during the time when France did not send official explorers, Breton and Basque fishermen came to the new territories to stock up on codfish and whale oil. Since they were forced to stay for a longer period of time, they started to trade their metal objects for fur provided by the indigenous people. This commerce became profitable and thus the interest in the territory was revived.
Around 1580, France became interested in America again, because the fur trade had become important in Europe. France returned to America looking for a specific animal: the beaver. As New France was full of beavers, it became a colonial-trading post where the main activity was the fur trade in the Pays-d'en-Haut. In 1600, Pierre de Chauvin de Tonnetuit founded the first permanent trading post in Tadoussac for expeditions carried out in the Domaine du Roy.
Fur commerce made a permanent residence in the country worthwhile. Good relations with the aboriginal providers were necessary. For some fishermen however, a seasonal presence was sufficient. Commercial companies were founded that tried to further the interest of the Crown in colonizing the territory. They demanded that France grant a monopoly to one single company. In return, this company would also take over the colonization of the French American territory. Thus, it would not cost the king much money to build the colony. On the other hand, other merchants wanted commerce to stay unregulated. This controversy was a big issue at the turn of the 17th century.
In 1603, Samuel de Champlain travelled to the Saint Lawrence River and, on Pointe Saint-Mathieu, established a defence pact with the Innu, Wolastoqiyik and Micmacs, that would be "a decisive factor in the maintenance of a French colonial enterprise in America despite an enormous numerical disadvantage vis-à-vis the British colonization in the South". Thus also began French military support to the Algonquian and Huron peoples in defence against Iroquois attacks and invasions. These Iroquois attacks would become known as the Beaver Wars and would last from the early 1600s to the early 1700s.
By the end of the 17th century, a census showed that around 10,000 French settlers were farming along the lower St. Lawrence Valley. By 1700, fewer than 20,000 people of French origin were settled in New France, extending from Newfoundland to the Mississippi, with the pattern of settlement following the networks of the cod fishery and fur trade, although most Quebec settlers were farmers.