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The '''Quebec Act''' of 1774 was an Act of the British Parliament setting out procedures of governance in the area of [[Quebec]]. <ref> 14 Geo. III c. 83 </ref>
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The '''Quebec Act''' of 1774 (14 Geo. III c. 83) was a law for the establishment of civilian government and for the recognition of religious rights in the former territories of [[New France]] occupied by Great Britain following the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]] ending the [[French and Indian War]].  The law was considered by the British North American colonists to have been related to the [[Coercive Acts]] passed at around the same time and in response to the [[Boston Tea Party]]. It is also the only act of Parliament specifically mentioned in the U.S. [[U.S. Declaration of Independence]].


==Background==
==Background==
After the [[Seven Years' War]], a victorious [[Great Britain]] achieved a peace agreement through the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]]. Under the terms of the treaty, the Kingdom of France chose to keep the rich sugar islands and gave up its vast North American territories east of the [[Mississippi River]] known as [[New France]]New France was then considered less valuable, as its only significant commercial product at the time was beaver pelts. The territory located along the [[St. Lawrence River]], called ''Canada'' by the French, was renamed [[Province of Quebec]] by the British.
Following the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]] which ended the [[French and Indian War]], Great Britain ruled the former French territories by military law.  The British renamed [[New France]] [[Province of Quebec]] after the capital city. Following the Treaty of Paris, the British government did little to establish civilian government in the former French territories.  Except at Forts Detroit and Michillimackinac, the territory was governed by the British army under martial law.  At the forts, civilian officials to regulate the fur trade (known as commissaries) also operated.   
 
During the 1760s, French civilians as far away as the Mississippi River began complaining and defying British law for the lack of civilian government. At one point, General Gage considering deporting the ''habitants'' as the British had done to the French population of Acadia during the [[French and Indian War]], but this was abandoned as impractical and too expensive.  To quell this growing French dissent, the British passed the Quebec Act to provide for civilian government.
 
==The Law==
The law extended the boundaries of Quebec southward to the Ohio River and westward to the Mississippi River (the western boundary of the British territory at the time).  The act recognized two different legal traditions: French law for civil cases and British law for criminal cases.  Roman Catholics were granted full religious freedom while they were denied similar freedoms in either Britain or its colonies. Such recognition of what the Anglicans  considered religious error flew in the face of establishment religion. 


With unrest growing in the American colonies to the south, which would one day grow into the [[American Revolution]], the British were worried that the French Canadians might also support the growing rebellion. In order to secure the allegiance of the approximately 70,000 French Canadians to the British crown, first Governor James Murray and later Governor Guy Carleton promoted the need for action. There was a need to compromise between the conflicting demands of the new subjects and that of the newly arrived British subjects. This eventually resulted in the Quebec Act of 1774.
The Act establish four additional political jurisdictions in the Great Lakes region.  Lieutenant governors were appointed for Detroit, Michilimackinac, Vincennes, and Illinois. The governor of Quebec was granted the right to appoint a legislative council but Parliament rejected any other form of representative assembly mainly because representative government had not be part of either the French or ''habitant'' tradition.


==Effects on the Province of Quebec==
==Effects on the Province of Quebec==
The Quebec Act restored the former French civil tradition for private law, which had been ended in 1763 and allowed for the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] faith to be practiced. It replaced the old oath with one to George III which had no reference to the Protestant faith.  The act annexed, to Quebec, the area east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River.
The Quebec Act restored French law for civil cases, which had been suspended in 1763 in favor of military rule and allowed for the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] faith to be practiced.  The law also allowed for Roman Catholics to hold government office, a practice not allowed in British homeland or other British colonial administration.  
 
==Effect on the Thirteen Colonies==
The Quebec Act was one of the [[Intolerable Acts]] denounced by the American colonists, further contributing to the American Revolution.


Frontiersmen from [[Virginia]] and other colonies were already entering the area annexed to Quebec and land development companies had already been formed to acquire ownership of large tracts and sell land to settlers. Americans also denounced the Act for promoting the growth of Papism and cutting back on traditional English rigths and freedoms in favor of a French-styled system.  
==Reaction in the Thirteen Colonies==
The Quebec Act was one of the [[Intolerable Acts]] denounced by the American colonists, further contributing to the American Revolution.  They pointed to the lack of representative government in Quebec as proof that Parliament meant to extend its tyranny over North America.


Langston (2006) looked at press reaction in [[New England]]. Newspaper editors of the time explained how the Act reorganized Canadian governance, establishing direct rule by the crown, and limiting the reach of English law to criminal jurisprudence. Editors such as Isaiah Thomas of the ''The Massachusetts Spy'' drew links between the Quebec Act and legislation circumscribing American liberties, such as the Tea Act and the Coercive Acts. Editors shaped public opinion by writing editorials and reprinting opposition letters from both sides of the Atlantic. The First Continental Congress, which met from 5 September to 26 October 1774, addressed the inhabitants of Quebec, warning them of the perils of the increasingly arbitrary, tyrannical, and oppressive nature of British government.
Frontiersmen from [[Virginia (U.S. state)|Virginia]] and other colonies were already entering the area annexed to Quebec and land development companies had already been formed to acquire ownership of large tracts and sell land to settlers. In spite of clauses denying this intent, the seaboard colonies argued that the Quebec Act was attempting also to invalidate their western land claims. The seaboard colonists also denounced the Act for promoting the growth of Papism and cutting back on traditional English rights and freedoms in favor of a French-styled system.


The Act was never enforced outside Canada. Its main importance was to anger the Americans, weaken the King's supporters (Loyalists), and speed the confrontation that became the [[American Revolution]].<ref>Miller 1943</ref> When the war started, an unsuccessful effort was made in Parliament to repeal the laws in hopes of mollifying the angry Americans, but it was too late and there was no repeal. The Treaty of 1783 gave the lands south of the Great Lakes to the United States.
==The Quebec Act in Operation==
Henry Hamilton was appointed lieutenant governor at Detroit in 1775. Hamilton had power to establish courts in Detroit and Michilimackinac but the start of the [[American Revolution]] inhibited any further implementation of the Act until after the war.  Later, when Hamilton became the military commandant at Fort Detroit, civilian administration was again merged with military administration.


==Bibliography==
==Historiographical Interpretations==
* Langston, Paul. "'Tyrant and Oppressor!' Colonial Press Reaction to the Quebec Act.'' ''Historical Journal of Massachusetts'' 2006 34(1): 1-17. Issn: 0276-8313
Paul Langston (2006) examined how colonial newspaper editors skewed the presentation of the law to highlight how the law may have circumscribed traditional English liberties. As part of the propaganda emanating from the highly-charged political debate in Boston, these editorials and letters, some from the other side of the Atlantic, denounce the Act. Even the [[First Continental Congress]] attempted to address the problem with a circular letter to the inhabitants of Quebec warning them about the encroachments upon their liberties being attempted by Parliament.
* Lawson, Philip. "'Sapped by Corruption': British Governance of Quebec and the Breakdown of Anglo-american Relations on the Eve of Revolution." ''Canadian Review of American Studies'' 1991 22(3): 301-323. Issn: 0007-7720 Fulltext: online in Ebsco
* John C. Miller; ''Origins of the American Revolution'' 1943. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=493014 online version]


==Attribution==
{{WPAttribution}}


==See also==
==Notes==
* [[Canada, History]]
<small>
* [[American Revolution]]
<references>


==External links==
</references>
* [http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/48786/0003?id=7f1ab5cd834af05f&size=2 The Quebec Act]
</small>[[Category:Suggestion Bot Tag]]
* [http://www.canadiana.org/citm/themes/constitution1_e.html Canada in the Making - Constitutional History]
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[[Category:History Workgroup]]
[[Category:Politics Workgroup]]

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The Quebec Act of 1774 (14 Geo. III c. 83) was a law for the establishment of civilian government and for the recognition of religious rights in the former territories of New France occupied by Great Britain following the Treaty of Paris (1763) ending the French and Indian War. The law was considered by the British North American colonists to have been related to the Coercive Acts passed at around the same time and in response to the Boston Tea Party. It is also the only act of Parliament specifically mentioned in the U.S. U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Background

Following the Treaty of Paris (1763) which ended the French and Indian War, Great Britain ruled the former French territories by military law. The British renamed New France Province of Quebec after the capital city. Following the Treaty of Paris, the British government did little to establish civilian government in the former French territories. Except at Forts Detroit and Michillimackinac, the territory was governed by the British army under martial law. At the forts, civilian officials to regulate the fur trade (known as commissaries) also operated.

During the 1760s, French civilians as far away as the Mississippi River began complaining and defying British law for the lack of civilian government. At one point, General Gage considering deporting the habitants as the British had done to the French population of Acadia during the French and Indian War, but this was abandoned as impractical and too expensive. To quell this growing French dissent, the British passed the Quebec Act to provide for civilian government.

The Law

The law extended the boundaries of Quebec southward to the Ohio River and westward to the Mississippi River (the western boundary of the British territory at the time). The act recognized two different legal traditions: French law for civil cases and British law for criminal cases. Roman Catholics were granted full religious freedom while they were denied similar freedoms in either Britain or its colonies. Such recognition of what the Anglicans considered religious error flew in the face of establishment religion.

The Act establish four additional political jurisdictions in the Great Lakes region. Lieutenant governors were appointed for Detroit, Michilimackinac, Vincennes, and Illinois. The governor of Quebec was granted the right to appoint a legislative council but Parliament rejected any other form of representative assembly mainly because representative government had not be part of either the French or habitant tradition.

Effects on the Province of Quebec

The Quebec Act restored French law for civil cases, which had been suspended in 1763 in favor of military rule and allowed for the Roman Catholic faith to be practiced. The law also allowed for Roman Catholics to hold government office, a practice not allowed in British homeland or other British colonial administration.

Reaction in the Thirteen Colonies

The Quebec Act was one of the Intolerable Acts denounced by the American colonists, further contributing to the American Revolution. They pointed to the lack of representative government in Quebec as proof that Parliament meant to extend its tyranny over North America.

Frontiersmen from Virginia and other colonies were already entering the area annexed to Quebec and land development companies had already been formed to acquire ownership of large tracts and sell land to settlers. In spite of clauses denying this intent, the seaboard colonies argued that the Quebec Act was attempting also to invalidate their western land claims. The seaboard colonists also denounced the Act for promoting the growth of Papism and cutting back on traditional English rights and freedoms in favor of a French-styled system.

The Quebec Act in Operation

Henry Hamilton was appointed lieutenant governor at Detroit in 1775. Hamilton had power to establish courts in Detroit and Michilimackinac but the start of the American Revolution inhibited any further implementation of the Act until after the war. Later, when Hamilton became the military commandant at Fort Detroit, civilian administration was again merged with military administration.

Historiographical Interpretations

Paul Langston (2006) examined how colonial newspaper editors skewed the presentation of the law to highlight how the law may have circumscribed traditional English liberties. As part of the propaganda emanating from the highly-charged political debate in Boston, these editorials and letters, some from the other side of the Atlantic, denounce the Act. Even the First Continental Congress attempted to address the problem with a circular letter to the inhabitants of Quebec warning them about the encroachments upon their liberties being attempted by Parliament.

Attribution

Some content on this page may previously have appeared on Wikipedia.

Notes