Quebec

===British North America (1763–1867)===
{{Main|Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Lower Canada|Canada East}}

[[File:Province_of_Quebec_1774.gif|thumb|The [[Province of Quebec (1763-1791)|Province of Quebec]] in 1774]]
After the British officially acquired Canada in 1763, the British government established a constitution for the newly acquired territory, under the [[Royal Proclamation of 1763|Royal Proclamation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/patrimoine/lexique/proclamation-royale-(1763).html#:~:text=Le%2010%20f%C3%A9vrier%201763%2C%20en,France%20et%20par%20l'Espagne.|publisher=Government of Quebec|title=Proclamation royale (1763)|accessdate=July 5, 2021}}</ref> From this point on, the Canadiens were subordinated to the government of the [[First British Empire|British Empire]] and circumscribed to a region of the [[St. Lawrence River|St. Lawrence Valley]] and [[Anticosti Island]] called the [[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Province of Quebec]]. With unrest growing in their southern colonies, the British were worried that the Canadiens (the majority of the population) might support what would become the [[American Revolution]]. To secure the allegiance of Canadiens to the British crown, Governor [[James Murray (Quebec governor)|James Murray]] and later Governor [[Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester|Guy Carleton]] promoted the need for accommodations, resulting in the enactment of the [[Quebec Act]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Quebec Act, 1774|website=The Canadian Encyclopedia|last=Dagenais|first=Maxime|date=May 11, 2020|url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quebec-act}}</ref> of 1774. This act allowed Canadiens to regain their [[Law in Quebec|civil customs]], return to the seigneural system, regain certain rights (including the use of the French language), and reappropriate their old territories: Labrador, the Great Lakes, the Ohio Valley, [[Illinois Country]] and the [[Indian Territory]].<ref name="Geographers19682">{{cite book|author=Canadian Association of Geographers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=voYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA33|title=Canada: a Geographical Interpretation|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1968|isbn=9780458906000|page=33}}</ref>

As early as 1774, the [[Continental Congress]] of the separatist [[Thirteen Colonies]] attempted to rally the Canadiens to its cause. However, [[Continental Army|its military troops]] failed to defeat the British counteroffensive during its [[Invasion of Quebec (1775)|Invasion of Quebec]] in 1775. Most Canadiens remained neutral, although some patriotic regiments allied themselves with the Americans in the [[Saratoga campaign]] of 1777. When the British Empire recognized the independence of the rebel colonies at the signing of the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] of 1783, it conceded Illinois and the Ohio Valley to the newly formed [[United States]] and denoted the 45th parallel as its border, drastically reducing Quebec's size.

Some [[United Empire Loyalists]] from the US migrated to Quebec and populated various regions, including the [[Niagara Peninsula]], the [[Eastern Townships]] and [[Thousand Islands]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://histoire-du-quebec.ca/loyalistes/|title=Loyalistes au Bas-Canada|publisher=Histoire du Quebec|accessdate=July 5, 2021}}</ref> Dissatisfied with the legal rights under the French seigneurial régime which applied in Quebec, and wanting to use the British legal system to which they were accustomed, the Loyalists protested to British authorities until the [[Constitutional Act 1791|Constitutional Act]] of 1791 was enacted, dividing the Province of Quebec into two distinct colonies starting from the [[Ottawa River]]: [[Upper Canada]] to the west (predominantly Anglo-Protestant) and [[Lower Canada]] to the east (predominantly Franco-Catholic). Lower Canada's lands consisted of the coasts of the Saint Lawrence River, Labrador and Anticosti Island, with the territory extending north to the boundary of [[Rupert's Land]], and extending south, east and west to the borders with the US, New Brunswick, and Upper Canada. The creation of Upper and Lower Canada allowed Loyalists to live under British laws and institutions, while Canadiens could maintain their French civil law and Catholic religion. Furthermore, Governor Haldimand drew Loyalists away from Quebec City and Montreal by offering free land on the northern shore of Lake Ontario to anyone willing to swear allegiance to George III. During the [[War of 1812]], [[Charles de Salaberry|Charles-Michel de Salaberry]] became a hero by leading the Canadian troops to victory at the [[Battle of the Chateauguay]]. This loss caused the Americans to abandon the Saint Lawrence Campaign, their major strategic effort to conquer Canada.

[[File:Saint-Eustache-Patriotes.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Saint-Eustache]] was the final battle of the Lower Canada Rebellion.<ref name=rebellion/>]]
Gradually, the [[Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada]], who represented the people, came into conflict with the superior authority of the [[The Crown|Crown]] and [[Legislative Council of Lower Canada|its appointed representatives]]. Starting in 1791, the government of Lower Canada was criticized and contested by the [[Parti canadien]]. In 1834, the Parti canadien presented its [[Ninety-Two Resolutions|92 resolutions]], a series of political demands which expressed a loss of confidence in the [[British monarchy]]. Discontentment intensified throughout the [[List of the public meetings held in Lower Canada between May and November 1837|public meetings]] of 1837, and the [[Lower Canada Rebellion]] began in 1837.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/fr/article/patriotes|title=Patriotes|website=L'Encyclopédie Canadienne|last=Roy|first=Fernande|date=March 4, 2015}}</ref> In 1837, [[Louis-Joseph Papineau]] and [[Robert Nelson (insurrectionist)|Robert Nelson]] led residents of Lower Canada to form an armed resistance group called the [[Patriotes]]. They made a [[Declaration of Independence of Lower Canada|Declaration of Independence]] in 1838, guaranteeing human rights and equality for all citizens without discrimination.<ref>{{cite web|author=Nelson, Robert|date=February 1838|title=Declaration of Independence of Lower Canada|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Independence_of_Lower_Canada|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107082359/http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Independence_of_Lower_Canada|archivedate=November 7, 2011|accessdate=February 21, 2010|work=Wikisource}}</ref> Their actions resulted in rebellions in both Lower and [[Upper Canada Rebellion|Upper Canada]]. The Patriotes forces were victorious in their first battle, the [[Battle of Saint-Denis (1837)|Battle of Saint-Denis]]. However, the Patriotes were unorganized and badly equipped, leading to their loss against the British army in their second battle, the [[Battle of Saint-Charles]], and their defeat in their final battle, the [[Battle of Saint-Eustache]].<ref name=rebellion>{{cite web|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/fr/article/rebellion-du-bas-canada|work=The Canadian Encyclopedia|title=Rébellion du Bas-Canada (La guerre des patriotes)|last=Buckner|first=Phillip|date=July 23, 2020}}</ref>

In response to the rebellions, [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|Lord Durham]] was asked to undertake a study and prepare a [[Report on the Affairs of British North America|report]] offering a solution to the British Parliament.<ref name="durham2">{{cite web|last=Ouellet |first=Fernand|title=Lambton, John George, 1st Earl of Durham|url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=37606&PHPSESSID=qj23a0tmehl1lulfrlfrhk0c53|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805103634/http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=37606&PHPSESSID=qj23a0tmehl1lulfrlfrhk0c53|archivedate=August 5, 2011|accessdate=July 12, 2011|work=Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online}}</ref> In his report, Lord Durham recommended that Canadiens be [[Cultural assimilation|culturally assimilated]], with English as their only official language. In order to do this, the British passed the ''[[Act of Union 1840]]'', which merged Upper Canada and Lower Canada into a single colony: the [[Province of Canada]]. Lower Canada became the francophone and densely populated [[Canada East]], and Upper Canada became the anglophone and sparsely populated [[Canada West]]. This union, unsurprisingly, was the main source of political instability until 1867. Despite their population gap, both Canada East and Canada West obtained an identical number of seats in the [[Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada]], which created representation problems. In the beginning, Canada East was under-represented because of its superior population size. Over time, however, massive immigration from the British Isles to Canada West occurred, which increased its population. Since the two regions continued to have equal representation in the Parliament, this meant that it was now Canada West that was under-represented. The representation issues were frequently called into question by debates on [[Representation (politics)|"Representation by Population"]]. From this period onward, the British population gradually began to use the term "[[English Canadians|Canadian]]", referring to Canada, their place of residence. The French population, who had thus far identified as "Canadiens", began to be identified with their [[ethnic community]] under the name "[[French Canadian]]" as they were a "French of Canada".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/ijcs/2008-n37-ijcs3714/040800ar.pdf |title=The Only Canadians: Canada's French and the British Connection |language=fr |access-date=22 August 2023}}</ref>

As access to new lands remained problematic because they were still monopolized by the [[Château Clique|Clique du Château]], an exodus of Canadiens towards [[New England]] began and went on for the next one hundred years. This phenomenon is known as the [[Grande Hémorragie]] and greatly threatened the survival of the Canadien nation. The massive British immigration ordered from London that soon followed the failed rebellion compounded this problem. In order to combat this, the Church adopted the [[La Revanche des berceaux|revenge of the cradle]] policy. In 1844, the capital of the Province of Canada was moved from [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]] to Montreal.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Musée Pointe-à-Callière |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCWs7opCrUI  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/uCWs7opCrUI |archive-date=December 13, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Montréal, une capitale, un parlement (1844-1849) |language=fr |via=YouTube |accessdate=September 12, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Political unrest came to a head in 1849, when English Canadian rioters [[Burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal|set fire to the Parliament Building in Montreal]] following the enactment of the ''[[Rebellion Losses Bill]],'' a law that compensated French Canadians whose properties were destroyed during the rebellions of 1837–1838.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://histoire-du-quebec.ca/incendie-parlement-1849/|title=Émeute du 25 avril 1849 : Incendie du Parlement|publisher=Histoire du Quebec|accessdate=July 5, 2021 |language=fr}}</ref> This bill, resulting from the [[Robert Baldwin|Baldwin]]-[[Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine|La Fontaine]] coalition and Lord Elgin's advice, was a very important one as it established the notion of [[responsible government]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/fr/article/loi-dindemnisation-pour-le-bas-canada|encyclopedia=L'Encyclopédie canadienne|title=Loi d'indemnisation pour le Bas-Canada|last=Mills|first=David|date=March 4, 2015 |language=fr}}</ref> In 1854, the seigneurial system was abolished, the [[Grand Trunk Railway]] was built and the [[Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty]] was implemented. In 1866, the ''[[Civil Code of Lower Canada]]'' was adopted.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/fr/article/grand-trunk-railway-of-canada |title=Grand Trunk Railway of Canada |language=fr|first=James|last=Marsh|date=June 3, 2015 |encyclopedia=L'Encyclopédie canadienne}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history/article/abs/canadianamerican-reciprocity-treaty-of-1855-to-1866/43B9931704F67904DABB6474B5475F46 |title=The Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty of 1855 to 1866 |journal=The Journal of Economic History |date=2011 |last1=Officer |first1=Lawrence H. |last2=Smith |first2=Lawrence B. |volume=28 |issue=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/fr/article-404/R%C3%A9gime_seigneurial_au_Qu%C3%A9bec__.html#.YOPNsOgSg2w |title=Régime seigneurial au Québec |language=fr |encyclopedia=Encyclopédie du Patrimoine Culturel de l'Amérique Française|accessdate=September 12, 2021}}</ref>