Changes

Quebec was to be governed  by an appointive governor and council without benefit of a representative legislative  body, and all acts were subject to royal veto.  There was no provision for democracy or self-government of any kind, let alone the variety that was flourishing in the 13 colonies.

Quebec was to be governed  by an appointive governor and council without benefit of a representative legislative  body, and all acts were subject to royal veto.  There was no provision for democracy or self-government of any kind, let alone the variety that was flourishing in the 13 colonies.

==Background==

==Background==

After the [[Seven Years' War]], a victorious [[Great Britain]] achieved a peace agreement through the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Under the terms of the treaty, the Kingdom of France chose to keep the rich sugar islands of [[Haiti|St. Domingue]], [[Martinique]] and [[Guadaloupe]] 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.

After the [[Seven Years' War]], a victorious [[Great Britain]] achieved a peace agreement through the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Under the terms of the treaty, the Kingdom of France chose to keep the rich sugar islands of [[Haiti|St. Domingue]], [[Martinique]] and [[Guadaloupe]] 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.

==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 faith to be practiced. It replaced the old oath with one to [[King George III]] which had no reference to the Protestant faith.  The act theoretically annexed to Quebec much of what became the American Midwest, but the British never had time to set up an administrative system there.  

The Quebec Act restored the former French civil tradition for private law, which had been ended in 1763 and allowed for the Roman Catholic faith to be practiced. It replaced the old oath with one to [[King George III]] which had no reference to the Protestant faith.  The act theoretically annexed to Quebec much of what became the American Midwest, but the British never had time to set up an administrative system there.

 

==Effect on the Thirteen Colonies==

==Effect on the Thirteen Colonies==

The Act angered Americans and was a minor cause of the [[American Revolution]]. Americans called it one of the "Intolerable Acts," and it was seen as a deliberate effort to hurt the Americans. The frontier was closed to the  expansion of the free institutions of the seaboard, and the hopes of colonial land  speculators were blasted. Colonial propagandists effectively used the Quebec Act to  widen the breach between London and colonies by declaring that the British  government intended to employ the "Popish slaves" of Quebec to establish the doctrines  of royal absolutism and Roman Catholicism throughout the American colonies.   

The Act angered Americans and was a minor cause of the [[American Revolution]]. Americans called it one of the "Intolerable Acts," and it was seen as a deliberate effort to hurt the Americans. The frontier was closed to the  expansion of the free institutions of the seaboard, and the hopes of colonial land  speculators were blasted. Colonial propagandists effectively used the Quebec Act to  widen the breach between London and colonies by declaring that the British  government intended to employ the "Popish slaves" of Quebec to establish the doctrines  of royal absolutism and Roman Catholicism throughout the American colonies.   

* 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  

* 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  

* Miller, John C. ''Origins of the American Revolution'' 1943. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=493014 online version]

* Miller, John C. ''Origins of the American Revolution'' 1943. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=493014 online version]

==External links==

==External links==

* [http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/48786/0003?id=7f1ab5cd834af05f&size=2 The Quebec Act]

* [http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/PageView/48786/0003?id=7f1ab5cd834af05f&size=2 The Quebec Act]

* [http://www.canadiana.org/citm/themes/constitution1_e.html Canada in the Making - Constitutional History]

* [http://www.canadiana.org/citm/themes/constitution1_e.html Canada in the Making - Constitutional History]

[[Category:Canadian History]]

[[Category:Canadian History]]