Historical Records of Quebec

The name "Quebec" originates from the Indian language and its original meaning is fjord. Aboriginal people used this term to refer to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River where Quebec City is now. The St. Lawrence River suddenly opens up here as it flows from the west. The first European explorer to come here was Jacques Cartier. He arrived in the Gaspé area in 1534 and sailed into the St. Lawrence River in 1535.

Quebec City After 1627, French King Louis XIII ordered that immigrants other than Roman Catholics were not allowed to settle in New France. This move ensured that the education and welfare of the colony were in the hands of the church. In 1663, New France became a royal province under the jurisdiction of Jean Tallon.

In 1763, Britain signed the Treaty of Paris with King Louis XV of France. France gave up New France in exchange for continuing to possess Guadeloupe in the West Indies. The British renamed Canada (then part of New France) Quebec.

In 1774, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act, which ensured that the French language and French culture in Quebec were not threatened. This bill also allows Quebec to retain French civil law and the entire legal system, while also guaranteeing religious freedom. Roman Catholicism remained. After the American Revolution, many British Loyalists poured into Canada, changing the population composition. For this reason, the Constitution Act of 1791 divided the original colony into two parts with the Ottawa River as the boundary. The western part, Upper Canada, switched to the British legal system, while the eastern part, Lower Canada, remained the same.

In 1841, the British government merged Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada. In 1867, the Province of Canada merged with the other two British colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to form the Canadian Union, but the Province of Canada itself was divided into two parts: Ontario and Quebec. In the 1960s, the terrorist organization "French de Liberation du Québec" began a decade-long anti-government campaign. In 1968, they kidnapped British Trade Commissioner Cross and Quebec Labor Minister Laporte, who was murdered a few days later.

In 1977, René Lévesque led the Parti Québécois to win the provincial election, and the independence situation became increasingly intense. Lerwick promulgated the French Charter (also known as Bill 101). This act established French as the sole official language in Quebec. To this day, all signs in Quebec are in French; this bill remains controversial.

Levesque held the first referendum in the province on the issue of sovereignty in 1980, and 60% of Quebec voters voted against it. On October 30, 1995, Quebec's second referendum on independence failed again. This time, the votes were very close (50.6% opposed to 49.4% in favor).

On November 27, 2006, the Canadian Parliament passed Prime Minister Harper's motion "Quebecs are one nation in a united Canada" with 266 votes in favor and 16 votes against. However, because the term "nation" can be interpreted as "country" or "nation", some Canadians feel that Quebec has become independent.