22 giug 1774 anni - Quebec Act Passed

Descrizione:

The Quebec act was an act of the British Parliament setting the procedures in Quebec. Quebec's territory was expanded to include a part of the Indian reserve. The land included what is now parts southern Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota. Another aspect of the act removed the reference to Protestant faith in the Oath of Allegiance, guaranteed free practice of Catholicism, restored the use of the French civil law for matters of private law, and gave the Catholic church the power to impose tithes.

This act was passed in the same session where Parliament designed other acts to punish the American colonists for the events of the Boston Tea party and other protests. The actions of the Quebec Act were seen by the colonists as a new model for British colonial administration, which would strip the colonies of their elected assemblies. The Americans had fought vigorously in the French and Indian war, they saw the acts given to their former enemy as an offense.

With the unrest in the American colonies, the British were worried that the Canadiens in Quebec would join in a rebellion. This act was put into place in order to secure the allegiance of the Canadiens which made up the majority of people in Quebec.