Timeline of Quebec history: Difference between revisions

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[[fr:Histoire du Québec]]

{{History of Quebec}}

This article presents a detailed chronology of Quebec's history from the origins of planet Earth until now. Events taking place outside Quebec (for example, in the other Canadian provinces, the United States or Great Britain) are included when they are considered to have had a significant impact on Quebec.

This article presents a detailed '''timeline of Quebec history'''. Events taking place outside [[Quebec]], for example in [[English Canada]], the [[United States]], [[UK|Britain]] or [[France]], may be included when they are considered to have had a significant impact on [[History of Quebec|Quebec's history]].

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (Beginnings to 1533)|1533 and before]]

Note: in order to keep this page clean, readable and useful, please only include dated events and keep political revisionism out of it. There are other articles dealing with the [[Political History of Quebec]], the [[Politics of Quebec]].

*[[Timeline of New France history (1534 to 1607)|1534 to 1607]]

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (1608 to 1662)|1608 to 1662]]

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (1663 to 1759)|1663 to 1759]]

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (1760 to 1773)|1760 to 1773]]

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (1774 to 1790)|1774 to 1790]]

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (1791 to 1840)|1791 to 1840]]

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (1841 to 1866)|1841 to 1866]]

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (1867 to 1899)|1867 to 1899]]

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (1900 to 1930)|1900 to 1930]]

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (1931 to 1959)|1931 to 1959]]

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (1960 to 1981)|1960 to 1981]]

*[[Timeline of Quebec history (1982 to present)|1982 to present]]

== Pre-European History ==

[[File:WalkerExpeditionMarker.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|The approximate site of the disaster is marked in red on this [[1733]] [[map]] detail.]]

- 2,9 billion years ago, the enormous continental shield of mainly metamorphic and igneous rocks which we call today the "Canadian shield" is being formed. Approximately 95% of the surface of Quebec is made up of this gigantic shield.

==See also==

- 350 million years ago, an enormous meteorite falls down on what is now the region of Charlevoix. The gigantic crater 56 kilometers in diameter is still clearly visible on the maps. This semicircular zone still is today the only livable zone where the soil is fertile in this rough and austere abrupt granite area.

{{Portal|Canada}}

* [[List of Quebec general elections]]

* [[History of Quebec]]

* [[History of North America]]

* [[List of years in Canada]]

* [[List of Quebecers]]

* [[Quebec politics]]

* [[Timeline of Montreal history]]

*[[New France]]

==External links==

- 255 million years ago, the slow collision between several continents will form the Appalachian Mountains. Although it was eroded considerably since, this imposing chain of mountain still extends today from Alabama to Newfoundland, passing through the Quebec regions of the Eastern Townships and Gaspesie.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061113142311/http://www2.marianopolis.edu/quebechistory/chronos/index.htm Quebec History Chronologies]

* [http://www.republiquelibre.org/cousture/HIST2.HTM 1524-2003: From New France to Modern Quebec]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010627104813/http://www.edunetconnect.com/cat/rebellions/ The 1837 Rebellions]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040404113746/http://bilan.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/index.html Le Bilan du Siècle] (in French)

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040306214619/http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fra/patrimoine/ National Assembly historical data] (in French)

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060404022328/http://www.canadiana.org/citm/themes/constitution1_e.html Canada in the Making - Constitutional History]

* [http://pages.infinit.net/histoire/ Chronologie de l'histoire du Québec] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503184036/http://pages.infinit.net/histoire/ |date=2009-05-03 }} (in French)

* [http://pages.infinit.net/histoire/femindex.html Chronologie historique des femmes du Québec] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031208174641/http://pages.infinit.net/histoire/femindex.html |date=2003-12-08 }} (in French)

* [http://www.rond-point.qc.ca/rond-point/histoire/ Rond-point : Histoire du Québec] (in French)

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20031208093752/http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/m347370/ L'influence amérindienne sur la société canadienne du régime français] (in French)

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20031203043818/http://cgi.cvm.qc.ca/Patriotes/ Les patriotes de 1837-1838] (in French)

* [http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/francophonie/histfrnqc.htm Histoire du français au Québec] (in French)

{{Quebec topics}}

- 13 thousand years ago, groups of hunters would have landed in America through the detroit of Bering. This is the dominant theory since 1927, however, there ae other plausible theories today.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline Of Quebec History}}

- Some 8 thousand years ago, the south of Quebec became habitable when the temperature warmed up on this part of the Earth. The first peoples will begin to immigrate on what is today the territory of Quebec. They are the ancestors of today's Innus, Huron-Wendat, and Algonquins.

[[Category:Timelines of Quebec history| ]]

[[Category:Quebec-related lists]]

The name Quebec, which comes from the [[Micmac]] word "Gepèèg" meaning "strait," originally meant the narrowing of the St. Lawrence River off what is currently Quebec City. Paleo-Amerindians, whose presence in Quebec can be traced back 10,000 years, preceded the [[Algonquin]] and [[Iroquois]] Aboriginal peoples, with whom the Europeans first made contact in the 16th century. The northern part of the province was, and still is, inhabited by the [[Inuit]].

[[Category:Canadian timelines|Quebec]]

[[Quebec]] was inhabited by a range of [[First Nation]]s before the arrival of the French, and still is today. The Quebec government recognizes 10 Amerindian nations and the [[Inuit]] nation on its territory. The First Nations are the [[Mohawk]]s, the [[Cree]], the [[Algonquin]], the [[Atikamekw]], the [[Micmac]], the [[Malecite]]s, the [[Naskapi]]s, the [[Huron]]s-[[Wendat]], the [[Abenaki]] and the [[Innu]]s.

== European Explorers ==

[[1001]] - The Viking explorer Leif Erikson is, according to concrete scientific evidence, the first European to reach America.

[[1492]] - For the Queen of Spain, Christopher Columbus crosses the Atlantic ocean. When he reaches the other side, he believes himself to be in Asia. Europeans officially become aware of the existence of a new continent that will later be named America.

[[1524]] - Giovanni da Verrazzano explores the East coast of America from Florida to Newfoundland.

== [[New France]] ==

(1534-1760)

''Main article: [[History of New France]]''

[[1534]] - The first European explorer of what is now Quebec was [[Jacques Cartier]], who planted a cross in the [[Gaspé]] in 1534 and sailed into the [[St. Lawrence River]] in [[1535]].

[[1541]] - Cartier founds Charlesbourg Royal, first French establishment in America.

[[1537]] - The pope Paul III proclaims that since the ''Sauvages'' are real humans, they are apt to receive the Christian faith.

[[1555]] - Villegagnon establishes a Protestant French colony named "Antarctic France" in Brazil. The Portuguese will destroy it in 1560 following many conflicts between Protestants and Catholics.

[[1562]] - The French attempt to colonize what is today Florida. It will fail.

[[1605]] - Samuel de Champlain founds Port Royal (today Annapolis in Nova Scotia). See [[History of Acadia]].

=== One Hundred Associates ===

(1608-1663)

[[1608]] - [[Samuel de Champlain]] founded [[Quebec City]] in 1608; it would become the nucleus of New France and the origin of [[French colonization of the Americas|French exploration]] of [[North America]].

The French brought their [[Roman Catholicism|religion]] and [[French language|language]], which, as was done by all colonizing nations, were imposed upon the Aboriginal peoples. In addition, the French brought the practice of [[slavery]] with them, using black [[Africa]]ns shipped from [[Nantes]], the major French port serving the [[slave trade]]. The laws of [[France]] applied to the [[colony]], and slaves such as the one given the French name of [[Marie-Joseph Angélique]] were summarily executed for minor crimes. However large-scale agricultural slavery, as practised in the [[Caribbean]] and the American South, was not economically viable in Quebec's climate, but slaves were used as domestic servants for the rich, field worekers, or any other task that their masters dictated. It is believed that there were never more than 1200 African slaves in the entire colony, however, this represented more than one in every ten persons being a black slave.

After [[1627]], King [[Louis XIII of France]] introduced the [[seigneurial system]] and forbade settlement in New France by anyone other than [[Roman Catholic]]s, ensuring that welfare and education was kept firmly in the hands of the church.

=== Sovereign Council ===

(1663-1760)

[[1663]] - New France becomes a royal province in [[1663]] under [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]]. The government of New France had none of the representative institutions that were a fundamental part of the British colonies to the south. The king of France was an absolute ruler but individual citizens were allowed to make an appeal directly to the king or to the sovereign council. The soverign council was a body appointed by the King consisting of the aristocrat governor, an aristocrat intendant, and a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Under the laws of France and its colonies, no person could speak for any group because this potential for a collective voice would threaten the king's absolute power.

The French colonists living in the St. Lawrence River valley allied with the Hurons against the [[Iroquois]], who were allied to the British.

By [[1713]], French colonists in all of [[North America]] number only about twelve thousand, while British colonists number almost one million.

== British Regime ==

(1760-1931)

[[1759]] - The [[French and Indian War]] (1754-1763) between [[Great Britain]] and [[France]] continues in North America and Europe. In one battle of the seven-year-long war on the [[Plains of Abraham]] near Quebec City in 1759, the English troops led by general [[James Wolfe]] defeated the French troops led by [[Louis-Joseph de Montcalm]]. This event is referred to by a few as the "Conquest", referring to it as the loss of territory. However, the fate of this territory will only be decided permanently in the 1763 treaty that ended the War.

[[1763]] - Great Britain acquired the territory in the area now called Canada from France through the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]] when King [[Louis XV of France]] and his advisors chose to keep the territory of [[Guadeloupe]] for its valuable sugar crops instead of New France, which was viewed as a vast, frozen wasteland (''"quelques arpents de neige"'' - Voltaire) of little importance to the French colonial empire. Virtually all of the members of the French aristocracy return to France. The [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]] saw the renaming of the French area to Province of Quebec. A census taken near that time showed the French population totalled just under 55,000.

=== Quebec Act ===

(1774-1791)

[[1774]] - The [[British Parliament]] passed the [[Quebec Act]] in 1774, restoring [[French civil law]] but keeping the British [[common law]] for criminal court procedures. The Act also allowed for the freedom of the Roman Catholic Church. Pressured by the agitation in its American colonies, the Quebec Act also tried to thwart the American colonists land claims by expanding the boundaries of Quebec southward to the [[Ohio River]], and provided for sole governing of the vast Western Territory by a viceroy of the King.

During the [[American Revolutionary War]], [[Montreal]] was captured and the revolutionaries attempted to rally the residents to their cause. The French citizens of British North America remained mostly neutral in the conflict, following the edicts of the Roman Catholic Church.

=== Constitutional Act ===

(1791-1840)

[[1791]] - After the independence of the American colonies, many [[Loyalist]]s settled in Quebec. The [[Constitutional Act of 1791]] divided Quebec at the [[Ottawa River]], creating [[Upper Canada]] (now [[Ontario]]) and [[Lower Canada]] (now Quebec).

Under the Constitutional Act, the population of Quebec discovered British [[parliament]]arism. Within the limits of the time of this democratic political system, the representatives of the people battled for more autonomy. The sum of the demands and grievances of some of the French-speaking people can be read in the [[Ninety-Two Resolutions]] written by [[Louis-Joseph Papineau]], leader of the Patriot Party. Five years after the resolutions were presented, [[London]] replied with the ten Russell's Resolutions. Following this and numerous other events, Papineau's political movement became more radical. A warrant of arrest on the nationalist leaders sparked an armed conflict by both the English and French citizens of Lower and Upper Canada in 1837 (see [[Rebellions of 1837]]).

[[1839]] - The [[Patriotes Rebellion]] was put down and the report of [[Lord Durham]], sent to investigate the uprising, recommended the union of [[the Canadas]] in order to assimilate the French-speaking Canadians and to install a government responsible to the legislative assembly.

=== Act of Union ===

(1840-1867)

[[1840]] - The [[Act of Union (1840)|Act of Union]] was passed by the British Parliament, and the new jointly run government was instituted in [[1849]], under [[Robert Baldwin]] from [[Canada West]] and [[Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine]] of [[Canada East]].

[[1864]] - Political deadlocks led to talks of a [[Canadian Confederation|confederation]], which in turn led to the creation of the Dominion of Canada with [[New Brunswick]] and [[Nova Scotia]]. The [[Province of Canada]] would be redivided along the [[Ottawa River]] into Ontario and Quebec.

=== Federal Dominion of Canada ===

(1867-1931)

[[1867]] - The [[British North America Act]] is passed by London. [[Georges-Etienne Cartier]], who dominated Québec politics, plays a major role and will become Deputy Prime Minister of all Canada.

<table align=left><tr><td>[[Image:1867.jpg]]</td></tr><tr><td><center>'''Quebec (''brown'') in 1867'''</center></td></tr></table>

[[1867]] - First provincial elections in August: the Conservatives favour confederation; the [[Parti libéral du Québec|Liberal]]s oppose the new constitution. The Liberals' program is not very well defined, but it is not without similarity to the proposal of [[sovereignty-association]] that would be discussed 90 years later. Despite the threats of the Church, which warns that a vote against confederation is a [[mortal sin]], no less than 45% of Quebec votes Rouge (Liberal). It is said by some today that the election was fixed in many ridings with many pro-confederation candidates winning dubious victories with majorities of only six votes. In a third of the ridings, no elections were held.

[[1885]] - Hanging of the [[Metis]], [[Louis Riel]]. Sir [[John A. MacDonald]] declares "Even if all the dogs of Quebec bark, Riel will be hanged!"

[[1871]] - The Common School Act of New Brunswick imposes tax measures against French Schools.

[[1877]] - Law against French schools in [[Prince Edward Island]] (Public School Act).

[[1887]] - Election of [[Honoré Mercier]], leader of the [[Parti National]].

[[1890]] - Law abolishing public funding of Roman Catholic schools in [[Manitoba]], reduces the teaching of French inside classes, and abolishes its use in the Parliament and the Courts. (see [[Manitoba Schools Question]]).

[[1896]] - [[Wilfrid Laurier]], born in [[Saint-Lin, Quebec]] becomes the first Quebecker to be elected [[Prime Minister of Canada]].

[[1898]] - The [[Parliament of Canada]] extends the northern boundary of Quebec to the [[Eastmain River]].

[[1900]] - [[Alphonse Desjardins]] founds the first [[credit union]] in North America. Today, the Desjardins Credit Union Federation is the biggest financial institution in Quebec.

[[1904]] - [[Henri Bourassa]] pleads in favour of bilingualism in the institutions of the federal government. His motion receives almost no support.

[[1912]] - The [[Parliament of Canada]] extends the northern boundary of Quebec to [[Hudson Strait]].

[[1914]] - [[First World War]]. Most Quebecers reject the idea of sending conscripts to the war in Europe, but Quebec volunteers in the 22nd (French Canadian) Infantry Battalion, CEF, distinguish themselves on the [[Western Front]]. The rest of Canada supports the war effort with little dissent.

[[1912]] - [[Ontario]] forbids the teaching in French beyond grade two of elementary school with Regulation 17. The teaching of French, as a subject, is limited to one hour per day. Inspectors are required to inspect the formerly-French schools for a total of 220 half-days to ensure the respect of Regulation 17.

[[1916]] - English becomes the only authorized language of instruction in [[Manitoba]]. The province's important French-speaking population is forced to attend English schools until [[1970]].

[[1917]] - There are riots in Quebec as the federal government enforces [[conscription]] (see [[Conscription Crisis of 1917]]).

[[1918]] - [[Lionel Groulx]], becomes the first [[priest]] to publicly denounce the injustices against French speakers. He denounces the unilingual English face of Montreal, the absence of bilingual [[coin]]s and [[bank note]]s, and the absence of French in [[Ottawa]], the federal capital. He also denounces the [[Jews]] and supports the [[Nazi]]s in [[Germany]] in numerous 1930s articles in [[Montreal]]'s Le Devoir newspaper.

[[1922]] - [[Joseph-Armand Bombardier]] engineers the first prototype of a [[snowmobile]], the Snowdog. The first fully operational unit will be assembled in [[1935]].

== Sovereign Canada ==

(1931-Today)

[[1931]] - The [[Statute of Westminster]] removes the last vestiges of [[British]] power in Canada.

[[1936]] - The [[Battle of Vimy Ridge|Vimy Ridge Memorial]] opens in honour of the thousands of Canadians who died on the battlefields of [[France]].

[[1939]] to [[1945]] - Volunteer army and air force units from Quebec -- some francophone, some anglophone -- fight with merit in Europe.

[[1940]] - [[France]] falls to Germany, Canadian soldiers have again volunteered in the millions to liberate France from its [[Nazi]] occupiers.

[[1942]] - [[Referendum]] on [[conscription]]. Quebec votes against conscription a second time; the rest of Canada votes in favour (see [[Conscription Crisis of 1944]]).

[[1948]] - [[Louis St. Laurent]], born in [[Compton, Quebec]], is elected [[Prime Minister of Canada]].

== Modern Quebec ==

(1960-Today)

Under the [[Union Nationale]] government of [[Maurice Duplessis]], the Roman Catholic Church was allowed to maintain control over social services such as schools and hospitals. Under the constitution, the provinces had control of education, but in Quebec the school system was entirely confessional. The [[Protestant]]s and Roman Catholics ran separate school systems in Quebec until the [[1990s]] when secularization of schools took place under the [[Parti Québécois]] government. The clergy used its influence to exhort voters to stay with the conservative government, who also took firm stands against social reform and [[union]]ism.

In [[1960]], under a new Liberal Party government led by Premier [[Jean Lesage]], the political power of the church was greatly reduced. Quebec entered an accelerated decade of changes known as the [[Quiet Revolution]]. The changes were so quick and so radical that the Liberal government was voted out in [[1965]] and the Union Nationale party was returned to power.

During the [[1960s]], a terrorist group known as the [[Front de libération du Québec]] (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, murders, robberies and attacks on government offices. Their activities culminated in events referred to as the [[October Crisis]] when the British trade commissioner to Canada was kidnapped along with [[Pierre Laporte]], a provincial minister and Vice-Premier, who was murdered a few days later.

[[1968]] - [[Pierre Trudeau]], born in [[Montreal, Quebec]], is elected [[Prime Minister of Canada]].

<table align=right><tr><td>[[Image:Can2002.JPG]]</td></tr><tr><td><center>'''Quebec (''brown'') in 2002'''</center></td></tr></table>

A non-violent Quebec independence movement slowly took form in the late 1960s. The Parti Québécois was created by the sovereignty-association movement of [[René Lévesque]]; it advocated a reconfederation recognizing Quebec as an equal and independent nation. The Parti Québécois was elected in [[1976]]. The first PQ government was known as the "republic of teachers" for its high number of candidates teaching at the university level. The PQ passed laws to favour equal financing of political parties and the Quebec [[Charter of the French Language]] (the so-called Bill 101). The charter is a fundamental law making French the sole official language of Quebec while guaranteeing the rights of the English-speaking community. The first enactment of the charter became controversial for its regulations on commercial signs. It banned English-only and bilingual signs, as the government claimed that they violated the right of the French-speaking majority. This section of the law was deemed unconstitutional by the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] under the [[Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]], see: Ford v. Quebec (A.G.). The law was amended to comply with the Supreme Court ruling. The current 1988 law specifies that signs must be in French but can be multilingual so long as French is predominant. Some businesses now voluntarily choose to put English under the French on signs where market forces warrant.

In order to ensure and encourage the participation of Quebec's majoritarily francophone population in political and labour matters, French was made the official language in the workplace and in the governments' affairs. Thus, current and prospective employees could no longer be subject to discrimination if they could not speak English or preferred to speak French instead. Also, internal written communications were now required to be in French, as well as in any other language deemed necessary by the employer.

In [[1980]], Premier Lévesque put sovereignty-association before the Quebec voters in a referendum. 60% of the Quebec electorate voted against it. The Canadian government patriated the constitution in [[1982]] without the approval of the Quebec government.

[[1984]] - [[Brian Mulroney]], born in [[Baie-Comeau, Quebec]], is elected [[Prime Minister of Canada]].

From [[1985]] to [[1994]], the federalist Parti libéral du Québec governed under [[Robert Bourassa]] and [[Daniel Johnson, Jr.]] Progress on the constitutional issue resulted in the [[Meech Lake Accord]] in [[1987]], but it collapsed in [[1990]]. Another constitutional deal, the [[Charlottetown Accord]], which sought to resolve a long list of unrelated issues at the same time as it resolved the rest of the nation's relationship with Quebec, was rejected by country-wide referendum in [[1992]].

[[1993]] - [[Jean Chrétien]], born in [[Shawinigan, Quebec]], is elected [[Prime Minister of Canada]].

The Parti Québécois was re-elected to office in 1994, led by [[Jacques Parizeau]] and held another referendum on [[sovereignty]]. On [[October 30]], [[1995]], the measure was rejected by an extremely slim margin, less than one percent. The federal [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] under Prime Minister [[Jean Chrétien]] came under sharp criticism for mishandling the "no" side of the referendum campaign.

Parizeau resigned and was replaced by the head of the federal [[Bloc Québécois]], [[Lucien Bouchard]]. Under Bouchard, the sovereignist option was pushed aside, as it didn't seem possible to gather "winning conditions". Then on [[August 20]], [[1998]], the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] stated that Quebec could not legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval.

For some the fight for Quebec independence is still very important to this day. However, after ten years of governing by the separatist Parti Québécois, in the election of [[April 14]], [[2003]], [[Jean Charest]], leader of the Parti libéral du Québec, became premier of the province.

Quebec City hosted the [[Quebec City Summit of the Americas|Summit of the Americas]] in April [[2001]], attracting huge anti-[[globalization]] protests with activists from everywhere in the Americas.

-----

Also in Wikipedia:

[[Quebec]] - [[Quebecois French | Quebec French]] - [[Quebecers]] - [[Quebecois]] - [[List of Quebecois]] - [[Politics of Quebec|Politics of Quebec]] - [[Politics of Canada|Politics of Canada]]

External Links:

* [http://www.republiquelibre.org/cousture/HIST2.HTM 1524-2003: From New France to Modern Quebec]