Six thousand years ago, natives settled in the Saint Lawrence River Valley. By the 1500′s, different groups of natives lived there. The English and French have long histories with Quebec. Cartier, a Frenchman, explored Quebec and the Saint Lawrence Region in 1535. In 1608, another Frenchman, Champlain, founded the first permanent French settlement and trading post, calling it Quebec.
The English army, in 1628, attacked Quebec and captured the settlement in 1629. In 1632, France regained Quebec. In 1759, Quebec came into British hands. The Treaty of Paris, in1763, gave Quebec to the British. From 1763 to 1791 Quebec was the capital of the British Government in Quebec. From 1791 to 1841, Quebec was the capital of Lower Canada. 1n 1774 the Quebec Act was passed by England. It guaranteed French civil law in Quebec, a British colony with a largely French population. From 1861 Quebec has been a province.
Quebec is located at the junction of the Saint Lawrence River and the Saint Charles River. It is on the northern headland of the Saint Lawrence River. There are two parts to Quebec- the Upper Town and the Lower Town. The Lower Town is the commercial section, the businesses and industries are located here. It has many large stores and some factories. The Notre Dame des Victoires Church, built in 1688, is on the site of Champlain’s first settlement. The Upper Town is the residential section. Most of the churches, public building s, stores, restaurants, parks, private schools and homes are there. Narrow stairs, an elevator and a steep winding street connect the upper and lower sections of Quebec.
At 333 feet above river level, Cape Diamond is the highest point in Quebec. A fort was built there from 1823 to 1832. Southwest of the fort is National Battlefield Park where, in 1759, a battle was fought between Britain and France. That battle resulted in the British capture of Quebec. Montmorency Falls is Quebec’s highest waterfall. Quebec is in the shape of a triangle. One half of Quebec is forest. About one third of all paper produced in Canada comes from Quebec. Montreal is the largest city.
Ontario and the James and Hudson Bays are west of Quebec. New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine and Canada’s New Brunswick are south of Quebec. Southeast of Quebec are the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and a part of the Atlantic Ocean. East of Quebec are Newfoundland and Labrador. The territory of Nunavut is north of Quebec.
The Canadian Shield covers 80% of Quebec. The region is rich in gold, copper and ore. The climate is too cold for most crops. The Shield has thousands of ponds and lakes, some of the bigger lakes flow west across the Shield. The northern part of the Shield is tundra, an arctic area that is too cold for trees to grow. Southeast of the Canadian Shield is the Laurentian Mountain Range.
Quebec is ruled by a mayor and a copuncil form of government. The voters elect the mayor and 21 council members for 2 terms of 4 years each.
Quebec gets its money from property sales, taxes aaand companies. Churches, government buildings, hospitals and other non-profit organizations do not pay taxes. Thousands of workers make wood products. Logging companies are required to replant areas where they have cut down trees. This law went into effect in 1978. Hydro-electric dams provide electricity to the factories. This does not create air pollution. Hydro Quebec is the largest provider of electricity in Canada. Shipbuilding, papermaking and cement manufacturing are the biggest industries in Quebec. Tourism is also very important to the economy.
The largest museum is the Musee du Quebec. It has paintings and sculptures. The Musee Historique has life sized wax figures that show scenes from the history of Canada. The Seminary Museum has old paintings, coins and stamps. The Grand Theatre has a concert hall and theatre. The Quebec Symphonic Orchestra and a local drama company both perform there. There are over one thousand churches. The Ursuline Convent was founded in 1639. The Basilique Notre Dame has walls that date back to 1647.
Ninety five percent of all Quebecers have French ancestry. Five percent of the people have English, Irish or Scottish backgrounds. Most of the people, ninety five percent, are Roman Catholics. French is spoken by eighty percent of the people.
Due to the large percentage of people with French backgrounds, Bill 101 was passed in Quebec in 1977. This bill made French the official language. In 1980 a referendum was held on whether Quebec should separate from Canada. This referendum as well as a 1980 referendum did not pass. French separatists have remained stubborn in their belief that Quebec should be separate from Canada and hold very strong views on this issue.
