History

It is not possible to understand the current political situation of Québec and the reasons for the existence of its strong independence movement without a solid knowledge of its history.

Real history is made out of a countless number of events. No historian ever intended nor was ever expected to enumerate and explain them in totality. When writing about the history of a given human community, a number of events must be selected and interpreted to make up a "story" with a beginning, a progression, and some sort of a conclusion. All over the world, in the past and in the present, patriotism and political leanings have weighted a great deal in the selection and interpretation of the events making up the tale of "national history". There is no exception for Canada or Quebec.

Many English language resources you will find on the Internet (type "Canada" or "Canadian" and "History" in Google) present a very superficial overview of Canadian history as it is understood and promoted by Canadian nationalists and Unionists who defend the point of view suitable to the purpose of the political power in Ottawa, even when this point of view is morally wrong and/or supported by logically flawed arguments and/or factually incorrect assertions. In fiction, nobody expects a tale to be written using an unbiased and scientific collection of facts as sole material. In the writing of human history, the national fairy tales taught in schools are too often closer to fiction than non-fiction.

To suit the view of a certain minority of interested individuals and their paid or fooled followers, it was decided that "modern" Canada was born with the "confederal" regime of 1867. That is to say when some of the countries that had previously been part of "British North America" were federated in a single new political entity to which the name "Canada" was attached for the first time. This is the dominant perspective in Canada. The most important events of the history of Québec (and therefore also British North America) which occurred before 1867 are therefore sketched out in a manner which pays little respect to the important facts necessary to understand the nature of today's conflict between Québec and the federal State of Canada and yesterday's conflict between Québec and the British government.

Québec, it is said by these nationalists, is only a province like the others, and it is therefore wrong to suggest the idea and even worst to ask for a special arrangement between Québec and the federal State. The myth says that when the first four British North American Provinces were federated, a new "political" nationality was born, thus putting an end to the "conflict between two races" that until then slowed down the progress and development of British North America for so long.

The secession of Québec from this federation, in addition to being immoral because it would promote "ethnic" nationalism, amounts to treason and disloyalty. The political equality of provinces inside the Union is placed above and made in opposition to the principle of the equality of nations on Earth. But those same people hold the view that Quebec is not a legitimate nation, since its nationalism is inherently and demonstrably wrong (not purely political as that of Canada), as they have learned from their historians. Therefore, to them, there could not exist any good argument following from the premise that Québec is in fact a political nation and was such even before the creation of the federal Dominion of Canada in 1867. In simple terms, their view is the history written by the victor, the one which is not interested in giving an accurate account of the way in which the victories were achieved and the human cost involved in achieving them. It nevertheless needs a moral justification as do all imperialisms.

Below is a list of on line English language resources that present elements of the history of Québec in a manner which does not completely make abstraction of, obfuscate, or misrepresent certain facts which the adversaries of the Québec nationalists simply ignore or choose to ignore because they are incompatible with their political preference.

We do not claim these external resources to be free of inaccuracies, errors or partisan opinions. With this page, we only wish to point out some external resources on the history of Québec which are not completely biased in favour of the theses defended by the federal government's agents and political parties waging war to Québec's nationalists, both the secessionists and the reformists, who, in spite of their disagreement on the best way to end the constitutional crisis of Canada, agree on basic facts and interpretations, such as the national character of Québec society, past and present.

Visitors to this site are expected to exercise judgement in order to figure out what is true and what is false and discern what is a fact from what is a point of view.

History of Québec

General

• 1524-2006: From New France to Modern Québec, by Patrick Couture, in Chez Cousture's Website
• Quebec History, by Claude Bélanger, history professor at Marianopolis College in Montreal
• The History of Quebec and Canada 414 course, what Quebecers learn of the history of Quebec and Canada at age 16
• Timeline of Québec history at Wikipedia.org

French rule (1534-1760)

• New France: 1524-1763, by Patrick Couture, in Chez Cousture's Website
• Virtual Museum of New France, in Canadian Museum of Civilization
• The Jesuit Relations and the history of New France, in Library and Archives Canada
• Our Huguenots Ancestors, by Michel Barbeau, in La page de généalogie de Michel Barbeau
• The Basques in New-France, by Mario Mimeault, Center for Basques Studies, University of Nevada, Reno, Issue 49, 1994b
• A Soldier's Account of the Campaign on Quebec, 1759, by Robert Henderson, The Seven Years War Website

British rule (1760-1931)

• Lower Canada and the British Regime, by Patrick Couture
• Congress' Own Regiment - 1775-1783 in Wikipedia (on the role Quebecers played during the American Revolution]
• The Canadians who fought at Yorktown, by Matthew Fraas, Colonial National Historical Park, 2004
• The notes of taken by Alexis de Tocqueville in Lower Canada in 1831
• The 1837 Rebellions on EduNET
• Civil War in Lower Canada, Intermountain History Group
• Documents on the Proposed Union of Upper and Lower Canada (1822), by Claude Bélanger
• Report on the Affairs of British North America

Federal Dominion (1867 - 1931)

• Province of Québec, by Patrick Couture
• Québec and the Confederation Project, by Claude Bélanger
• Québec and Federal Elections, by Claude Bélanger
• Confederation Debates and Provincial Autonomy, by Claude Bélanger
• How Others Have Viewed French Canadians and Quebec, by Claude Bélanger

Federal Dominion rule (1931 - Now)

This history of modern Québec is still being written right now. As one can imagine, much remains to be studied and analyzed.

• History of Modern Québec, by Patrick Couture
• The Quiet Revolution, by Claude Bélanger
• Jean Lesage and the Quiet Revolution (1960-1966), Claude Bélanger
• Chronology of the October Crisis, 1970, and its Aftermath, by Claude Bélanger
• Documents on the October Crisis
• Read the section dedicated to Québec studies

Diaspora

Franco-American

• Franco-American History Resources, Marianopolis College
• Revéil - Waking Up French, The Repression and Renaissance of the French in New England, a documentary film by Ben Levine

Franco-Ontarian

• French Ontario in the 17th and 18th Centuries, Archives of Ontario

Amerindian & Inuit

• Read the section dedicated to the 11 forgotten nations of Québec

Black community

• Some Missing Pages: The Black community in the history of Québec and Canada

Immigration

Acadian immigration

• Refugees to Québec, Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home
• Pembroke Passage Reconstructed, Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home
• The Acadians of Nicolet, The Pitre family history

Irish immigration

• Gail Walsh, The Irish in Quebec, multiple articles in the Web site The Irish in Canada
• Janice L. Copeman, Personal Genealogy Site of Janice L. Copeman, from Shannon, Québec
• Memorian Sheehy, The Irish in Quebec, in Report, volume 11, Canadian Catholic Historical Association, Report, 1943
• Thomas Guerin, Timothy Silvain O’Sullivan, Doctor by the King’s Grace, in Report, volume 15, Canadian Catholic Historical Association, 1947-1948
• John A. Gallagher, St. Patrick’s Parish, Quebec, in Report, volume 15, Canadian Catholic Historical Association, 1947-1948
• Clarence F. McCaffrey, The Catholic High School of Montreal, in Report, volume 17, Canadian Catholic Historical Association, 1950
• John Francis Maguire, Chapter V - The Irish in Quebec, in The Irish in America, 1868
• John Francis Maguire, Chapter VIII - Quarantine for the Irish at at Grosse Isle, in The Irish in America, 1868
• J.A Jordan, The Grosse-Isle Tragedy and the Monument to the Irish fever victims, 1847 (1909)
• Mary Finnegan, Irish-French Relations in Lower Canada, in Historical Studies, volume 52, Canadian Catholic Historical Association, 1985, pages 35-49

Scottish immigration

• Hebridean Scots of the Province of Quebec
• St. Andrew's Society of Montreal

English immigration

• Patrick A. Dunae, English, The Canadian Encyclopedia

Jewish immigration

• Esther Brandeau: A Jewess in New France

Historical figures

• Read the section dedicated to historical figures

Quebec French

Quebec French is a variety of the French language that came to be distinct from the French of France in essentially the same way in which the English of America came to be distinct from the English of England.

• Quebec French in Wikipedia
• Patrick Couture, History of the French language in Québec
• Jacques Leclerc, Histoire du français au Québec, in L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, Université Laval (in French)
• Site for Language Management in Canada (contains a thorough section on the Linguistic History of Canada)

Political institutions

From the web site of the Directeur des élections du Québec (Chief electoral officer of Québec):

• A short history of the institution
• Right to vote of Québec women
• History of the electoral map of Québec
• Permanent list of electors

Warning : the word "democracy" is used liberally here to refer to the elective institutions of Québec in general.

Legal institutions

• A Guide to legislation in pre-confederation Quebec and Lower Canada by Donald Fyson

Independence movements in History

• Read the section dedicated to other independence movements

History of the Acadians

• Acadian History Resources, in the Acadian Cultural Society Web site
• History of the Acadians, in the Acadian-Cajun Genealogy and History Web site
• History of Nova Scotia in Peter Landry's Bluepete Web site
• Claude Bélanger, Les Acadiens / Acadians, Marianopolis College's Quebec History site
• Daniel L. Robichaud Cyberacadie.com : L' Acadie au bout des doigts (in French)
• Peter M. Toner, The New Brunswick Schools Question, in Study Sessions, volume 37, 1970

History of the Métis

• Biography of Louis Riel in Société historique de Saint-Boniface Web site
• Métis Culture and History Links in the Native Languages of the Americas Web site
• Judge Richard Chartier, Report and Recommendations on French Language Services Within the Government of Manitoba Francophone Affairs Secretariat, Government of Manitoba, May, 1998

History of imperialism

• History of Imperialism (World Wide)
• European Imperialism and Regional Responses
• CasaHistoria: Imperialism
• An Online History of the United-States: The Age of Imperialism

Genealogy

• Exhaustive list of Genealogy Links
• American-French Genealogical Society

From the Archives

• Documents relating to the constitutional history of Canada, 1759-1791, selected and edited with notes by Adam Shortt and Arthur G. Doughty, Ottawa, 1918.
• Private diary of Gen. Haldimand, by Frederick Haldimand (bilingual)
• The historical and miscellaneous literature of Quebec, 1764 to 1830, by Benjamin Sulte, Ottawa, 1897
• A Biographical sketch of the Hon. Louis Joseph Papineau : speaker of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., 1838
• Tuttle's popular history of the Dominion of Canada : with art illustrations from the earliest settlement of the British-American colonies to the present time, together with portrait engravings and biographical sketches of the most distinguished men of the nation, by Charles Richard Tuttle, Montreal, Downie, 1877.
• Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 01, by Samuel de Champlain
• Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 02, by Samuel de Champlain
• Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 03, by Samuel de Champlain
• The Founder of New France : A chronicle of Champlain by Charles William Colby
• The Fighting Governer : A Chronicle of Frontenac by Charles William Colby
• The Jesuit Missions : A chronicle of the cross in the wilderness by Thomas Guthrie Marquis
• The War Chief of the Ottawas : A chronicle of the Pontiac war by Thomas Guthrie Marquis
• Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV by Francis Parkman
• France and England in North America; a Series of Historical Narratives — Part 3 by Francis Parkman
• A Half-Century of Conflict - Volume 02 by Francis Parkman
• The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century by Francis Parkman
• Montcalm and Wolfe by Francis Parkman
• Pioneers of France in the New World by Francis Parkman
• Voyages of Peter Esprit Radisson by Peter Esprit Radisson
• Canada and the States by E. W. Watkin
• The Conquest of New France by George McKinnon Wrong
• The Dawn of Canadian History : A Chronicle of Aboriginal Canada by Stephen Leacock
• The Passing of New France : a Chronicle of Montcalm by William Wood
• The War With the United States : A Chronicle of 1812 by William Wood
• The Winning of Canada: a Chronicle of Wolf by William Wood

• A history of the late province of Lower Canada by Robert Christie
• A history of Quebec, its resources and people by Benjamin Sulte
• The true spirit of Quebec; Sir Lomer Gouin's speech on the francoeur motion. Translated from the French version for the Unity Publicity Bureau (1918)
• Memoirs of the siege of Quebec, capital of all Canada, and of the retreat of Monsieur de Bourlemaque, from Carillon to the Isle aux Noix in Lake Champlain. by Richard Gardiner
• Blockade of Quebec in 1775-1776 by the American revolutionists (les Bastonnais) (1905-1906), Literary and Historical Society of Quebec
• The Canadian freeholder: in three dialogues between an Englishman and a Frenchman, settled in Canada. Shewing the sentiments of the bulk of the freeholders of Canada concerning the late Quebec-act;, by Francis Maseres
• My French Canadian neighbours and other sketches (1916) Fairchild, Q
• Jean-Baptiste to his Anglo-Canadian brother; an open letter (1917) by Ulric Barthe
• A colony of émigrés in Canada, 1798-1816 (1905)] by Lucy Elizabeth Textor
• The clash! : a study in nationalities (1918) by William Henry Moore

Journals of the Parliament of Lower Canada

• Journal of the House of Assembly, Lower-Canada (1793-1837)
• Journals of the Legislative Council of the province of Lower Canada (1802-1837)
• Journals of the Special Council of the province of Lower Canada (1838-1841)

See also

In this site

• Compare with the History written by the victor
• French language historical resources
• See a list of books on the History of Québec