Constitutional History of Canada - Quebec Act (1774)

Quebec Act (1774)

The Quebec Act granted many of the requests of the Canadians. Enacted on June 13, 1774, the act changed the following:

• The boundaries of the Province of Quebec were greatly expanded to the west and south. The territory now covered the whole of the Great Lakes Basin.
• The free practice of the Catholic faith was confirmed. The Roman Catholic Church was officially recognized and permitted to operate under British sovereignty.
• The Canadians were dispensed of the test oath, which was replaced by an oath to George III that had no reference to Protestantism. This made it possible for Canadians to hold positions in the colonial administration.
• French civil law was fully restored and British criminal law was established. The seigneurial method of land tenancy was thus maintained.
• A British criminal code was established.

No assembly of representatives was created, which allowed the governor to keep ruling under the advice of his counsellors.

The British merchants of Quebec were not pleased by this new act, which ignored their most important demands. They continued to campaign to abolish the current civil code and establish a house of assembly excluding Catholics and French-speakers.

The Quebec Act was also very negatively received in the British colonies to the south. (See the Intolerable Acts.) This act was in force in the Province of Quebec when the American Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775.