British Columbia. History of Canada Was Canada a colony?

Canada(English Canada [ˈkænədə], French Canada) is a state in North America, ranked second in the world by area. It is washed by the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans, bordered by the United States in the south and northwest, and Denmark (Greenland) and France (Saint-Pierre and Miquelon) in the northeast. Canada's border with the United States is the longest shared border in the world.

Today, Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system, a bilingual and multicultural country with English and French recognized as official languages at the federal level. A technologically advanced and industrialized nation, Canada has a diversified economy based on rich natural resources and trade (particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had extensive cooperation since the days of the colonies and the founding of Confederation).

Founded by French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534, Canada traces its origins to a French colony on the site of modern Quebec City, originally inhabited by indigenous peoples. After the period of English colonization, the Canadian Confederation was born from the union of three British colonies (which were previously territories of New France). Canada gained independence from the United Kingdom through a peace process from 1867 to 1982.

Currently, Canada is a federal state consisting of 10 provinces and 3 territories. The province with a predominant French-speaking population is Quebec, the rest are predominantly English-speaking provinces, also called "English Canada" in comparison with French-speaking Quebec. As one of nine predominantly English-speaking provinces, New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual Canadian province. The Yukon Territory is officially bilingual (English and French), while the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Territory recognize 11 and 4 official languages respectively (which also include English and French).

origin of name

The name Canada comes from a word meaning "village" or "settlement" in the Laurentian language, which was spoken in the early 16th century by the Laurentian Iroquois who wintered in the village of Stadacone (in the vicinity of modern Quebec), the first American Indians whom Jacques Cartier encountered on Gaspé in the summer of 1534 at their summer camp. In 1535, residents of what is now Quebec City used the word to guide explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacone. Soon after Cartier's expedition, the Laurentian tribe disappeared without a trace - as modern archaeological excavations have shown, most likely as a result of wars with the Hurons and the southern Iroquois.

Cartier used the word "Canada" to refer not only to this village, but to an entire region that also included the village of Ochlagagh. Today, historians agree that "Country Canada" originally referred to the present-day environs of Quebec. By 1545, European books and maps labeled this region and all banks of the St. Lawrence River settled by the French with the word "Canada." Subsequently, this name was transferred to most neighboring territories in North America, governed by the British Empire.

Story

Indians in Canada

For thousands of years, the territory of Canada was inhabited by Indian and Eskimo tribes. It is believed that the first Europeans to set foot on Canadian soil (the island of Newfoundland) around 1000 AD. e., there were Icelandic Vikings, but they were unable to colonize the country.

The French colony of Canada, one of the provinces of New France, was founded on lands along the banks of the St. Lawrence River: in 1600 Tadousac managed to build a permanent French fort here (a modern village at the mouth of the Sagnay River). Before this, France founded trading posts to the south (New Angoulême, which later became New York, Saint-Augustin in Florida), but was forced out from there by other European powers.

In 1750, the French province of Canada extended to the Acadian provinces (British since 1713), occupying the continental part of the modern Atlantic provinces, Maine and Newfoundland, to the east; almost to the Arctic - to the north; to the Rocky Mountains - to the west; and to the middle of the Appalachians - to the south. The border between Louisiana and Canada was not clearly demarcated and would have been in the Ohio Valley at Fort Duquesne (present-day Pittsburgh). Soon, the French king, by his decree, obliged, in order to standardize the “law” in New France, to use the “Parisian custom” in civil and commercial matters.

Battles for control of the Ohio Valley led to war between France and England. The Huron Indians were recruited as allies by the French, and the Iroquois by the British. In 1759, with the capture of Quebec by British troops, Canada became a British colony. The rights of French Canadian citizens were significantly limited until 1766: they could not perform their rites, and the use of the "Parisian custom" (the common law of the north of France) was replaced by the English "common law". Under pressure from the Catholic Church, to reduce the threat of rebellion in the province of Quebec and for practical reasons, a few years later the French-Canadians were restored to the rights to perform Catholic rites and to use the "Parisian custom" in trade and civil relations. However, criminal law remained English, and French Canadians were still prohibited from re-establishing “ties with the motherland.”

In 1791, this part of the British colonies was divided into two provinces: Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Upper Canada corresponds to modern-day Ontario and is where Anglo-Canadians, mostly “loyalists” of the American War of Independence, were concentrated. Lower Canada corresponds to modern-day Quebec, and the majority of French Canadians were located there. Each province had its own parliament, which did not have significant powers; key decisions were made by the governor-general, who was appointed to a position in each colony by royal decree. Canadian patriots under the leadership of Louis-Joseph Papineau, dissatisfied with their powerless situation, sent a resolution to London demanding more rights for provincial parliaments. London's refusal led to the Patriot Rebellion of 1837 and the proclamation of the independent Republic of Canada. This attempt at revolution was brutally suppressed by the English army. Numerous Monteregie villages were burned and patriots were hanged.

With the birth of Confederation in 1867, the name "Canada" was officially adopted by the English Crown in the British North America Act to designate the new dominion. The adopted institutional system took the form of a federation, which initially included four provinces: Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Canada quickly developed western territories with the expansion of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, the founding of the Red River Colony, which became the bilingual province of Manitoba (much smaller in area than the territory of the modern province), British Columbia, and subsequently the Great Plains. Local indigenous peoples, including mestizos (descendants of Indians and French or Scots), organized into their own political structures, were forced out of their lands, which resulted in armed conflicts and even wars. The most significant of them ended with the capture of the Métis leader Louis Riel, who was hanged at the first opportunity. During the 19th century, a significant number of Indians received government-guaranteed reservations (which included communal ownership of land) to replace their lost lands, within which they were granted autonomy under federal control.

During the world wars, Canadians fought as British soldiers in separate units, often alongside the Scots and Australians. The Statute of Westminster 1931 gives Canada greater political autonomy from the United Kingdom and allows Canada to enter World War II a week after the United Kingdom. The war opens the door to a more important consequence for the postwar federal state—the emergence of a new identity. In 1949, Newfoundland became part of Canada as the tenth province.

In 1982, the Canadian constitution returned to its homeland from London. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to the name Canada, so that is currently the only statutory name. This change was reinforced when the name of the national holiday was changed in 1982 from “Confederation Day” to “Canada Holiday”.

Currently, Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a federal government structure, similar to Australia. It includes 10 federal states called provinces and 3 organized territories. The third territory of Nunavut, created in 1999, occupied part of the Northwest Territories.

New France

In 1524, the eastern shores of Canada were explored by an expedition of the Florentine navigator Giovanni Verrazano, who was in the service of the French king.

In 1534, Jacques Cartier came ashore to the Gaspé and called this land Canada, which later became one of the provinces of New France. It has not yet been proven that Giovanni Caboto landed before in Canada or Newfoundland. After numerous unsuccessful attempts (New Angoulême on Long Island and St. Augustin in Florida), the French founded the first colonies approved by the crown: Tadousac (Quebec) in 1600, Port-Royal in 1605 and Quebec in 1608. The British legally formed Newfoundland city of St. John's. The French establish strong ties with the Indian peoples closest to them.

However, European explorers bring numerous diseases that quickly spread along trade routes deep into the indigenous population, causing devastation. French settlers, often arriving very sick in less than clean ships, are saved by Indian medicine. For example, to cure scurvy, the Hurons offer decoctions of the bark of the white cedar tree, called aneda.

French period: alliances, battles and the Seven Years' War

Competition for territory, naval bases, furs, and fisheries becomes increasingly violent, and multiple wars break out involving the French, Dutch, English, and allied Indian tribes. The French-Iroquoian wars for control of the fur trade are fought between the Iroquois Confederation, whose allies were first the Dutch and then the English, and the Hurons or even Algonquins, allies of the French. Four French-Iroquois Wars between 1689 and 1763 result in the successive passage of Newfoundland and, later, Acadia into British hands. Various clashes occurred between French settlers and British authorities, such as the complete destruction of Port-Royal and the subsequent deportation of the Acadians (known as the Great Unrest) in 1755.

New France stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians. The British want to go to the Ohio Valley, wanting to achieve Fort Duquesne (modern Pittsburgh). In 1756, the Seven Years' War between France and England in America led to the capture of the cities of Quebec in 1759 and Montreal in 1760. After victory in the Seven Years' War, under the Treaty of Paris of 1763, Great Britain finally annexed Acadia, Canada and the eastern part of Louisiana (between Mississippi and Appalachia).

English period: Upper and Lower Canada

By the end of the American Revolution, approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists would immigrate to Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland. Since they prove to be completely unwelcome guests in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick separates from this colony in 1784 to receive them. Subsequently, in order to accommodate English-speaking loyalists, the colony of Canada is divided by the Constitution Act of 1791 into two different colonies, Upper Canada and Lower Canada.

Two decades later, Canada played a significant role during the War of 1812, which divided the United States and the United Kingdom. Its defense costs it important long-term benefits, especially the creation of a sense of unity and nationalism among the population of British North America. Massive immigration to Canada from Great Britain and Ireland occurs in 1815. A series of agreements subsequently leads to a long period of peace between Canada and the United States, interrupted only by short raids led by political rebels such as the Fenians.

The absence of real authorities capable of establishing laws and collecting taxes from the Parliament of Lower Canada, social difficulties and the treatment of French speakers as a minority lead to the revolt of the Patriots. Under the leadership of Louis-Joseph Papineau, the independence of the Republic of Canada is proclaimed. This desire for self-government is brutally suppressed by the British army, which burns and plunders numerous Montérégie villages. Many patriots were hanged, some were exiled to Australia, others were forced to flee to the USA.

A fantastic combination of rocky ocean coast, flowering grape valleys, centuries-old forests, clear lakes, rivers, mighty mountains and roaring waterfalls... This is the western outskirts of Canada, a protected corner of the untouched, pristine world - the province of British Columbia.

Story

The indigenous population lived in the district long before the colonization of North America, more than 11,500 years ago.

The exploration of these lands by Europeans began with the expedition of James Cook in 1778, and was continued in 1792 by his follower George Vancouver, in whose honor the largest island of the district and the largest metropolis of the dominion were named. From this period, a British protectorate was established in these territories, called New Caledonia, without any formal organization. Administrative functions were performed by divisions of the Company, which monopolistically traded furs in this region.

Over time, the division of land occurred: several states on the southern edge of the basin joined the United States; the British part of the territory, under this name, assigned to the district by Queen Victoria herself, became part of the Canadian Confederation in 1871. The dominion experienced a real boom during the period of the “gold rush”, the construction of the transnational railway and the subsequent mass migration to these lands during the years of revolutions and wars of the Asian and European populations. Since then, the region has been steadily growing and developing. It ranks third in the country in terms of population.

Cities of British Columbia

The largest city in the province and the second on the west coast is Vancouver. It is a conglomerate with 20 suburbs and a total population of 2.3 million people. Rapid growth began with the construction of a transnational railway from the center of the country to Vancouver and the development of the port. The metropolis has repeatedly become the “Best City on Earth.” Built at the mouth of the river. Fraser on opposite shores of Burrard Inlet. Therefore, many bridges connect the city into a single whole. Mountain ranges surround it on all sides. Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics in 2010, so you can be sure of the quality of the city's ski resorts. The difference from the colonial capital of British Columbia, Victoria, is the multinational and multicultural nature of Vancouver, where, in addition to immigrants from England, there are large Chinese and Japanese diasporas. In addition, it is a major center for scientific and research work. It is home to Simon Fraser University, considered Canada's leading university, and the University of British Columbia, one of the top thirty in the world.

The district capital is Victoria, located in the southern part and is the second largest metropolitan area in the province. The city itself is small - 80,000 people, but includes 12 more municipalities in the neighborhood, and its total population is 345 thousand inhabitants. It is considered the “most British” in spirit in Canada, since most of its residents are retired Englishmen. The traditions of Great Britain are everywhere here: in double-decker buses, typical London shops, pubs and cafes with a mandatory five-hour tea party.

About 60% of the district's population lives in these two cities, more than one hundred thousand people live in the cities of Kelona and Abbotsford.

University of British Columbia in Vancouver

It has approximately 57,000 students from both Canada and 149 countries around the world. It has one of the best scientific, laboratory and research facilities. In addition, the university has its own anthropological museum, teaching clinics, arts center and concert hall. A special pride is the library, the collection of which is considered the second in Canada. The university employs more than 9,000 teachers, there are even Nobel laureates. It is considered one of the fastest growing universities in the world with excellent academic performance indicators.

Edge of many vertices

The largest mountain system (Rocky Mountains) in the District of British Columbia is located in the center of the entire region and stretches along from north to south. Most of the mountain area is occupied by national forests and parks. Hiking, snowboarding, skiing, fishing and hunting and, of course, mountaineering - thanks to all this, lovers of fresh air and extreme sports will find the Rocky Mountains a real paradise.

The highest peak (4671 m above sea level) in the province is located in the northwestern part of the region - the St. Elias Mountains, and it is called Fairweather. This coastal peak rises 20 km from the Pacific Ocean and is clearly visible from the sea on a clear day. For which it was named Fairweather Mountain by James Cook himself in 1778.

The Coastal and Pacific Ridges separate the coast from the mainland. They also fundamentally share the nature of these areas. Many smaller mountain systems, highlands and plateaus cover the entire territory of British Columbia, creating in their gorges and valleys a whole network of deep mountain rivers and lakes.

Life-giving springs

British Columbia, a fabulous land of water elements, contains 31 lakes and 32 rivers on its territory. Almost all rivers and lakes contain salmon and trout. The main waterway of the province is the Fraser. This deep river begins in the Rocky Mountains and, flowing through the plateau and canyon of the same name, absorbs many tributaries, simultaneously increasing the slopes of the banks to a height of 100 m and greatly accelerating. It flows into the Pacific Ocean, where the largest city in the district and the largest port on the west coast of North America, Vancouver, is built in the delta.

In the Rocky Mountains in the Valley of a Thousand Peaks is the source of a mountain river called the Columbia. 40% of it flows through Canada. The powerful current and large slope of the river have their own specifics:

The Columbia Basin was subject to constant inundation and flooding.
To protect against these natural disasters, several dams and dams have been built on the river.
The "steep temper" of the river is used in hydropower.
This is a major shipping canal.

Near the Pacific Ocean

In the west, the province ends at the sea coast and, closer to the north, borders the American state of Alaska. The entire coastline is indented with convenient bays and fjords, extending tens of kilometers inland. Thousands of islands are scattered here. The largest of them are Vancouver and Graham from the Queen Charlotte Islands. Many tourists flock to admire one of the most stunning places in the world - the Coast Ranges of British Columbia. Photos of the most picturesque corners of the Riviera are amazing.

The weather in coastal areas is influenced by warm weather, making it mild and rainy. In a favorable climate, lush taiga forests grow, covering the coast.

Mainland District

In the north and east, the province neighbors the Canadian districts (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Alberta), and in the southern part it borders the United States.

The Coast Ranges mountain range blocks the supply of moist air masses from the Pacific Ocean to the mainland from the coast. Therefore, further from the sea in the central part of the district there are arid plateaus and deserts.

A pleasant, mild and warm climate has developed in the valleys and Okanagan, where excellent Canadian wine and cider are produced.

The northern part of British Columbia is dominated by cold and sparsely populated mountainous regions. And only in the northeastern part, descending lower into the valley, are prairies pleasing to the eye.

The Miraculous Pearl of Canada

An invaluable feature of the province is that 95% of its land is natural landscapes, and only 5% is arable land. Three-quarters of the region is occupied by mountains and hills greater than 1000 meters, and 60% is forest. Pristine and unique nature with natural habitats for birds and fish has been preserved here. That is why an eighth of the entire territory occupied by British Columbia is protected natural areas. Among them are 14 national parks (including Yoho, Mount Revelstoke, Glacier, Kootenay and others) and about 430 more provincial and regional ones.

Here you will find unique places and landscapes:

Sandy deserts.
Steep canyons.
Misty waterfalls.
Harsh volcanoes.
Hot healing springs.
Fairytale caves.
Sparkling glaciers.
Stunning rivers and lakes.
Incredible northern and vibrant southern islands.
Picturesque bays and bays.

Special places

Fans of unusual holidays and vivid impressions in the British Columbia province can visit:

Bear Ranch.
Salmon Museum.
Indigenous reserves.
Botanical Garden, Glendale, Victoria Butterfly and Exotic Animal Garden.
Birds of Prey Park.
Cathedral grove of ancient pseudo-hemlocks (up to 800 years old, up to 75 m high with a trunk up to 9 m in diameter).
Diving, ski resorts, kayaking and canoeing, fishing, etc.
In March, pods of whales can be seen off the coast of Vancouver Island.
You can visit a caribou breeding farm
Helicopter and ferry trips.
Vintage railways.
Travels from the Gold Rush.
The ghost town of Three Valley Gap.
Powerful dams and lighthouses.
Historical reserves.

So if you ever want to see almost everything that nature has to offer and feel the flavor of North America, visit such a wonderful place as British Columbia (Canada).

Toronto

The Country of the Maple Leaf, as Canada is also called, is a parliamentary federation that unites 3 territories and 10 provinces. In one of them, the French-speaking population predominates, in the other - New Brunswick - native speakers of both French and English live. The rest of the country, with the exception of the Yukon Territory (which is also bilingual), mostly speaks English.

The name of the country is supposedly related to the word kanata, which means “village” in the Algonquin Indian language. The turning point occurred in 1535, when two local residents uttered this word to show the navigator Jacques Cartier the way to the Indian village of Stadacone, located in the area of modern.

Those who are only superficially familiar with Canada imagine eternal snows where polar bears roam; Inuit hunting whales; gloomy lumberjacks warming themselves around a fire in the impenetrable taiga to the mournful accompaniment of polar wolves.

Uninitiated travelers may come to Canada in midsummer hoping to ski, but they will have to travel thousands of kilometers before the snow crunches under their feet. But the idea of the cold and inhospitable Arctic is unforgettable: when many people remember Canada, images from the movie “Gold Rush” appear before their eyes - Charlie Chaplin, exhausted from hunger, in the distant Yukon, eats his boots while a blizzard howls outside the windows of the gold miners’ hut.

The new Constitution, which came into force the same year, is not recognized by Francophone, Canada's largest province by territory. The origins of this protest should be sought in the 1960-1970s, when the issue of the situation of French-Canadians began to escalate. Ideas of independence began to appear in the region, actually supported by the former metropolis - France. In 1980, a referendum was held on the secession of the province, which ended in failure for the separatists. In 1995, a second plebiscite was organized, but the majority again spoke out against secession (secession). Thus, almost 95% of the inhabitants of which speak and understand French, remained part of the Canadian Confederation. According to Article 122 of the Constitution Act 1867, bilingualism is allowed both in the provincial and national parliaments.

Attractions

In Canada, as of 2015, there are 17 sites included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Let's begin our acquaintance with the sights of this unique country with some of them.

L'Anse aux Meadows is a national park in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was here, in the “bay of jellyfish”, according to scientists, that at the end of the 11th century the Vikings who arrived from Greenland founded the first European settlement. In the fishing village of the same name on the island of Newfoundland in the 60s, during excavations, a forge and eight dugouts were discovered.

L'Anse aux Meadows National Park

Nahanni National Park is located in the South Nahanni River valley, famous for the Virginia Falls and the fact that four canyons are located above it. The park was opened in 1976, it is located 500 km from Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, in the southern part of the Mackenzie Mountains. Nahanni Park is famous for its thermal springs containing sulfur compounds. The landscape is represented by tundra, mixed forests and calcium carbonate deposits (tuffs).

Nahanni National Park

Dinosor Dinosaur Provincial Park. Opened in 1955, it has become popular as one of the largest repositories of dinosaur fossils on the planet. Archaeologists have discovered the remains of over 500 giant animals that inhabited the planet in the Mesozoic era. They all belonged to 39 different species. Unique finds were exhibited at the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto), the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology (Drumheller), as well as the Canadian Museum of Nature (Ottawa) and the American Museum of Natural Nature (New York). The remains of many freshwater vertebrates have also been found.

Dinosor Dinosaur Provincial Park

It was created in 1988 in the northwestern part of the province of British Columbia and includes the south of Moresby Island and a number of islands southeast of it. The dominant feature of the natural reserve is the San Cristoval mountain range, the main peak of which, Mount La Touche, rises to 1123 m. The park includes the village of Ninstintz, inhabited by the Haida Indians. The village, located on the Haida Gwaii archipelago, is home to the largest collection of totem poles, revered by these people as the mythical ancestors and souls of the tribe. But these masterpieces of art may disappear because the local humid climate is poorly reflected on them and they begin to rot.

Guai Haanas National Park

Old Quebec– the historical part of the city, the capital of the province of the same name. Samuel de Champlain, the founder of the first French colonies in Canada, built the Chateau Saint-Louis palace in this place - the residence of the governor and government of New France. Within Old Quebec, 19th-century architecture dominates, but there are also earlier buildings erected in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Quebec Fortress has also survived to this day. Next to this military fortification is the Hotel du Parlement, the building of the National Assembly of Quebec, where the lieutenant governor of the province also sits.

Old Quebec

Historic Town of Lunenburg- the brightest example of English colonial settlement on North American lands. Administratively, it is part of the province of Nova Scotia, located approximately 90 km from its capital, Halifax. Before Europeans, the area was inhabited by the Mi'kmaq Indian people. The city was founded in 1753. It received its name in honor of the British monarch George II and at the same time the ruler of Brunswick-Lüneburg, a duchy in historical Germany. Local Attractions: City Harbor and Lunenburg Academy, Anglican Church and Atlantic Fisheries Museum, Town House.

Historic Town of Lunenburg

Rideau Canal is a waterway connecting Ottawa with Kingston, a city in southern Ontario. The canal opened in 1832, having been built in case of military conflict with the United States. This is the oldest operating canal on the continent, which has not interrupted its work since its opening. Its length is 202 km. In the summer, the Rideau is used whenever possible to serve tourists, and in the winter, when the annual Winterlude festival is held, a giant skating rink is installed on the canal, the area of which is comparable to 90 hockey fields.

Rideau Canal

Red Bay whaling station. In the 16th-17th centuries, seasonal migrants from the Basque Country settled here in Labrador, whaling. Today, near the coastal harbor there is the fishing village of Red Bay, named after it, as well as local red-colored granite cliffs. The remains of the former station, as well as whale bones and a number of shipwrecks here, are local tourist attractions.

All sights of Canada

Canadian cuisine

Canada is a binational state and, moreover, a country of migrants, so the national cuisine echoes the culinary traditions of not only the British and French, but also other peoples of the world. However, the origins of Canadian cuisine should be sought primarily in the traditions of the indigenous peoples of North America, which were supplemented in the 18th-19th centuries with each new wave of emigration from European countries and China.

Quebec is French America or French Canada, a region, city and port at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, a Francophonie island on the English- and Spanish-speaking continent.

The first European voyage to Quebec was made in 1534 by Jacques Carte, who, on behalf of King Francis I of France, declared Canada to belong to the French monarch. In 1535-1536 Jacques Cartier was engaged in the construction of the future of Montreal. A century later, Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec. In 1609, the territory received the name New France. A little later, Richelieu founded a company to which he entrusted the development of New France.

New France in the 17th century was not a paradise at all. Two months of sailing across the ocean - and immigrants from the Old World found themselves in a cruel climate, on a land whose only means of communication were rivers, and the local population received the settlers with extreme hostility. Those who came here, of course, did not come for this, but for the fortune. By 1700, only 15 thousand people settled in New France, a hundred years later - 70 thousand, while by that time two and a half million lived in the English colonies. Europeans came for natural resources, for new lands, and in return they brought alcohol and epidemics to the Indians, which killed half the population.

The tribes that inhabited Canada were the Inuit, Iroquois and Algonquins, all of them did not accept the new masters of Canada, who took advantage of the enmity between the tribes. In clashes, the Indians were often supported by the British, who saw the French as rivals on the new continent. Only in 1701 was the Great Peace signed between the French and the Indian tribes, which put an end to the war between them, as well as inter-tribal hostilities. The War of the Spanish Succession pitted the British and French on a new land; in 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht was signed, according to which France retained lands along the banks of the St. Lawrence River, and already in 1763, Quebec became the fifteenth English colony in North America. In 1791, the two provinces of Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec) were created, most of which remained French-speaking. In 1867, the Canadian Confederation was created with four provinces - Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, Quebec's economic life was closely linked to agriculture and forests. Then active urbanization began, attracting new settlers.

The main administrative center of Quebec is the city of the same name, whose population is 7 million 250 thousand people, which is a quarter of the total Canadian population. They speak French and English here, and the coin is the Canadian dollar. Quebec is located in the northeast of the continent, from the United States to the northern seas. It is the largest province of Canada, occupying 16.7% of the entire territory, Quebec is three times larger than France, seven times larger than Great Britain and fifteen times larger than Belgium.

There are 130 thousand water streams and a million lakes. The largest river is the St. Lawrence, which originates in the Great Lakes and flows into the Atlantic in the bay of the same name. The highest mountain peaks in Quebec are Mount D'Iberville (1622 m) on the Torngat ridge on the border with Labrador, and Jacques-Cartier (1268 m) in the Chik-Chok massif in Gaspésie. About 80% of the population lives along the banks of the St. Lawrence, in Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Quebec. Quebec has a continental climate, temperate in the meridional part and polar in the north, on the Ungava Peninsula. Winters are very snowy, temperatures drop to -30, summers are hot, up to +30. Therefore, it is common for Quebecers to sunbathe in the summer , and in winter go skiing in the mountains.

All four seasons here are very contrasting. It is especially beautiful in Quebec in the fall - the forests “burn” with bright colors. If the symbol of Canada is the maple leaf, then since 1999 the symbol of Quebec has become the iris flower. Irises bloom in spring throughout almost all of Quebec. In addition to the iris, the symbol of the region is also the yellow birch, namely the dark-stemmed Canadian birch. The flag of Quebec features a lily, as if linking this territory with France through time and ocean and emphasizing its attachment to French history and culture.

Most of the population of North America turned out to be English-speaking, but the French population of Canadian Quebec did not cease to demand self-determination. In isolation, Quebec's Francophones have managed to maintain their language and their identity, despite the fact that they are surrounded by 250 million Anglophones! Of course, Quebec French is different from Parisian. They say that it shows the features of the dialects of French Picardy and Norman of the 17th century, in addition, there are a lot of borrowings from English, this language has its own vocabulary, its own vocabulary. “Hello” is said here both when they meet and when they say goodbye, “lunch” means “breakfast”, “dinner” means “lunch”. Here it is customary to address people as "you", especially if you are under thirty. People of the same generation, acquaintances and strangers, also address each other as “you.” It is also not customary to address people by “you” on the phone.

Despite the formal break with France that occurred in the 18th century, the soul of Quebec remained French. Quebec dreams of sovereignty. However, in 1980, the population rejected the sovereignty project with the formation of the federal government. The last referendum on sovereignty, held in 1995, also showed that the majority of the population did not want independence. Opinion polls show overwhelming support for a free Quebec, but when it comes to elections the picture changes. The Parti Québécois argues that the people of this region are at the intersection of three civilizations - they were nurtured by French culture, which gave them a civil code, have integrated traditions and elements of British society, such as parliamentarism, into their lives, and live in an American way.

There are twenty tourist regions in Quebec. This is a huge area of natural resources, where the landscape is constantly changing - forests, rivers, lakes, mountains, there are 19 national parks. Magnificent places, mesmerizing with their beauty, attracting lovers of large space. For example, Parc Canton de l'Est is isolated from civilization. It is located 250 km from Quebec City and 225 km south of Montreal - short distances for motorists. It is open daily from mid-May to mid-October and from December to the end of March . There is a campsite in the park. Hunting, cutting down trees, and fishing are prohibited, however, as in other national parks. Along the way you may meet deer, moose, even bears, lynxes, and some say they saw a puma. Here on Mount Megantic is home to the largest observatory on the east coast of North America.

Parc Mauricie, 70 km north of Trois-Rivières, is considered by many to be the most beautiful park in Quebec. Created in 1970, it covers an area of 536 km2. On the way to the park there are beautiful views of lakes Vapizagonke and Edouard. The park is open all year round. Gasperi Park is located 516 km north of Quebec and covers an area of 800 square meters. km. This is the only place in Quebec where caribou and Virginia deer live. If you are tired of civilization, you should go to Quebec not only for natural exoticism, but here you can get acquainted with the culture of the Indians. In Quebec, namely in fifty villages scattered over an area of 1,600,000 square meters. km., is home to 11 indigenous nations. These are settlements that are also a kind of tourist base, since you can stay there and fully immerse yourself in the life of the Indians - try local dishes from caribou meat, bear, wild duck, fish, take a canoe trip, and go fishing. In the spring, whales come to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. You can watch them both from the shore and from the water - for this, boat excursions are organized here. There are many bird sanctuaries in Quebec. There are up to 270 species of birds on Cape Turmant. Thousands of white ducks and wild ducks arrive in the spring and fall.

The word "Quebec" implies several concepts - country, province, region, city, commune. Quebec City includes eight arrondissements, all of which are on the north bank of the St. Lawrence River. The city is called the old city, old capital, upper city, etc. Like no other city in Canada, it is connected with the history of the entire continent. Once the site of bloody battles, Quebec today has retained the features of its past - it stands on a river, has a citadel, is surrounded by forest, with 5 thousand trees of 80 species.

Quebec City was founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain. It was first the capital of New France (1608-1759), then became a fortress of the English colony and the capital of lower Canada under the English regime (1763-1867), and later became a provincial capital during the Canadian Confederation in 1867, when Canada's federal provinces were born. Occupying Quebec, or the strategically important territory on which it is now located, was the first goal of all the conquerors of Canada - the French and the English. Defensive construction of the city began in the 17th century, but was completed only by 1830, and the city defense system was finally formed at the beginning of the 20th century. Quebec is interesting for its historical monuments, parliament, and ancient buildings. Its charm consists of historical, cultural and architectural factors.

After walking through old Quebec and seeing its old buildings, you can go to the Notre-Dame de Quebec church, the city's cathedral. The cathedral was declared a historical monument in 1966, its history has been going on for 300 years. French craftsmen worked on its interior decoration. Stunning stained glass windows illuminate the crypts containing the remains of the bishops of Quebec and the rulers of New France. To get a more complete picture of Quebec, it is worth visiting the Quebec Museum, which houses the most interesting collection of Quebec art from the 17th century to the present day. The exhibition of the Museum of Civilization tells about the history of culture, about the Indians, about the traditions of both the first inhabitants of the region and modern Quebecers. In January-February, Quebec hosts a traditional winter carnival. The city turns into the kingdom of the snow queen. Usually at this time, canoe rides and ice and snow sculpture competitions are organized; an Ice Castle is being built in Lotto-Québec Square, in front of the Parliament building, around which performances and performances take place. A lot of entertainment is provided for children - ice slides, snow rafting. An Indian village is built right in the city. You can ride around the city on a sleigh drawn by horses and even dogs, and also play golf on the ice.

Montreal is a city much larger than Quebec. It is considered the metropolis or main city of Quebec and the second French-speaking city in the world. This is a modern city, a port, beloved by many for the diversity of its architecture and cosmopolitanism. Here you will find Italian, Latin, Portuguese, and Chinatowns. Montreal has gained worldwide recognition as a city with a huge range of restaurants and an incredibly diverse nightlife. Residents and visitors have no opportunity or mood to be bored. In addition to the many restaurants and bars, it is worth checking out museums - the Museum of Modern Art, which houses a collection of Quebec and foreign masters, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, whose collection has been created for 137 years, the Center for Canadian Architecture, which is a museum and educational center that hosts exhibitions modern architects, as well as a museum of archeology and history, which shows the history of the metropolis from the Ice Age to the present day.

The heart of Montreal is Mainstreet, in French simply La Main, that is, the main street. The real name of the street is St. Lawrence Boulevard. This is the largest artery of the city, which has developed since its founding in the 17th century. St. Lawrence only became a boulevard in 1905, before which it was a road, then a street. The boulevard was the gateway to the New World, it led newcomers from another continent deep into Canada through the market, the royal square and the port embankments. Old Montreal has retained the spirit of antiquity, although the houses on its embankments have turned into offices and luxurious residences.

The Port of Montreal, renovated for its 350th anniversary in 1992, has not, however, forgotten its historical past. It is evidenced by the old trading warehouses of Saint-Joseph, built in 1861-1880, the streets of the Saint-Paul and Saint-Jacques district, built in the 17th century, on which trading companies, banks, publishing houses, for example, have long been located. La Presse, the largest French-language weekly in America. On Notre Dame Street, in addition to the church of the same name, there are administrative buildings - the city hall, three courthouses. Notre-Dame Cathedral is the first neo-Gothic building in Montreal in the 19th century. The interior is rich in sculptures, wooden carvings, and gilding; the Sacré-Coeur Chapel amazes with its splendor. Chinatown, before it became a place of residence and trade for thousands of Chinese, was a favorite place of the Irish, who made it a little Dublin in the mid-19th century. However, the construction of the railway into western Canada in 1877 brought many Chinese to the area, and the appearance of the neighborhood's streets changed forever.

The suburb of St. Lawrence, a block at the exit from the city center, is a habitat and meeting place for a motley public, hippies, night butterflies, and regulars of trendy bars. They say that here you can eat the best hot dog in the city. Carré Dorré is a neighborhood where Montreal's richest families have lived since the late 19th century. It is home to the Notman House, which has become an architectural monument, next to which is the hospital of the Sisters of the Anglican Church of St. Margaret, built in 1894. The Portuguese Quarter was once a neighboring village to Montreal; in 1909 it became part of the city. The city hall building reminds you of the old village. The Portuguese once settled here, joined by Jews, Germans, and Poles who arrived in Montreal starting in 1900. The mixture of cultures in this quarter is evidenced by the proximity of synagogues, Catholic cathedrals, stone funeral steles, and the decoration of houses with Arabic azulejo tiles, characteristic of Portugal. The Italian quarter abounds with Italian cafes and restaurants, food markets, meat and cheese shops, and bakeries. The Italians, most of whom came to Montreal at the beginning of the twentieth century, built a Catholic cathedral here - the Notre-Dame de la Défense church on Dante Street, created by an Italian architect.

The conquest of Canada was accompanied by the distribution of awards. British soldiers and officers were offered land grants in the conquered colony. Those who distinguished themselves in battle were promoted in rank. General Amherst received the title of baron and was later promoted to field marshal. The winners brought with them efficiency, foresight and efficiency.

The British immediately established a printing business - they opened a printing house. The study and survey of the coastline of the captured region was launched. The work was led by the famous navigator James Cook. Over the course of several years, he and his associates compiled a detailed and accurate description of the coasts of Acadia and Newfoundland, for which the French previously did not have enough time. Lighthouses and signal stations appeared on the coast. Regular flights of trade and transport ships were established between the colony and the British metropolis.

Along the Great Lakes, British army officers hastily established a network of new strongholds. In 1793, Fort York (present-day Toronto) appeared in this way, a year later - Kingston and Niagara-on-the-Lake, and in 1796 - Fort Erie. In 1800, Bytown, a lumberjack settlement on the shores of Ottawa, appeared on maps.

The British immediately intensified their search for the Northwest Passage to Asia, which had been stopped by the French in the 17th century. Research expeditions headed to the Pacific coast - first by James Cook, then by George Vancouver. Captain Vancouver established contacts with Russian pioneers from Alaska. Contacts were peaceful in nature and were accompanied by the exchange of geographical information. In particular, our pioneers (“industrialists”) provided English sailors with homemade maps of several sections of the Pacific coast. The results of the expeditions allowed the British to found a new colony on the shores of the Pacific Ocean - British Columbia. The word “industrialists” (pro-myshlenniki) was used for a long time and was included in the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Work on digging channels to bypass the shoals on the St. Lawrence River accelerated. Completed in the first third of the 19th century, they facilitated, cheapened and accelerated water communication in a vast region from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes.

The winners showed generosity and fairness. The tone was set by the first British governor of Quebec, General James Murray, who replaced Wolf. He respected the vanquished, whom he called “the brave people.” He decisively stopped the outrages committed by his troops in the captured city. Military personnel found to have committed violence against civilians were publicly and severely punished. General Murray also limited the appetites of British merchants, who, taking advantage of the lack of basic necessities in the devastated region, bought furs for next to nothing and engaged in land speculation. The London merchants, dissatisfied with this, achieved the recall of the far-sighted and decent Murray (1768), but General Guy Carleton, who replaced him, continued the policy of his predecessor.

Even before the Peace of Paris, the remnants of the French troops - about 4 thousand people - freely left New France. Then George III, by a proclamation in 1763, allowed all other inhabitants of the conquered colony to leave it. The British agreed to transport them to the Old World for free. However, only a few hundred people left - the governor, officials, merchants and officers. Others - landowners, tenants, priests, small traders, fishermen and travelers - remained in the country, which they rightly considered their homeland. They perceived France as a distant and generally foreign country.

The British Empire did not risk physically exterminating tens of thousands of “Canadiens” or forcibly evicting them. Therefore, the winners had to coexist with the vanquished. By Royal Proclamation of 1763, Britain promised the latter respect for their property, customs and religion, and even the creation of an elected assembly on the American model, which was not the case in New France. The “Canadiens” were released from their oath to the British king - the promise to remain faithful to England was enough.

The English colonial authorities allowed the previously expelled Acadians to return to their native places, but unlike the Quebecers, they did not guarantee property rights. The Acadians who returned to their homeland (and there were about half of them) discovered that their homes and lands had been seized by colonists from New England, and they were not entitled to compensation.

Already in 1764, martial law was lifted in Quebec. A governor general was appointed to the colony, and British garrisons were left in Quebec City and Montreal. Quebec City also became another British naval base. English was immediately declared the official language (the vanquished were not given language guarantees). British criminal law was introduced into the colonies.

The time has come for redrawing borders and numerous renamings. The policy of London and its colonial governors clearly showed a desire for the Anglicization of the conquered lands. Immediately after the Peace of Paris, New France was renamed Quebec, and its territory was greatly reduced. Quebec (in French "Ville de Quebec") received a new name - Quebec City. The Great Lakes region, Labrador and St. John's Island are not included in Quebec. The British renamed Acadia Nova Scotia, expanding its territory to include Quebec. St. John's Island was renamed Prince Edward Island. The island on which Louisbourg was located became known as Cape Breton. A new colony was created from Nova Scotia - New Brunswick.

Together, these colonies, together with Newfoundland, formed British North America. However, this concept was so far only geographical and not administrative. Each of these colonies remained a separate territorial unit and was directly subordinate to the metropolis.

As Choiseul foresaw, the Peace of Paris brought great costs along with benefits to the British Empire. First, in 1763, Indians rebelled on the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario, led by an extraordinary and brave leader, Pontiac, who is sometimes compared to Spartacus. Pontiac, who managed to overcome traditional inter-tribal feuds, united a number of tribes against the British - the Hurons, the Ottawas, the Senecas. An Indian state could later emerge from the tribal coalition. The rebels defeated two small English garrisons in the De Troyes (Detroit) area and captured a number of forts. It was not possible to suppress the uprising by military force. To prevent a possible unification of the Indians with the “Canadiens,” London hastily issued the previously mentioned proclamation of 1763.

After two years of fighting, Governor Murray, with the consent of the mother country, made peace with Pontiac. Its main condition was the preservation of the rights of tribes friendly to England to the lands they occupied. Then the British, patronizing some tribes and intriguing against others, destroyed the tribal coalition created by Pontiac. The murder of Pontiac (1769) by an Indian from another tribe on domestic grounds was accepted by the British colonial authorities with great relief.

But in the meantime, residents of 13 colonies, freed from the French danger, came into conflict with the British crown. The situation became especially tense in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, which are geographically close to Quebec.

Trying to avoid the unification of the “Canadiens” with the restless Americans, the British government issued the “Act for the better government of Quebec” (Quebec Act) in 1774, which entailed important consequences. Firstly, the Act once again solemnly guaranteed all religious and property rights of Quebecers and confirmed the preservation in the colony of French civil law, familiar to its residents. Secondly, in accordance with the Act, Quebec territory was significantly expanded - Louisiana was added to Quebec - a huge territory between the Great Lakes, the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. The occupation of land in this territory was declared an illegal act, which did not in any way affect the interests of the small number of Quebecers with their 30-hectare plots, but put a barrier to the expansion of American squatters. Third, the British authorities pledged to respect the customs and interests of the Indian tribes.

The concessions to the “Canadiens” were made on time. The people of the St. Lawrence Valley did not rebel. Paradoxically, it is a fact that Quebec, recently conquered by the British, remained the pillar of the British Empire. But the Quebec Act essentially brought the American Revolution closer. Also in 1774, new battles broke out in the Ohio Valley - now between English-speaking colonists and British soldiers, and the following year 13 colonies rebelled, declaring themselves independent state republics. The Americans insisted that they were fighting for freedom and self-determination of all peoples. But having not yet completely broken with Britain, without a Declaration of Independence, the rebels in September 1775 sent several detachments to Quebec, which captured Taconderoga and forts near Lake Champlain. This was an impressive example of exporting revolution: if there is no revolution in the country, it should be brought with bayonets.

The Americans, led by two self-proclaimed commanders - Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold - captured Montreal without a fight in November, and a month later they approached the walls of Quebec. As long as the volunteers faithfully paid for food and shelter, their business went well. It seemed that the British flag was not destined to fly over the St. Lawrence Valley. But contrary to the calculations of the Americans, few people joined them.

Calls to rebel against the “tyrant George III” did not find mass support. French-Catholic Quebecers feared, and not without reason, oppression from Protestant Americans. They were not inspired by the incomprehensible slogan of free enterprise, which did not fit well with their established way of life and Catholic ethics, which emphasizes purity of soul rather than material success. The Bishop of Quebec called on fellow believers not to support the Americans. When the revolutionary interventionists ran out of money, the peasants refused to supply them with food. The requisitions caused bitterness among the local population.