1868: D’Arcy McGee & Other Quebec Curios
How did an Irishman become one of the Fathers of Confederation? The story begins, oddly enough, with a young man living in the United States. Thomas D’Arcy McGee originally [read on]
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1864-67: The Dominion of Canada & Other Quebec Curios
Discussions for a confederation started in Charlottetown, when the Maritime colonies proposed their own union. After a series of governments swinging back and forth, the [read on]
1864: A Great Coalition & Other Quebec Curios
Problems existed almost from the very beginning of the Province of Canada’s new system of government. It seemed to achieve not only the semblance of a democratic system but [read on]
1858: Louis Riel & Other Quebec Curios
In 1858, a young man arrived in Montréal, unknown to many but a select few who had seen his potential as a scholar back in Manitoba. This man, Louis Riel, was supposed to [read on]
1850-60: The Underground Railroad & Other Quebec Curios
The concept of the Underground Railroad had existed since the late eighteenth century but it was only until the 1830s when its name, part of a code for interested peoples to [read on]
1849: The Decline and Fall of Women’s Rights & Other Quebec Curios
Quebec was the last province in a post-Confederation Canada that granted women a right to vote, in 1940 to be exact, but the story of how that happened is another story for [read on]
1849: The Rebellion Losses Bill & Other Quebec Curios
The effects of the 1837-8 Rebellions when the Canada East and Canada West were still Upper and Lower Canada respectively ran deep, and in some regards, it seemed that some of [read on]
1848: Responsible Government & Other Quebec Curios
Part of the reason why La Fontaine and his team were successful in obtaining responsible government in 1848 was due to the arrival of Lord Elgin the previous year. La [read on]
1848: Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine & Other Quebec Curios
Papineau’s return to Canada East and subsequent runs for politics did not go unnoticed and while his influence was no longer that of his glory days during the 1830s, he [read on]
1848: The Return of Papineau & Other Quebec Curios
After being granted amnesty in 1845, Louis-Joseph Papineau returned to the Province of Canada but found it changed from the climate that he had left it in. After his flight [read on]
1847: Tragedy at Grosse-Île & Other Quebec Curios
Grosse-Île was established in the early 1830s to contain immigrants that the Lower Canadian government believed were responsible for causing a cholera epidemic. It was later [read on]
1840: The Province of Canada & Other Quebec Curios
On the heels of the Durham Report, the British government took some of Lord Durham’s ideas into consideration and in 1840 created a new province, the Province of Canada, [read on]
1838: Pied-du-Courant and the Durham Report & Other Quebec Curios
The rebellions in Lower Canada came to its final, bloody end in 1838. With the defeat of the Patriotes in Odelltown, many Patriotes were imprisoned in Pied-du-Courant Prison [read on]
1838: Another Declaration of Independence & Other Quebec Curios
Lower Canada’s own Declaration of Independence was written by Robert Nelson, an ardent Anglophone Patriote. A look at the document makes it clear that it was modelled after [read on]
1837-8: Saint-Eustache & Other Quebec Curios Copy
Violence for the Patriotes had been mentioned as a possible solution by none other than Julie Papineau in her letter to her husband, but only if they were pushed to a point [read on]
1837-8: Saint-Eustache & Other Quebec Curios
Violence for the Patriotes had been mentioned as a possible solution by none other than Julie Papineau in her letter to her husband, but only if they were pushed to a point [read on]
1834: The 92 Resolutions & Other Quebec Curios
The violence of the 1837 Rebellions did not come out of nowhere. Prior to the rebellions by force, there were rebellions through the law. In an attempt to get the British [read on]
1818: An Uneasy Border & Other Quebec Curios
Finding the line of division between the United States and Canada wasn’t that simple. Learn how much of the Canadian border was created in 1818!