The Quebec Act of 1774?

Question

What was the "Catholic Problem"" in a Quebec under British rule, and how was it dealth with under the Quebec Act?

Answer 1

The Quebec Act (1774), was an act of the British Parliament that vested the government of Quebec in a governor and council and preserved the French Civil Code and the Roman Catholic Church. The act was an attempt to deal with major questions that had arisen during the attempt to make the French colony of Canada a province of the British Empire in North America. Among these were whether an assembly should be summoned, when nearly all the inhabitants of the province of Quebec, being Roman Catholics, would, because of the Test Acts, be ineligible to be representatives; whether the practice of the Roman Catholic religion should be allowed to continue, and on what conditions; and whether French or English law was to be used in the courts of justice.

The act, declaring it inexpedient to call an assembly, put the power to legislate in the hands of the governor and his council. The practice of the Roman Catholic religion was allowed, and the church was authorized to continue to collect tithes. The Test Act was waived and an oath of allegiance substituted so as to allow Roman Catholics to hold office. French civil law continued, but the criminal law was to be English. Because of these provisions the act has been called a generous and statesmanlike attempt to deal with the peculiar conditions of the province.

Answer 2

The oath that the Royal Proclamation required all office holders to formally accept articles of the Protestant faith - articles that no Catholic could, in good conscience, accept. This meant that no French Canadians were legally able to fill any positions of authority.


The United States declared independence on July 4, 1776. The American Continental Congress attempted to convince Canadians to join them in a poorly-worded letter, but French Canadians chose to stay neutral. This was attributed in part to the Québec Act, 1774, which protected the Catholic faith and the social hierarchy - something they doubted that Americans would do.

The Québec Act, 1774, brought some measure of peace to the province - although British merchants kept campaigning for English law and an elected Assembly. These campaigns might have been ignored if it were not for the event that rocked the continent: the American Revolution. The United Empire Loyalists that poured into Québec following this event changed the politics of the province forever.

For more information

www.canadiana.org/citm/index_e.html or Search for Canada in the Making.

Answer 3

Basically the Quebec Act dealt with the Catholic problem by replacing the oath of allegiance by withdrawing the reference to the Protestant faith and authorizing the free practice of the Catholic faith .It upheld the civil law of the French as opposed to British common law.