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97-561: Alexander "Buck" Choquette (c. 1830–1898) was a French-Canadian prospector and adventurer who was the discoverer in 1861 of the gold strike which led to the Stikine Gold Rush . Once news of the find reached the various other goldfields in British Columbia , the lower Stikine in the area of Choquette's find was inundated with prospectors and the river itself busy with steamboat traffic, served by vessels who abandoned

194-494: A subsistence agriculture in Eastern Canada (Québec). This subsistence agriculture slowly evolved in dairy farm during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of 20th century while retaining the subsistence side. By 1960, agriculture changed toward an industrial agriculture. French Canadians have selectively bred distinct livestock over the centuries, including cattle , horses and chickens . In English usage,

291-728: A "rupture" between the Québécois and other francophones elsewhere in Canada. The emphasis on the French language and Quebec autonomy means that French speakers across Canada may now self-identify as québécois(e) , acadien(ne) , or Franco-canadien(ne) , or as provincial linguistic minorities such as Franco-manitobain(e) , Franco-ontarien(ne) or fransaskois(e) . Education, health and social services are provided by provincial institutions, so that provincial identities are often used to identify French-language institutions: Acadians residing in

388-793: A French-speaker, though today it is used in French to describe any Canadian citizen. In the United States, many cities were founded as colonial outposts of New France by French or French-Canadian explorers. They include Mobile (Alabama) , Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) , Vincennes (Indiana) , Belleville (Illinois) , Bourbonnais (Illinois) , Prairie du Rocher (Illinois) , Dubuque (Iowa) , Baton Rouge (Louisiana) , New Orleans (Louisiana) , Detroit (Michigan) , Biloxi (Mississippi) , Creve Coeur (Missouri) , St. Louis (Missouri) , Pittsburgh (Fort Duquesne, Pennsylvania) , Provo (Utah) , Green Bay (Wisconsin) , La Crosse (Wisconsin) , Milwaukee (Wisconsin) or Prairie du Chien (Wisconsin) . The majority of

485-599: A by then even lower TFR (1.6) "Starting in 1960, Québec experienced a drop in fertility that was so sharp and rapid, it was almost unparalleled in the developed countries." The 2003 article "Where Have All the Children Gone?", published in the academic journal Canadian Studies in Population by Professor Catherine Krull of Queen's University and Professor Frank Trovato of the University of Alberta , points out

582-511: A certain amount of English education outside of the province (ex. another Canadian province). Once a child has been permitted to attend an English primary or high school, the remaining children in that family are also granted access. This bill still stands today, although many reforms have been made in an attempt to make it less harsh. Several historians have studied the Quiet Revolution, presenting somewhat different interpretations of

679-547: A language influenced by French, and a mixture of other European and Native American tribal languages. French Canadians living in Canada express their cultural identity using a number of terms. The Ethnic Diversity Survey of the 2006 Canadian census found that French-speaking Canadians identified their ethnicity most often as French , French Canadians, Québécois , and Acadian . The latter three were grouped together by Jantzen (2006) as "French New World" ancestries because they originate in Canada. Jantzen (2006) distinguishes

776-506: A result, their identification with their ethnicity is weaker: for example, only 50% of third generation "Canadians" strongly identify as such, bringing down the overall average. The survey report notes that 80% of Canadians whose families had been in Canada for three or more generations reported "Canadian and provincial or regional ethnic identities". These identities include French New World ancestries such as "Québécois" (37% of Quebec population) and Acadian (6% of Atlantic provinces). Since

873-678: A speech at Montreal City Hall, which gave the Québec independence movement further public credibility. In 1968, the sovereigntist Parti Québécois was created, with René Lévesque as its leader. A small faction of Marxist sovereignists began terrorist actions as the Front de libération du Québec , the zenith of their activities being the 1970 October Crisis , during which British diplomat James Cross as well as Labour Minister Pierre Laporte were both kidnapped by FLQ cells, with Laporte eventually being killed. The Parti Québécois twice led

970-458: A strong sense of belonging. The generational profile and strength of identity of French New World ancestries contrast with those of British or Canadian ancestries, which represent the largest ethnic identities in Canada. Although deeply rooted Canadians express a deep attachment to their ethnic identity, most English-speaking Canadians of British or Canadian ancestry generally cannot trace their ancestry as far back in Canada as French speakers. As

1067-529: A whole. This transformation coincided with similar developments occurring in the Western world in general. Notably, it brought about notable changes to the physical landscape and social structures of Montreal, Quebec's principal city. The impact of the Quiet Revolution extended beyond Quebec's borders, influencing contemporary Canadian politics . Concurrent with the rise of Quebecois nationalism during this era, French Canadians made substantial strides in shaping

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1164-524: Is a list of the main genealogical works retracing the origins of French Canadian families: Quiet Revolution The Quiet Revolution ( French : Révolution tranquille ) refers to a significant period of socio-political and socio-cultural transformation in French Canada , particularly in Quebec , following the election of 1960 . This period was marked by the secularization of the government,

1261-625: Is blue, Hell is red') as a reference to the colors of the Union Nationale (blue) and the Liberals (red), the latter accused often of being pro-communist. Radio-Canada , the newspaper Le Devoir and political journal Cité Libre were intellectual forums for critics of the Duplessis Government. Prior to the Quiet Revolution, the province's natural resources were developed mainly by foreign investors, such as

1358-554: Is estimated to be home to between 32 and 36 regional French accents, 17 of which can be found in Quebec, and 7 of which are found in New Brunswick. There are also people who will naturally speak using Québécois Standard or Joual which are considered sociolects . There are about seven million French Canadians and native French speakers in Quebec. Another one million French-speaking French Canadians are distributed throughout

1455-453: Is indicative of the French immigration to the area. They came to identify as Franco-American , especially those who were born American. Distinctions between French Canadian, natives of France, and other New World French identities is more blurred in the U.S. than in Canada, but those who identify as French Canadian or Franco American generally do not regard themselves as French. Rather, they identify culturally, historically, and ethnically with

1552-452: Is necessary to refer to Canadians of French-Canadian heritage collectively, such as in the name and mandate of national organizations which serve francophone communities across Canada. Francophone Canadians of non-French-Canadian origin such as immigrants from francophone countries are not usually designated by the term "French Canadian"; the more general term "francophones" is used for French-speaking Canadians across all ethnic origins. Below

1649-441: Is not the province in which they currently reside; for example, a Québécois who moved to Manitoba would not normally change their own self-identification to Franco-Manitoban. Increasingly, provincial labels are used to stress the linguistic and cultural, as opposed to ethnic and religious, nature of French-speaking institutions and organizations. The term "French Canadian" is still used in historical and cultural contexts, or when it

1746-527: Is to protect the French language by making it the language of business in Québec, as well as restricting the use of English on signs. The bill also restricted the eligibility for elementary and high school students to attend school in English, allowing this only for children of parents who had studied in English in Québec. Children may also be eligible for English education if their parents or grandparents received

1843-646: The Pays d'en Haut (Upper Countries), a vast and thinly settled territorial dependence north and west of Montreal which covered the whole of the Great Lakes area. From 1535 to the 1690s, Canadien was a word used by the French to refer to the First Nations they had encountered in the St. Lawrence River valley at Stadacona and Hochelaga , though First Nations groups did not refer to themselves as Canadien . At

1940-474: The Canadian Constitution since 1982, protecting them from provincial governments that have historically been indifferent towards their presence. At the provincial level, New Brunswick formally designates French as a full official language , while other provinces vary in the level of French language services they offer. All three of Canada's territories include French as an official language of

2037-523: The Government of Quebec refer to all Quebec citizens, regardless of their language or their cultural heritage, as Québécois. Academic analysis of French Canadian culture has often focused on the degree to which the Quiet Revolution, particularly the shift in the social and cultural identity of the Québécois following the Estates General of French Canada of 1966 to 1969, did or did not create

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2134-602: The Grande Hémorragie . French Canadians get their name from the French colony of Canada , the most developed and densely populated region of New France during the period of French colonization in the 17th and 18th centuries. The original use of the term Canada referred to the area of present-day Quebec along the St. Lawrence River , divided in three districts ( Québec , Trois-Rivières , and Montréal ), as well as to

2231-501: The Industrial Revolution . Buoyed by significant manufacturing demand during World War I and World War II , the Québec economy was already expanding before the events of the Quiet Revolution. Rouillard also argues that traditional portrayals of the Quiet Revolution falsely depict it as the rise of Liberalism in Québec . He notes the popularity enjoyed by federal Liberal Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier as well as

2328-590: The Liberal Party of Quebec 's government led by Jean Lesage (elected in 1960) and, to some extent, Robert Bourassa (elected in 1970 after Daniel Johnson of the Union Nationale in 1966), its profound impact has influenced the policies of most provincial governments since the early 1960s. A primary change was an effort by the provincial government to assume greater control over healthcare and education, both of which had previously been under

2425-665: The National Hospital Insurance Plan , the first public health insurance plan adhered to by all the provinces. In 1966, the National Medicare program was created. Federal politics were further influenced by the election of Pierre Elliot Trudeau in 1968. The rise to power of arguably Canada's most influential Prime Minister was unique in Canadian politics. The charisma and charm he displayed throughout his whirlwind campaign swept up much of

2522-464: The U.S. Census Bureau . In Canada, 85% of French Canadians reside in Quebec where they constitute the majority of the population in all regions except the far north ( Nord-du-Québec ). Most cities and villages in this province were built and settled by the French or French Canadians during the French colonial rule . There are various urban and small centres in Canada outside Quebec that have long-standing populations of French Canadians, going back to

2619-615: The Upper Peninsula of Michigan as well as around Detroit . They also founded such cities as New Orleans and St. Louis and villages in the Mississippi Valley . French Canadians later emigrated in large numbers from Canada to the United States between the 1840s and the 1930s in search of economic opportunities in border communities and industrialized portions of New England . French-Canadian communities in

2716-763: The Windsor-Detroit region and the Canadian prairies (primarily Southern Manitoba ). After the 1760 British conquest of New France in the French and Indian War (known as the Seven Years' War in Canada), the French-Canadian population remained important in the life of the colonies. The British gained Acadia by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It took the 1774 Quebec Act for French Canadians to regain

2813-537: The 1840s and the 1930s, some 900,000 French Canadians immigrated to the New England region. About half of them returned home. The generations born in the United States would eventually come to see themselves as Franco-Americans . During the same period of time, numerous French Canadians also migrated and settled in Eastern and Northern Ontario . The descendants of those Quebec inter-provincial migrants constitute

2910-448: The 1960s, French Canadians in Quebec have generally used Québécois (masculine) or Québécoise (feminine) to express their cultural and national identity, rather than Canadien français and Canadienne française . Francophones who self-identify as Québécois and do not have French-Canadian ancestry may not identify as "French Canadian" ( Canadien or Canadien français ), though the term "French Canadian" may by extension refer to natives of

3007-658: The 1960s, religion was a central component of French-Canadian national identity. The Church parish was the focal point of civic life in French-Canadian society, and religious orders ran French-Canadian schools, hospitals and orphanages and were very influential in everyday life in general. During the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, however, the practice of Catholicism dropped drastically. Church attendance in Quebec currently remains low. Rates of religious observance among French Canadians outside Quebec tend to vary by region, and by age. In general, however, those in Quebec are

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3104-584: The 1960s, the government of Québec was controlled by the conservative Duplessis, leader of the Union Nationale party. Not all the Catholic Church supported Duplessis – some Catholic unions and members of the clergy criticized him, including Montreal Archbishop Joseph Charbonneau – but the bulk of the small-town and rural clergy supported him. Some quoted the Union Nationale slogan Le ciel est bleu, l'enfer est rouge ('The sky (Heaven)

3201-493: The 1970s is also part of this period. The Canadian Constitution of 1867 made education the responsibility of the province. Québec set up a Ministry of Public Instruction in 1868 but abolished it in 1875 under pressure from the Catholic Church. The clergy believed it would be able to provide appropriate teaching to young people and that the province should not interfere. By the early 1960s, there were more than 1,500 school boards, each responsible for its own programs, textbooks and

3298-460: The Acadians or the Québécois, or considered a distinct group in their own right, by different sources. French Canadians outside Quebec are more likely to self-identify as "French Canadian". Identification with provincial groupings varies from province to province, with Franco-Ontarians, for example, using their provincial label far more frequently than Franco-Columbians do. Few identify only with

3395-418: The Catholic Church. Seljak felt that the Catholic Church could have responded with a more vocal opposition. Modern Québec historians have brought some nuance to the importance of the Quiet Revolution. Though the improvements made to Québec society during this era make it seem like an extremely innovative period, it has been posited that these changes follow a logical revolutionary movement occurring throughout

3492-516: The Dominion of Canada, and from that time forward, the word "Canadian" has been used to describe both English-speaking and French-speaking citizens, wherever they live in the country. Those reporting "French New World" ancestries overwhelmingly had ancestors that went back at least four generations in Canada. Fourth generation Canadiens and Québécois showed considerable attachment to their ethno-cultural group, with 70% and 61%, respectively, reporting

3589-759: The English Canadian , meaning "someone whose family has been in Canada for multiple generations", and the French Canadien , used to refer to descendants of the original settlers of New France in the 17th and 18th centuries. "Canadien" was used to refer to the French-speaking residents of New France beginning in the last half of the 17th century. The English-speaking residents who arrived later from Great Britain were called "Anglais". This usage continued until Canadian Confederation in 1867. Confederation united several former British colonies into

3686-534: The French civil law system, and in 1791 French Canadians in Lower Canada were introduced to the parliamentary system when an elected Legislative Assembly was created. The Legislative Assembly having no real power, the political situation degenerated into the Lower Canada Rebellions of 1837–1838, after which Lower Canada and Upper Canada were unified. Some of the motivations for the union

3783-978: The French-Canadian population in the United States is found in the New England area, although there is also a large French-Canadian presence in Plattsburgh, New York , across Lake Champlain from Burlington, Vermont . Quebec and Acadian emigrants settled in industrial cities like Fitchburg , Leominster , Lynn , Worcester , Haverhill , Waltham , Lowell , Gardner , Lawrence , Chicopee , Somerset , Fall River , and New Bedford in Massachusetts ; Woonsocket in Rhode Island ; Manchester and Nashua in New Hampshire ; Bristol , Hartford , and East Hartford in Connecticut ; throughout

3880-488: The Premiership of Adélard Godbout as examples of Québec Liberalism prior to the events of the Quiet Revolution. The Godbout administration was extremely innovative. Its achievements include nationalizing the electricity distribution network of the city of Montreal, granting universal suffrage, instituting mandatory schooling until the age of 14 and establishing various social programs in Québec. The perception of

3977-594: The Quiet Revolution as a great upheaval in Québec society persists, but the revisionist argument that describes this period as a natural continuation of innovations already occurring in Québec cannot be omitted from any discussion on the merits of the Quiet Revolution. The historiography of the period has been notably explored by Ronald Rudin, who describes the legacy of the Lesage years in the depiction of what preceded them. Though criticized as apologists for Duplessis , Robert Rumilly and Conrad Black did add complexity to

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4074-420: The Québec economy, with annual revenues of $ 12.7 billion Canadian dollars, $ 1.1 billion going directly into the province's coffers. More public institutions were created to follow through with the desire to increase the province's economic autonomy. The public companies SIDBEC (iron and steel), SOQUEM (mining), REXFOR (forestry) and SOQUIP (petroleum) were created to exploit the province's natural resources. This

4171-587: The Québécois people through unsuccessful referendums, the first in 1980 on the question of political sovereignty with economic association to Canada (also known as sovereignty association ), and the second in 1995 on full sovereignty. In 1977, during their first term in office, the Parti Québécois enacted the Charter of the French Language , known more commonly as Bill 101 , whose goal

4268-497: The US-based Iron Ore Company of Canada . In the spring of 1949, a group of 5,000 asbestos miners went on strike for three months against a foreign corporation. They were supported by Joseph Charbonneau ( Bishop of Montreal ), the Québécois nationalist newspaper Le Devoir , and a small group of intellectuals. Until the second half of the 20th century, the majority of Francophone Québec workers lived below

4365-591: The United States and Canada was enjoying a long period of prosperity and modernization, economic growth was slower in Québec. The level of formal schooling among French-Canadians was quite low: only 13% finished grade 11, as opposed to 36% of English Canadians. One of the most scathing attacks on the educational system was levelled by Brother Jean-Paul Desbiens , writing under the pseudonym of Frère Untel . The publication of his book Les insolences du Frère Untel (1960) quickly sold over 100,000 copies and has come to be recognized as having important impact on

4462-516: The United States remain along the Quebec border in Maine , Vermont , and New Hampshire , as well as further south in Massachusetts , Rhode Island , and Connecticut . There is also a significant community of French Canadians in South Florida , particularly Hollywood, Florida , especially during the winter months. The wealth of Catholic churches named after St. Louis throughout New England

4559-462: The Western world in the 1960s. Québec historian Jacques Rouillard  [ fr ] took this revisionist stance in arguing that the Quiet Revolution may have accelerated the natural evolution of Quebec's francophone society rather than having turned it on its head. Several arguments support this view. From an economic perspective, Quebec's manufacturing sector had seen important growth since

4656-495: The administration of health and social services in the province. The Quiet Revolution combined declericalization with the radicalized implementation of Vatican II . There was a dramatic change in the role of nuns , which previously had attracted 2–3% of Québec's young women. Many left the convent while very few young women entered. The Provincial government took over the nuns' traditional role as provider of many of Québec's educational and social services. Often ex-nuns continued

4753-500: The age for compulsory schooling from 14 to 16; providing free schooling until the 11th grade; reorganizing school boards; standardizing school curricula; and replacing classical colleges , first with CEGEPs (publicly funded pre‑university colleges) in 1965, then the Université du Québec network in 1969. The reforms were an effort to improve access to higher education, geographically and financially. Additionally, more emphasis

4850-579: The beginning of the Quiet Revolution. Alphonse-Marie Parent presided over a commission established in 1961 to study the education system and bring forth recommendations, which eventually led to the adoption of several reforms, the most important of which was secularization of the education system. In 1964 a Ministry of Education was established with Paul Gérin-Lajoie appointed the first Minister of Education since 1875. Although schools maintained their Catholic or Protestant character, in practice they became secular institutions. Reforms included raising

4947-494: The bulk of today's Franco-Ontarian community. Since 1968, French has been one of Canada's two official languages. It is the sole official language of Quebec and one of the official languages of New Brunswick , Yukon , the Northwest Territories , and Nunavut . The province of Ontario has no official languages defined in law, although the provincial government provides French language services in many parts of

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5044-632: The conservative ideal of a religiously and culturally pure Québec, and became known among liberals as the Grande Noirceur ('Great Darkness'), although the Richard Riot of 1955 may have signaled growing submerged forces. Soon after Duplessis' death, the June 1960 provincial election installed the Liberal provincial government of Jean Lesage , and the Quiet Revolution began. Prior to

5141-608: The country in what would be referred to as Trudeaumania . Before the end of the 1960s, Trudeau would pass the Official Languages Act (1969), which aimed to ensure that all federal government services were available in both of Canada's official languages. By the end of the 1960s, Trudeau had also passed legislation decriminalizing homosexuality and certain types of abortion . Montreal municipal politics were also going through an important upheaval. Jean Drapeau became Montreal mayor on October 24, 1960. Within

5238-652: The creation of the Canada/Québec Pension Plan , and the establishment of Hydro-Québec in an effort to nationalize Quebec's electric utilities. Furthermore, during this period, French Canadians in Quebec adopted the term Québécois to distinguish themselves from both the rest of Canada and France, solidifying their identity as a reformed province. The Quiet Revolution ushered in a period of significant economic and social development not only in Quebec but also in French Canada and Canada as

5335-512: The culture that originated in Quebec that is differentiated from French culture. In L'Avenir du français aux États-Unis , Calvin Veltman and Benoît Lacroix found that since the French language has been so widely abandoned in the United States, the term "French Canadian" has taken on an ethnic rather than linguistic meaning. French Canadian identities are influenced by historical events that inform regional cultures. For example, in New England,

5432-555: The decline in influence of the Roman Catholic Church over the lives of French-Canadians as one of the causes of the great reduction in the TFR during the Quiet Revolution. According to Professor Claude Belanger of Montreal's Marianopolis College , the loss of influence of the Roman Catholic Church and subsequent abandonment of long adhered to Church teachings concerning procreation was a key factor in Quebec going from having

5529-498: The descendants of the King's Daughters ( Filles du Roi ) of this era. A few also are the descendants of mixed French and Algonquian marriages (see also Metis people and Acadian people ). During the mid-18th century, French explorers and Canadiens born in French Canada colonized other parts of North America in what are today the states of Louisiana , Mississippi , Missouri , Illinois , Vincennes, Indiana , Louisville, Kentucky ,

5626-691: The economy which, as is evidenced by Hydro-Québec , is extremely profitable. The Société générale de financement (General financing corporation) was created in 1962 to encourage Québécois to invest in their economic future and to increase the profitability of small companies. In 1963, in conjunction with the Canada Pension Plan the government of Canada authorized the province to create its own Régie des Rentes du Québec ( RRQ , 'Québec Pension Plan'); universal contributions came into effect in 1966. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec ( CDPQ , 'Québec Deposit and Investment Fund')

5723-690: The end of the 17th century, Canadien became an ethnonym distinguishing the French inhabitants of Canada from those of France. At the end of the 18th century, to distinguish between the English-speaking population and the French-speaking population, the terms English Canadian and French Canadian emerged. During the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s to 1980s, inhabitants of Quebec began to identify as Québécois instead of simply French Canadian. French settlers from Normandy , Perche , Beauce , Brittany , Maine , Anjou , Touraine , Poitou , Aunis , Angoumois , Saintonge , and Gascony were

5820-401: The establishment of a state-administered welfare state known as the état-providence , a shift in political alignment toward federalist and sovereigntist (or separatist ) factions (each faction influenced by Quebec nationalism ), and the eventual election of a pro-sovereignty provincial government in the 1976 election . While the Quiet Revolution is often associated with the efforts of

5917-733: The first Europeans to permanently colonize what is now Quebec , parts of Ontario, Acadia, and select areas of Western Canada, all in Canada (see French colonization of the Americas ). Their colonies of New France (also commonly called Canada) stretched across what today are the Maritime provinces , southern Quebec and Ontario , as well as the entire Mississippi River Valley. The first permanent European settlements in Canada were at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608 as fur trading posts . The territories of New France were Canada , Acadia (later renamed Nova Scotia ), and Louisiana ;

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6014-545: The first few years of his tenure, Drapeau oversaw a series of infrastructure projects, including the expansion of Dorval airport (now Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport ), the opening of the Champlain bridge and the renaissance of Old Montreal . He also oversaw the construction and inauguration of Place des Arts . Drapeau was also instrumental in the construction of the Montreal metro system, which

6111-694: The highest provincial birth rate in 1960 to the lowest in 1970. Seeking a mandate for its most daring reform, the nationalization of the province's electric companies under Hydro-Québec , the Liberal Party called for a new election in 1962 . The Liberal party was returned to power with an increased majority in the Legislative Assembly of Québec and within six months, René Lévesque , Minister of Natural Resources, enacted his plans for Hydro-Québec . The Hydro-Québec project grew to become an important symbol in Québec. It demonstrated

6208-674: The late 19th and 20th centuries, French Canadians' discontent grew with their place in Canada because of a series of events: including the execution of Louis Riel , the elimination of official bilingualism in Manitoba , Canada's military participation in the Second Boer War , Regulation 17 which banned French-language schools in Ontario, the Conscription Crisis of 1917 and the Conscription Crisis of 1944 . Between

6305-429: The late 19th century, due to interprovincial migration . Eastern and Northern Ontario have large populations of francophones in communities such as Ottawa , Cornwall , Hawkesbury , Sudbury , Timmins , North Bay , Timiskaming , Welland and Windsor . Many also pioneered the Canadian Prairies in the late 18th century, founding the towns of Saint Boniface, Manitoba and in Alberta 's Peace Country , including

6402-415: The least observant, while those in the United States of America and other places away from Quebec tend to be the most observant. People who claim some French-Canadian ancestry or heritage number some 7 million in Canada. In the United States, 2.4 million people report French-Canadian ancestry or heritage, while an additional 8.4 million claim French ancestry; they are treated as a separate ethnic group by

6499-567: The legal equality of spouses. In case of divorce, the rules for administering the Divorce Act were retained using Québéc's old community property matrimonial regime until 1980, when new legislation brought an automatic equal division of certain basic family assets between spouses. The societal and economic innovations of the Quiet Revolution, which empowered Québec society, emboldened certain nationalists to push for political independence. While visiting Montreal for Expo 67 , General Charles de Gaulle proclaimed Vive le Québec libre! in

6596-599: The mid-continent Illinois Country was at first governed from Canada and then attached to Louisiana. The inhabitants of the French colony of Canada (modern-day Quebec) called themselves the Canadiens , and came mostly from northwestern France. The early inhabitants of Acadia, or Acadians ( Acadiens) , came mostly but not exclusively from the southwestern regions of France . Canadien explorers and fur traders would come to be known as coureurs des bois and voyageurs , while those who settled on farms in Canada would come to be known as habitants . Many French Canadians are

6693-457: The moribund Fraser routes. Eight hundred miners left Victoria bound for the goldfields but many did not proceed beyond the mouth of the Stikine. Those who reached the goldfield, which was 150 miles up the river, were not more than five hundred. Not much gold was found on the Stikine, but the flurry of activity prompted Governor James Douglas of the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia to declare, in 1862, British ownership over

6790-418: The narrative of neo-nationalists by contesting the concept of a Grande Noirceur , the idea that Duplessis's tenure in office was one of reactionary policies and politics. Dale Thomson, for his part, noted that Jean Lesage , far from seeking to dismantle the traditional order, negotiated a transition with (and sought to accommodate) Québéc's Catholic Church. Several scholars have lately sought to mediate

6887-424: The neo-nationalist and revisionist schools by looking at grassroots Catholic activism and the Church's involvement in policy-making. Politics at the federal level were also in flux. In 1957, the federal government passed the Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act . This was, effectively, the beginning of a pan-Canadian system of publicly funded health care . In 1961, Prime Minister Diefenbaker instituted

6984-423: The poverty line, and Francophones did not join the executive ranks of the businesses of their own province. Political activist and singer Félix Leclerc wrote: "Our people are the waterboys of their own country". In many ways, Duplessis's death in 1959, quickly followed by the sudden death of his successor Paul Sauvé , triggered the Quiet Revolution. The Liberal Party , led by Jean Lesage and campaigning under

7081-572: The province of Quebec . During the 17th century, French settlers originating mainly from the west and north of France settled Canada. It is from them that the French Canadian ethnicity was born. During the 17th to 18th centuries, French Canadians expanded across North America and colonized various regions, cities, and towns. As a result, people of French Canadian descent can be found across North America. Between 1840 and 1930, many French Canadians emigrated to New England , an event known as

7178-567: The province of Quebec or other parts of French Canada of foreign descent. Those who do have French or French-Canadian ancestry, but who support Quebec sovereignty , often find Canadien français to be archaic or even pejorative. This is a reflection of the strong social, cultural, and political ties that most Quebecers of French-Canadian origin, who constitute a majority of francophone Quebecers, maintain within Quebec. It has given Québécois an ambiguous meaning which has often played out in political issues , as all public institutions attached to

7275-558: The province under the French Language Services Act . There are many varieties of French spoken by francophone Canadians, for example Quebec French , Acadian French , Métis French , and Newfoundland French . The French spoken in Ontario, the Canadian West , and New England can trace their roots back to Quebec French because of Quebec's diaspora . Over time, many regional accents have emerged. Canada

7372-626: The provinces of New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia represent a distinct ethnic French-speaking culture. This group's culture and history evolved separately from the French Canadian culture, at a time when the Maritime Provinces were not part of what was referred to as Canada, and are consequently considered a distinct culture from French Canadians. Brayons in Madawaska County , New Brunswick and Aroostook County , Maine may be identified with either

7469-557: The provincial groupings, explicitly rejecting "French Canadian" as an identity label. A population genetics ancestry study claims that for those French Canadians who trace their ancestry to the French founder population, a significant percentage, 53-78% have at least one indigenous ancestor. During the mid-18th century, French Canadian explorers and colonists colonized other parts of North America in what are today Louisiana (called Louisianais ), Mississippi , Missouri , Illinois , Wisconsin , Indiana , Ohio , far northern New York and

7566-500: The purview of the Catholic Church . To achieve this, the government established ministries of Health and Education , expanded the public service, made substantial investments in the public education system, and permitted the unionization of the civil service. Additionally, measures were taken to enhance Quebecois control over the province's economy , including the nationalization of electricity production and distribution,

7663-429: The recognition of diplomas according to its own criteria. In addition, until the Quiet Revolution, higher education was accessible to only a minority of French Canadians because of the generally low level of formal education and the expense involved. Moreover, secondary schools had placed a lot more emphasis on the liberal arts and soft sciences than the hard sciences . Following World War II , while most of

7760-563: The region continued in the wake of the rush, with the much larger Cassiar Gold Rush , north of Telegraph Creek , discovered in 1870 by Harry McDame . French-Canadian Asia Middle East Europe North America South America Oceania French Canadians , referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in

7857-693: The region in the form of the Stickeen Territories , which extended north from the northern frontier of British Columbia at the Nass and Finlay Rivers to the 62nd Parallel. The Stickeen Territories were a year later merged with British Columbia, except for the portion north of the 60th Parallel, which reverted to the North-Western Territory from which the Territories had been taken upon their creation. Mineral exploration of

7954-401: The region of Grande Prairie . It is estimated that roughly 70–75% of Quebec's population descend from the French pioneers of the 17th and 18th century. The French-speaking population have massively chosen the "Canadian" (" Canadien " ) ethnic group since the government made it possible (1986), which has made the current statistics misleading. The term Canadien historically referred only to

8051-611: The relatively recent immigration (19th/20th centuries) is informed by experiences of language oppression and an identification with certain occupations, such as the mill workers. In the Great Lakes, many French Canadians also identify as Métis and trace their ancestry to the earliest voyageurs and settlers ; many also have ancestry dating to the lumber era and often a mixture of the two groups. The main Franco-American regional identities are: Traditionally, Canadiens had

8148-413: The rest of Canada. French Canadians may also speak Canadian English , especially if they live in overwhelmingly English-speaking environments. In Canada, not all those of French Canadian ancestry speak French, but the vast majority do. Francophones living in Canadian provinces other than Quebec have enjoyed minority language rights under Canadian law since the Official Languages Act of 1969, and under

8245-492: The rise of the sovereignty movement, evidenced by the election of the sovereigntist Parti Québécois (first in 1976 by René Lévesque ), the formation of a sovereigntist political party representing Québec on the federal level, the Bloc Québécois (founded in 1991 by Lucien Bouchard ), as well as the 1980 and 1995 sovereignty referendums. Some scholars argue that the rise of the Québec sovereignty movement during

8342-423: The same basic facts. For example, Cuccioletta and Lubin raised the question of whether it was an unexpected revolution or an inevitable evolution of society. Behiels asked, how important are economic factors such as outside control of Québec's finance and industry? Was the motivating force one of liberalism or one of nationalism? Gauvreau raised the issues of religious factors, and of the changes going on inside

8439-564: The same roles in civilian dress; and for the first time men started entering the teaching profession. Also during the time of the Quiet Revolution, Quebec experienced a large drop in the total fertility rate (known as TFR: the lifetime average number of live births per woman of child-bearing age) falling from 3.8 in 1960 to 1.9 in 1970. According to a study commissioned in 2007 by the Québec Ministry of Families, Seniors and Status of Women on possible ways to address problems related to

8536-475: The slogans Il faut que ça change ("Things have to change") and Maîtres chez nous ("Masters of our own house", a phrase coined by Le Devoir editor André Laurendeau ), was voted into power within a year of Duplessis's death. It is generally accepted that the revolution ended before the October Crisis of 1970, but Québec society has continued to change dramatically since then, notably with

8633-673: The state of Vermont , particularly in Burlington , St. Albans , and Barre ; and Biddeford and Lewiston in Maine . Smaller groups of French Canadians settled in the Midwest, notably in the states of Michigan , Illinois, Wisconsin , Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota . French Canadians also settled in central North Dakota, largely in Rolette and Bottineau counties, and in South Dakota. Some Metis still speak Michif ,

8730-404: The strength and initiative of the Québec government and was a symbol of the ingenuity of Québécois in their capability to complete such an ambitious project. The original Hydro-Québec project ushered in an era of "megaprojects" that would continue until 1984, seeing Québéc's hydroelectric network grow and become a strong pillar of the province. Today, Hydro-Québec remains a crucial element to

8827-457: The structure and direction of the federal government and national policies. On March 28, 1969, a significant street demonstration took place in Montreal, known as Opération McGill français . The primary objective of this protest was to advocate for McGill University to become a French-speaking educational institution. The 1950s tenure of Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis epitomized

8924-428: The terms for provincial subgroups, if used at all, are usually defined solely by province of residence, with all of the terms being strictly interchangeable with French Canadian. Although this remains the more common usage in English, it is considered outdated to many Canadians of French descent, especially in Quebec. Most francophone Canadians who use the provincial labels identify with their province of origin, even if it

9021-550: The territory alongside English and local indigenous languages, although in practice French-language services are normally available only in the capital cities and not across the entire territory. Catholicism is the chief denomination. The kingdom of France forbade non-Catholic settlement in New France from 1629 onward and thus, almost all French settlers of Canada were Catholic. In the United States, some families of French-Canadian origin have converted to Protestantism. Until

9118-535: Was a massive shift away from the Duplessis era in which Québec's abundant natural resources were hardly utilized. Duplessis' policy was to sell off untransformed natural resources at bargain prices in order to create more employment in Québec's regions. This strategy, however, proved weak as Québec's natural resources were exploited for little profit. The shift in mentality of the Quiet Revolution allowed Québec to gain further financial autonomy by accessing this area of

9215-511: Was created in 1965 to manage the considerable revenues generated by the RRQ and to provide the capital necessary for various projects in the public and private sectors. A new labour code ( Code du Travail ) was adopted in 1964. It made unionizing much easier and gave public employees the right to strike. It was during the same year that the Code Civil ('Civil Code') was modified to recognize

9312-534: Was placed on the hard sciences, and there was now work for the Québécois who had previously needed to leave the province in order to find jobs in their preferred fields. For example, the opening of Hydro-Québec meant that skilled engineers needed to be hired. Also during this period the Ministry of Social Affairs was created, which in June 1985 became the Ministry of Health and Social Services , responsible for

9409-648: Was to limit French-Canadian political power and at the same time transferring a large part of the Upper Canadian debt to the debt-free Lower Canada. After many decades of British immigration, the Canadiens became a minority in the Province of Canada in the 1850s. French-Canadian contributions were essential in securing responsible government for the Canadas and in undertaking Canadian Confederation . In

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