Quebec Act History

The Quebec Act is a law recently passed by the British Parliament in an effort to appease the French and incentivize them to ally with Britain, instead of with us increasingly “subversive” American colonists. Article I of the law states, “all the territories [between Ohio and the Mississippi River, and the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay] be, and they are hereby, during his Majesty's Pleasure, annexed to, and made Part and Parcel of, the Province of Quebec” (for present-day reference, this area includes southern Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota). Thus the King is essentially giving Quebec a huge portion of American land without our permission. Many of us fought hard with British forces in the French and Indian War to win the Ohio Territory; it is as much our land as it is Britain’s. Thus granting the land to Quebec without consulting the colonists is an act of betrayal on behalf of Britain. …show more content…
Likewise, richer colonists—such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin—have already claimed thousands of acres of this territory, and could lose mass fortunes from the act. Lastly, fur traders have often hunted in this territory for fur pelts, giving them an income and stimulating the economy. However with the Quebec Act, these fur traders will become barred from hunting in their normal region and will now have to find somewhere else to hunt for their furs. Thus the Quebec Act is also an inconvenience to those colonists who have already settled in the