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Quebec nationalism is the subject of many international studies together with the contemporary nationalism of
Scotland, Catalonia and others.
This article aims at presenting an historical overview of the evolution of Quebec nationalism from its origins until now.
Canadien liberal nationalism
(1800s - 1880s)
The emergence of a French Canadian (Canadien) nationalism coincides with the birth of many nation states at the time of the Early Modern revolutions, which began with the independence of the Thirteen British American colonies.
From 1783 to the late 1830s the world witnessed
the creation of many new national states with the birth of the United States
of America, the French Republic, Haiti, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Mexico,
Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Belgium, Greece
and others. Often accomplished militarily, these national liberations occurred in the context of complex ideological and
political struggles opposing European metropolis with their respective
colonies, monarchists with republicans. If these battles succeeded in creating independent republican states in some regions of the world,
they failed in other places, such as Ireland, Scotland, Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Germany, and so on.
There is no consensus on the exact time of the birth of a national consciousness in French Canada. Some historians defend the thesis that it existed before the 1800s, because the
Canadiens saw themselves as a people culturally distinct from the French even in the time of New France. However, the use of the expression la nation canadienne (the Canadian nation) by
French Canadians is a reality of the 1800s as far as we know from historical records. The idea of a nation canadienne
was supported by the liberal or professional class in Lower Canada: lawyers, notaries, librarians, accountants, doctors,
journalists, and architects of all origins.
A political movement for the independence of the Canadien people slowly took form following the enactment of the
Constitutional Act of 1791. The Act of the
British Parliament created two colonies, Lower Canada and Upper
Canada, each of which had its own political institutions. In Lower Canada, the French-speaking and Catholic Canadiens
were able to hold the majority in the elected house of representatives, but were either a small minority or simply not
represented in the appointed legislative and executive councils, both appointed by the Governor, representing the British Crown
in the colony. Most of the members of the legislative council and the executive council were part of the British ruling class,
composed of wealthy merchants, judges, military men, etc. supportive of the Tory party. By the 1830s, the government and the
elected assembly were at odds on virtually every issue.
The movement of reform gathered the support of the majority of the representatives of the people among Francophones but also
among liberal Anglophones. A number of the prominent characters in the reformist movement were of British origin, for example
John Neilson, Wolfred
Nelson, Robert Nelson, Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan, Daniel Tracey, Thomas Storrow Brown.
Two currents existed within the reformists of the Parti
canadien: a moderate wing, whose members were fond of British institutions and wished for Lower Canada to have a
government more accountable to the elective house's representative and a more radical wing whose attachement to British
institutions was rather conditional to these proving to be as good as to those of the neighbouring American republics.
Ultramontane nationalism
(1840s to 1950s)
Although it was still defended and promoted up until the beginning of the 20th century, the French Canadian liberal
nationalism born out of the American and French revolutions began to decline in the 1840s, gradually being replaced by both a
more moderate liberal nationalism and the ultramontanism of the
powerful Catholic clergy.
The rise of a Catholic nationalism, which was pervasive throughout Quebec society until fairly recently, marked a century of
religious obscurantism. The
censorship of essentially all of the Enlightenment, liberal, scientific and romantic ideas and literature of France, the United States and Britain severely affected what is seen today as the normal social and economic development of Quebec.
Contemporary Quebec nationalism
(1950s to the present)
The understanding of contemporary Quebec nationalism is made very difficult by the ongoing debates on the political status of
the province. Because no political option gathers a decisive majority, there are still many social conflicts and contradictions
in the way Quebecers see themselves.
See: History of the Quebec sovereignist movement.
See also
External links
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