Québec City: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Before Europeans imposed themselves on Québécois soil, the province's vast tracts of land were the domain of aboriginal Canadian societies. There are 11 aboriginal groups in Québec: the Inuit, Cree, Innu (Montagnais), Attikamekw, Algonquin, Mi'Kmaq, Malecite, Abénaki, Mohawk, Naskapi and Huron-Wendat. The once-powerful Huron-Wendat established a village called Stadacona on the site of present-day Québec City, but their nation was almost extinguished in the first half of the 17th century, when disease and intertribal wars reduced its members (who mainly lived in the Great Lakes region) from 30,000 to several hundred. The survivors of that period eventually resettled themselves at a place called Wendake, where many of the 3000-strong Huron-Wendat population still live today.

In 1535, the French explorer Jacques Cartier landed at Stadacona and spent a year in the area, giving every geographical feature in sight a French name and planting crosses in the name of the King of France to further make his colonial point. He floated back six years later and tried to establish a permanent base further upstream, but failed despite a lot of toil and left with fumée billowing out of his ears. It wasn't until 1608 that the French finally managed to lay the groundwork for today's city, when Samuel de Champlain got the aboriginal inhabitants heavily interested in the fur trade, planted some soldiers on Cape Diamond and declared the settlement of Kebec - named via an Algonquin word meaning 'where the river narrows' - open for business.

The fur trade got so big that it inspired an entrepreneurial cardinal back home to start shipping hundreds of settlers (Roman Catholic, of course) to Québec City each year to help harvest pelts and exploit the other natural resources at hand. The English snatched control of the burgeoning city in 1629, but a few years later said they were really sorry (while keeping their fingers firmly crossed behind their backs), signed a treaty and gave it back to the French. The conflict between England and France continued to simmer and numerous British attacks culminated in a decisive victory over the French on the Plains of Abraham in 1759 - both the English general Wolfe and the French general Montcalm died in that battle. English sovereignty over Canada was formalised in the 1763 Treaty of Paris.

In 1791 the territory was divided into Upper and Lower Canada, with the vast majority of French speakers ebbing into the latter. At the beginning of the 19th century, Lower Canada became Québec and Québec City was selected as its capital. The city was later decreed the capital of the United Provinces of Canada, created when the Lower and Upper bits of the country were joined in 1841, but this mantle passed to Ottawa when the Canadian Confederation - joining the provinces of Québec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia under a central government - was rubberstamped in 1867.

Modern History

After spending most of the next century slowly becoming more urbane, Québec City asserted its real tourist potential with the opening of the first Winter Carnival in 1955, which has gone on to be a massive success. The mid-twentieth century was marked by the corrupt and corporation-favouring reign of Québec premier Maurice Duplessis, which lasted until 1959, and the rise of a sometimes violent separatist political movement in the 1960s and 70s.

In 1995, all of Québec province voted in a referendum to decide whether it should separate from the rest of Canada and become an independent republic. The 'No' vote won by less than one percentage point.

Recent History

In April 2001, the city was the site of the Summit of the Americas, which was accompanied by mass demonstrations and protests against globalisation. Images of 6000 police and 1200 soldiers using water cannon, tear gas, clubs and rubber bullets on protesters were broadcast around the world.

In early 2002, the city's population of 167,000 ballooned out to 672,000 - due to an administrative sleight of hand. Surrounding towns and once-separate cities were fused with Québec City. This new, or Greater, Québec City is nearly 100 times its original size.

Québec City will be celebrating its 400th birthday and hosting the biennial summit of La Francophonie (an association of the world's French speaking countries) in 2008. Everything from museums to infrastructure is getting spruced up in preparation for the year-round festivities.

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