2) The Organziation of the Government of Quebec Flashcards
What members of the nobility and aristocracy advised the monarchy of Great Britain?
The sovereign King or Queen, the privy council and parliament.
What did these members elect?
A secretary of the state for the colonies who appointed the governor general of the North American Colonies.
What powers did the governor general hold?
To issue and execute decrees and laws, to serve as commander of the army and to appoint judges.
What were the governor general’s councils used for?
They were consultants and had no decision making powers.
What was the british system of justice?
English civil and criminal law were put in to place in the Province of Quebec. Political Authorities no longer had judicial power, a chief judge was appointed to administer justice in the courts.
What instructions were sent to James Murray?
King George the III sent strict instructions to Murray. He wanted to establish British institutions in the colony and had a plan of assimilating the Canadien people.
What were the principal measures in King George the III’s instructions?
Adopt English as the language of administration, divide the land into townships instead of seigneuries, apply english civil and criminal law, establish the anglican church, construct protestant schools, promote british immigration, impose the test act, create a legislative assembly which banned catholics from joining and prohibit the admission of New Catholic priests to the colony.
What is the test act?
An oath the Canadiens were required to swear if they wanted to work in the British colonial administration. They had to renounce their catholicism and swear allegiance to King George the III.
What was Murray’s concerns from his demands?
He realized that the French population was too large for them to assimilate. Murray believed that he should convince the French to be their allies, rather than force assimilation upon them.
What is a concession?
Comprising with the French and granting small things to them.
What were Murray’s main concessions?
He appointed Protestants who favoured the Canadiens, he postponed the development of the legislative assembly, he allowed Canadiens to occupy certain administrative positions without having to comply the text act and allowed the use of French civil law in cases that affected Canadiens only.
Why did Murray postpone the legislative assembly?
There were no Canadiens who could be elected unless the complied the Test Act.
What concessions were made to the catholic church?
A new bishop needed to be in place. The catholic clergy called upon the British authorized to allow the appointment if a new bishop. James Murray sided with the catholic clergy.
Why did Murray want to align with the Catholic Church?
Because it had a lot of influence on the Canadien population.
What did Murray believe would happen with the Catholic Church?
If the British authorities showed tolerance to the Catholic Church, the Canadiens would be more cooperative.
