Agitation for union or confederation of the colonies within B.N.A. grew in the first half of the nineteenth century. After the rebellions of 1837-8, the colonies of Lower and Upper Canada were united in one government, the Province of Canada, with the Act of Union (1840), in a failed attempt to assimilate the French Canadians.
The Quebec Act of 1774 was enacted to assure the loyalty of the newly acquired Quebec, through assuring the existence of the Catholic faith and the re-enactment of French civil law. The boundaries of Quebec were expanded to include the Ohio Country and Illinois Country, from the Appalachian Mountains on the east, south to the Ohio River, west to the Mississippi River and north to the southern boundary of lands owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, or Rupert's Land.
The motto of Quebec is Je me souviens (I remember), which is carved into the Parliament Building façade in Quebec City(Ville de Québec) and is seen on the coat of arms and the licence plates.
Canada's capital is Ottawa, home of the nation's Parliament. Both the Governor General of Canada, who exercises the personal prerogatives delegated by the monarch (the head of state), and the Prime Minister, who is the head of government, have official residences in Ottawa.
Post-confederation history is largely a story of territorial consolidation and the working out of the relative powers of the federal and provincial governments. By 1931 with the Statute of Westminster, Canada received the status of equality. The patriation of the Constitution of Canada in 1982 broke the last legal link of subordination with the Parliament of the United Kingdom, although Canada chose to retain the shared monarchy as its state figure-head. Canada is thus a constitutional monarchy.
Acadians speak a dialect of French called Acadian French. Many of those in the Moncton area speak Chiac.
The province's three largest hydro-electric projects are built on La Grande Rivière. The extreme north of the province, now called Nunavik, is subarctic or arctic and is home to part of the Inuit nation.
Often described as a crossroads between Europe and America, Quebec is home to a people that has the privilege of being connected to the strong cultural currents of the United States, France, and the British Isles all at the same time.