Quebec Act

In 1774, the English Parliament enacted the Quebec Act. The Quebec Act gave the English colony of Quebec control of all lands west of the Appalachian Mountains and north of the Ohio River. Quebec had been a French colony until the Treaty of Paris (1763). This treaty ended the French and Indian War and transferred most French land claims in North America to the English.

This act infuriated the colonists in England's other North American colonies. Although Quebec was now an English colony, most of its residents were former French nationals. England's other colonists had fought the French over the Ohio Country during the French and Indian War. The colonists also were suspicious of the government in Quebec. Quebec was the only English colony in North America under military rule. Many colonists engaged in the fur trade believed that Quebec's governor would deny them access to the Ohio Country. They believed that the governor would only allow residents of Quebec access to the Ohio Country. Many French colonists had supported themselves through trade with the Native Americans. They might now be able to monopolize that trade.

The Quebec Act was one of several English actions during the 1760s and early 1770s that led to the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.