Editing Quebec Act (section)

== The act ==
*'''Territory''': The boundaries of the province were defined by the act. In addition to the territory defined by the royal proclamation, the borders were expanded to include land that is now southern [[Ontario]], [[Illinois]], [[Indiana]], [[Michigan]], [[Ohio]], [[Wisconsin]] and parts of [[Minnesota]].<ref name=QAct/>{{rp|ss. 1–3}} This increased the size of the province threefold, restoring the territory of the French province of Canada.
* '''Religion''': The Act allowed public office holders to practise the [[Roman Catholic]] faith, by replacing [[Oath of Supremacy|the oath]] sworn by officials from one sworn to [[Elizabeth I]] and her heirs, with one sworn to [[George III]] that had no reference to the [[Protestant]] faith.<ref name =QAct/>{{rp|s. 7}} This enabled, for the first time, Canadiens to legally participate in the affairs of the provincial government without formally renouncing their faith. It also re-established the collection of tithes, which had been stopped under the previous administrative rules.<ref name =QAct/>{{rp|s. 5}}
* '''Structure of government''': The Act defined the structure of the provincial government. The governor was to be appointed by the Crown, and he was to govern with the assistance of a legislative council; there were no provisions for an elected legislative assembly.<ref name =QAct/>{{rp|s. 12}}
* '''Law''': The [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]] had provided that English common law would apply for all purposes in the colony.  The act restored the application of the former law of Canada for all matters respecting property and civil rights, while providing that English law would apply in matters of [[public law]], [[criminal law]] and [[freedom of testation]].<ref name="QAct" />{{rp|ss. 8–11}}
* '''Land use''': The [[Seigneurial system of New France|seigneurial system]] as a means of distributing land and managing its use was restored. This was the system by which the French had administered the province; the British had instituted a [[township]] system of land management in 1763.<ref>{{cite book |last=Maddock |first=Brian |title=History & Citizenship Education |publisher=Beaconsfield |year=2008 |isbn=9780968706862 |volume=3 |oclc=938019103}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2018}}<ref name =QAct/>{{rp|s. 8}}
* '''Name of the Act''':  as was the practice at that time, the act initially only had a long title: ''An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America''.  The act was customarily referred to as the ''Quebec Act 1774''.  In 1898, the British Parliament authorised the use of a short  title, the ''British North America (Quebec) Act 1774'', but that short title was "without prejudice to any other mode of citation".<ref>''Short Titles Act 1896'' ([[59 & 60 Vict.]] c. 14 (UK)) s. 1 and First Schedule.</ref>  In its collection of constitutional enactments, the federal government has continued to refer to the act as the ''Quebec Act 1774''.<ref>[https://primarydocuments.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/QuebecAct21774.pdf ''Quebec Act, 1774'', Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Appendix II, No. 2.]</ref>