Name: Alawi Asaad Alsalem Student #: XXXXXXXXXX. Working Title: Old Montreal Research Objectives: To describe the historical of French Colony and its infrastructure of the area. To explain the main...

OLD MONTREAL
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Old Montreal: A French Colony
Situated between the St Lawrence River and downtown Montreal, Old Montreal is a
place of historical importance whose boundaries are roughly Rue Saint-Antoine, the St.
Lawrence River, Rue Berri and Rue McGill (McLean, n.d.). The importance of the city of
Montreal lies in the fact that its history dates back to 1642 when French settlers landed on the
edge of the St. Lawrence River and endeavored to construct a model Catholic community in the
concerned area and this effort gradually paved the way for the town to transform into a major
trading and military post that became well fortified (McLean, n.d.).
The place has an interesting history as a French colony. The unique location of Montreal,
the easy accessibility to waterways, the suitability for sea trading, and a good climatic condition
attracted settlers and eventually Montreal became populated. Louis XIV took the personal
control over Montreal and eventually in 1663 the Sulpicians became the Seigneurs of Montreal
and this was possible due to the bankruptcy of the Societe Notre-Dame (“Old Montreal”, n.d.).
By 1789 the population of Montreal increased rapidly and from just a thousand inhabitants the
population reached the mark of five thousand and five hundred and community in Montreal was
impacted by the presence of religious institutions along with the voyagers and the coureurs de
bois and among them was the order of Saint Sulpice which controlled the Ile de Montreal en
seigneurie for about two hundred years and the command centre of this reign was its seminary
building which was built in 1685 (“Montreal”, n.d.).
The Sulpicians were given the island of Montreal and were obligated to live there and
cultivate the land for ensuring the development of the entire area and to make certain that
Montreal is secured Louis XIV sent the Regiment de Carignan-Salieres and this helped the
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Sulpicians to organize seigneuries at the centre of the island of Montreal (“Old Montreal”, n.d.).
It was Francois Dollier Casson who established the first grid of streets in the colony which
included the Rue Notre-Dame, the Rue Saint-Paul, and Rue Saint-Jacques and among the
significant buildings of the era the names of Hotel-Dieu de Montreal, the Saint-Sulpice Old
Seminary and the Notre Dame Church should be considered (“Old Montreal”, n.d.).
The Catholic character of the French settlement in the island of Montreal was secured by
the arrival of Marguerite Bourgeoys, the founder of Congregation Notre-Dame, in 1657, and by
the arrival of the Jesuits and Recollets in 1692 and gradually the area was changed into a typical
French colony devoid of the initial dreams of combining the settlers and Native Americans (“Old
Montreal”, n.d.). It was to protect the settlement from British invasion that fortification of
Montreal was erected in 1717 by Gaspard Chaussegros de Lery and this fortification acted as the
boundaries of Montreal in the concerned period, and moreover, though the walls did provide
security from foreign invasion, they paved the way for the emergence of a new kind of problem
related to fire disasters and this was because such fortification helped in the rise of number of
wooden houses with fireplaces constructed within them, and to prevent the recurrence of such
disasters ultimately in 1721 Montreal received a royal order from France that directed Montreal
to ban wooden construction and replace such constructions with stone constructions, but the
order was never fully obeyed (“Old Montreal”, 2011). But the French domination over Montreal
was ultimately ended after the French surrendered it to the British after the French and Indian
War and eventually it was included within the British colony in 1763 and it was the British rule
which radically changed the face of Old Montreal (“Old Montreal”, 2011). The British rule had a
profuse impact on the socio-cultural life of Old Montreal in specific as due to their distrust on the
Catholic clergy many of the latter left the city (“Old Montreal”, 2011).
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The population stat of Old Montreal is also an interesting one to observe. The growth of
population in Old Montreal can be noticed through the statistical reports starting from 1971 to
2011 in which it has been mentioned that in 1971 the population of Old Montreal was 855 which
became 555 in 1976, 740 in 1981, 1600 in 1986, 1722 in 19991, 2230 in 1996, 2618 in 2001,
3169 in 2006, and 3478 in 2011 (“Socio-economic profile of Old Montreal”, n.d.). For about a
+33% population growth in Old Montreal can be observed through the statistical data in the
period between 2001 and 2011 and if the statistical data of the period between 1991 and 2011 is
considered then the population growth in Old Montreal can be observed as +99% (“Socio-
economic profile of Old Montreal”, n.d.). And if the statistical data of the distribution of
population in Old Montreal according to the age group is observed for the year 2006, then it can
be found that the age group of 0 to 19 years forms 9% of the total population, the age group of 20
to 29 years formed 16% of the total population, the age group of 30 to 44 years formed 31% of
the total population, the age group of 45 to 59 years formed 27% of the total population, the age
group of 60 to 74 years formed 15% of the total population, and the age group of 75 years and
above formed 3% of the entire population of Old Montreal (“Socio-economic profile of Old
Montreal”, n.d.). If the statistical data regarding the distribution of population in 2006 in Old...