a-view-of-the-pierced-island-a-remarkable-rock-in-the-gulf-of-st-laurence-two-leagues-to-the-southward-of-gaspee-bay

Rare view of Pierced or Perc� Rock in the Gulf of St Lawrence, one of the world&#8217s largest natural maritime arches and a natural icon of Quebec. This is the first known view of the rock which includes two arches. The outer arch collapsed into the sea in 1845. As a result of its victory over France in the Seven Years&#8217 War (1754-63), Britain acquired all North American land east of the Mississippi river, which included most of Canada and New France. The region north of the Thirteen Colonies was then named Quebec and remained largely French-speaking. Following the American Revolution, numerous British Loyalists fled north from the United States and settled in Canada, significantly changing the demographics of the region. The Constitutional Act of 1791 separated Quebec into two provinces along the Ottawa River predominantly English-speaking Upper Canada in the west and the French-speaking Lower Canada in the east. They remained separate provinces until the Union Act of 1841, which created the United Province of Canada. The Act was a direct result of large-scale rebellions (1837-8) which had swept across the provinces in response to the British colonial authorities&#8217 rejection of the desire by settlers for responsible government. A small number of the rebels were later arrested and transported to Van Diemen&#8217s Land and New South Wales. The landscape, engraved by Captain Henry Smyth, was included in a collection of views published by John Bowles, which are known collectively as Scenographia Americana (1768).