Thursday, Mar. 23, 2023
Did Wisconsin once belong to both the province of Quebec and the state of Virginia?
At different points in Wisconsin's history, its territory was considered part of the now-Canadian province of Quebec and the state of Virginia.
Wisconsin's territory became part of British colonial territory under the First Treaty of Paris in 1763. Later, it became a province of British-controlled Quebec under the 1774 Quebec Act.
In 1783, following the Revolutionary War, British holdings east of the Mississippi, including Wisconsin, were ceded to the United States under the Second Treaty of Paris.
Until U.S. independence, Virginia officials also argued that the colony had claims to Wisconsin's territory by citing the boundaries of a 1609 charter signed by King James I. These claims ended in 1784 when Virginia ceded its holdings — stretching from present-day Virginia up to Minnesota — to the U.S. government.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Wisconsin Historical Society Timeline of Wisconsin history, 1750-1783
- Wisconsin State Legislature Wisconsin history prior to statehood
- US House of Representatives Cession of lands from Virginia to the United States
- Virginia Places Virginia's cession of the Northwest Territory
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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
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