Catholic Emancipation - Initial Reliefs

Initial Reliefs

In Canada, British since 1763, the Quebec Act of 1774 ended some restrictions on Catholics, so much so that it was criticized in the Congress of the Thirteen Colonies.

In Great Britain and Ireland, the first Catholic Relief Act was passed in 1778; subject to an oath renouncing Stuart claims to the throne and the civil jurisdiction of the Pope, it allowed Roman Catholics to own property, inherit land, and join the army. Reaction against this led to riots in Scotland in 1779 and then the Gordon Riots in London on June 2, 1780.

Further relief was given by an Act of 1782 allowing Catholic schools and bishops. The British Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 was adopted by the Irish Parliament in 1792–93. Since the electoral franchise at the time was largely determined by property, this relief gave the votes to Roman Catholics holding land with a rental value of £2 a year. They also started to gain access to many middle-class professions from which they had been excluded, such as the legal profession, grand jurors, universities and the lower ranks of the army and judiciary.