This follows the earlier excerpt of letters published in the Windsor-based Vermont Journal concerning rural life in Lower Canada. See Part I here. This post is based on letters published June 23 and July 21, 1860. * * * The grain-harvest treads close upon the heels of haying. It is astonishing how rapidly vegetation advances […]
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The French-Canadian Farm in 1860, Part I
Beginning in 1858, an American correspondent signing “S. M.” shared his impressions of life in Lower Canada for readers back home in Vermont. “Having lived many years in the midst of the French population, and being familiar with their manners, customs and language,” the author explained, “I propose to drop you a line now and […]
Continue readingRecension : Deschênes, Un pays rebelle
Compte-rendu critique Gaston Deschênes, Un pays rebelle : La Côte-du-Sud et la guerre de l’Indépendance américaine. Québec : Septentrion, 2023. Ouvrage portant sur un aspect plutôt méconnu de l’histoire québécoise, Un pays rebelle arrive à la veille du 250e anniversaire de l’occupation de la vallée du Saint-Laurent par les troupes continentales. Son auteur, Gaston Deschênes, a été […]
Continue readingLes Franco-Américains et le Québec
Pour une mise en contexte par rapport à l’histoire franco-américaine, consultez mon billet détaillant les grandes lignes de ce passé ou encore mon survol du parcours politique des « Francos ». Mon dernier billet présente l’idéologie de survivance dans les grands centres franco-américains suite à la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. On ne saurait exagérer la complexité et la diversité du monde francophone […]
Continue readingLa Saint-Jean-Baptiste chez les Franco-Américains (1945-1956)
Pour une mise en contexte par rapport à l’histoire franco-américaine, consultez mon billet détaillant les grandes lignes de ce passé ou encore mon survol du parcours politique des « Francos ». Il y a quelques années, il a été question ici même des gigantesques défilés de la fête de Saint Jean-Baptiste en Nouvelle-Angleterre à la fin du […]
Continue readingBritish Acadia Unraveled: The Deportation
See Part II here. The appointment of a professional soldier like Edward Cornwallis, with a mission to build, settle, and develop Nova Scotia, announced a new British seriousness in a colony that the metropole had long neglected. The new governor proved scornful of the past management of the colony and he sought to assert his […]
Continue readingBritish Acadia and French Neutrals
See Part I here. As we read through imperial correspondence, we begin to understand why, despite security concerns, early British Acadia was also the golden-age Acadia of our historical imagination. We can sense British governors’ frustration not with the Acadian people so much as their own superiors in London. Richard Philipps, a long-time absentee governor, […]
Continue readingBritish Acadia: The Beginnings
This three-part series was first presented as “British Acadia Between Imperial Imagination and Colonial Reality” for the Acadian Archives’ annual lecture series in 2022. Please cite appropriately. Recordings of past lectures are available through the Archives. “British Acadia”: The expression may, at first glance, seem like a contradiction in terms. We easily think of Acadia […]
Continue readingThe Lost Wor(l)ds of Franco-America
This post marks the fifth anniversary of this Franco-American history blog. Sincere thanks to everyone who has read, encouraged, and supported its research and reflections. The author delivered the following remarks as the opening lecture of the University of Maine at Fort Kent’s Scholars Symposium on April 26, 2022. The transcript appeared in the summer […]
Continue readingCanada to California: Defying Distance in the Mid-Nineteenth Century
An earlier version of this essay appeared in the winter 2021-2022 issue of Le Forum, the quarterly publication of the Franco-American Centre (University of Maine). Please cite appropriately. * * * Few years in American history carry the same symbolic significance as 1848, which set the stage for what was to come in subsequent decades. […]
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