See Part I here. His arduous journey was still far from over as Bishop Plessis definitively left Halifax on July 27. A carriage provided by a Mr. Conroy took them overland to Windsor, a town with a small estuary opening on the Bay of Fundy. Plessis seemed startled to find a good number of Black […]
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Franco-American Clippings
I never tire of jumping into newspaper archives in search of one item, only to find something far more eye-opening, or intriguing, or informative. I am always happy to share those findings, but seldom do my press clippings fit in perfectly with one of my regular blog posts. Since the beginning of the year I […]
Continue readingJean Rivard: American and Catholic
See Part I here. Themes In my edition of Jean Rivard, the editor establishes the influence of Don Quixote and Robinson Crusoe on Gérin-Lajoie’s novel. But the parallels that struck me first and foremost—parallels that will be familiar to American readers—involve Walden and Horatio Alger novels. Both Henry David Thoreau and Rivard go into the […]
Continue readingJean Rivard: A Pioneering Novel
How easily we overlook what was happening in Lower Canada in the early 1860s. While bloody conflict wrecked Mexico, the American giant was embroiled in a devastating civil war that would claim 700,000 lives and lead to “a new birth of freedom.” For a time, it seemed that the winds of war would sweep over […]
Continue readingFranco-American History in Ten Documents, Part II
See the first installment on important Franco-American documents here. A Man and His Dream (1909) Félix Albert had a tale to tell—with some false modesty, his own. In the early twentieth century, after a turbulent life, he had someone, perhaps a local priest, write down his experience as an immigrant and a man of many […]
Continue readingFranco-American History in Ten Documents, Part I
No history as rich and complex as that of Franco-Americans can be reduced to small vignettes. But what would a survey of iconic Franco-American documents and moments—perhaps destined to a neophyte—would look like? As a fun experiment, I propose the following. It is hoped that these texts (some well-known, some less so) will encourage readers […]
Continue readingThose Fractious Francos (Part II)
Disunity and Discontent See Part I here. “I am full of grief,” Jacques Rouse declared, “that so few Frenchmen as we are here, we cannot live in concord together.” How often have we heard this story of the factious (or fractious) French Canadians? How often have we experienced it? French Canadians in Quebec failed to […]
Continue readingThose Fractious Francos (Part I)
Dueling Francos The battles were over. The fighting had ceased. But, while men might lay down their arms, often the war does not leave them. Trauma is not easily cast aside; invisible wounds remain. By 1792, the French-Canadian veterans of the Continental Army had not seen a battlefield in over a decade. But since those […]
Continue readingFrench Canadians and the Epidemic of 1885
After drafting this post, I learned that James Myall (Parlez-Vous American) will be discussing disease and public health in connection with French-Canadian migrations on April 28. His talk will be carried on Zoom thanks to the Franco-American Centre at the University of Maine. Worth checking out I’m sure! Last week, on HistoireEngagée.ca, I contributed, en […]
Continue readingTwo Days in March: Historical Anniversaries
This week the blog takes a slightly different tack to recognize landmark anniversaries that had bearing on the history of French Canadians. The first of these comes a week from today. On March 5, 1770, a scuffle in the snow led British regulars billeted in Boston to open fire on civilians. Within minutes, three colonists […]
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