Held in person at McKimmon Center: This course will deal with opposing myths, political compromises, and the often complex realities of the lives of French Canadians, from their beginnings in the New World to the present. When French explorers first came to North America in the 16th century, it was not to establish a French colony but to find a shorter northern route to the spice riches of Asia. Later, “La Nouvelle France” became the name for the immense area France ultimately “claimed” in North America, totally ignoring the rights of the indigenous inhabitants. La Nouvelle France had great historic importance even though it was sparsely occupied, reluctantly colonized, and later either lost in war or sold solely for the benefit of the national interests of the French state. The political fate of the French settlers of this area was largely decided both by the British Empire’s victory against the French in the Seven Years War (1756-1763), and by its defeat in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). What happened to the “abandoned” descendants of the original French colonists mostly living in the St. Lawrence River Valley? Who were they? How did they live? What did they become? How did a French-speaking Catholic population maintain much of its culture and traditions in the Province of Quebec, while being dominated since 1763 by an English-speaking Protestant ruling establishment that to this day maintains close ties with the British government and monarchy?

Recommended Reading:   A People’s History of Quebec, Jacques Lacoursière and Robin Philpot; The People of New France, Allan Greer; The French in North America 1500-1783, W.J. Eccles

Registration Deadline: Mar. 13