booklet was written in an effort to better acquaint Franco-Americans
with their outstanding contribution to American life. Indeed,
it is partly up to Canadian historians to reveal this heritage
to French Canada’s often neglected and overlooked diaspora. For
too long, Franco-Americans have remained the "forgotten Americans."
This study seeks to help remedy this unfortunate oversight.
America’s past is at the crossroads of Canadian and American history.
As such, a brief survey of the growth of Franco-American communities
during the Civil War years and of French Canada’s role in the
United States’ most violent and costly conflict seemed a good
starting point for a more general reflection on the historical
place of French Canadians in America.
the whole, the events surrounding French Canada’s reaction to
and participation in the American Civil War also offer an ideal
example of the constant interplay between Canada and her great
neighbor. As the conflict drew thousands of adventuresome French
Canadians south, it also had a profound effect on the constitutional,
political, military and intellectual development of Canada. Truly,
the Civil War was a crucial event in Canadian history and should
be treated as such.
in the Civil War Era is the first booklet in a bilingual series
called "Études sur l’histoire des relations canado-américaines/Studies
in the History of Canadian-American Relations" that explores
various aspects of the historical relationship between Canada
and the United States. The series’ goal is to provide the reader
with a more holistic understanding of Canadian and American history.
as a Canadian historian, my research has convinced me that our
history cannot be studied in a vacuum. The writing of Canadian
history must acquire a continental dimension. For too long, Canadian
and American scholars have looked at the 49th parallel
as if it were something akin to the Great Wall of China. I would
argue for a more holistic or continental approach to Canadian
and American history. The simple realities of North America proscribe
isolationism. A quick glance at a physical map of our continent
will reveal far more north-south geographical convergences than
divergences. As such, our common border is, in a sense, nothing
more than an arbitrary line traced across our continent by nineteenth-century
diplomats. On a demographic level, Canada and the United States
have never been truly separate entities. The inhabitants of our
two great nations have constantly been on the move and have mingled
in a most remarkable way. Seventy years ago, about one American
in thirty-seven was of Canadian birth or parentage (almost one
in three in New Hampshire and a little more than one in four in
Maine) and roughly one Canadian in thirteen was of American birth
or parentage (around one in four in Alberta and one in five in
Saskatchewan).1 Moreover, our economies have been inextricably
linked since the mid-nineteenth-century. Finally, on a yearly
basis, millions of tourists cross our shared border.
despite the tremendous attraction of the United States, Canada
has remained independent. In a way, Canada exists in defiance
of continentalism. Indeed, it is entirely clear to me that Canada’s
greatest achievement has been to resist the cultural, social,
demographic, economic and geographic forces that bind our two
nations together and remain a separate political entity.
the sake of clarity and continuity, I have decided to use a certain
number of anachronisms in this booklet. During the 1860s, the
term Franco-American did not yet exist. Nonetheless, I have used
"Franco-American" instead of "French Canadian living
in the United States" for obvious reasons. "Quebec"
and "Ontario" are used to describe what was then known
as the Canadian sections of Canada East and West. "Canada"
is used for what was in fact the Province of Canada, which contained
the most settled areas of the present day provinces of Quebec
and Ontario. "British North America" is used in reference
to the totality of the British colonies and possessions in North
America as they stood in 1861 (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince
Edward Island, New Brunswick, the Province of Canada, Vancouver
Island, British Columbia, Rupert’s Land, and the North West Territories).
study has benefited from the criticism and encouragement of several
scholars. My mother, Janice Kelly-Bélanger and father,
Professor Claude Bélanger of Marianopolis College (Montreal),
commented on an early draft and offered a great deal of encouragement.
Professors Desmond Morton, Gil Troy and Brian Young of McGill
University and Professor Pierre Trépanier of the Université
de Montréal have also provided me with useful and perceptive
comments. My colleague Michel Ducharme offered pertinent and constructive
criticism. I would also like to thank Antoine Godin and Dominique
Foisy-Geoffroy for their invaluable technical assistance. This
study was made possible by a graduate fellowship granted by the
McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.