Immigration Of French Canadians To New England 1840 1900

Author : Amanda Marie Beaulieu
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 170 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (126 download)

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Download or read book The French Canadians of Bristol, Connecticut written by Amanda Marie Beaulieu and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: French Canadians were one of the largest groups to immigrate to New England. Like many others, they sought to escape poverty and to find a place where their culture and religion would be tolerated. Between 1860 and 1930 alone, over one million French speakers from Quebec, New Brunswick, and Acadian Maine flocked to the Northeast. More than one quarter of that number went to Massachusetts. There has been considerable research done on French Canadians in Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, on what pulled them south, on their impact on these states and vice versa. However, even though over 40,000 French Canadians migrated to Connecticut during that time, little scholarship on the topic exists. This thesis analyzes 20th century French Canadian migration to Connecticut and its impacts on Connecticut society and industry through the example of the French Canadian community of Bristol, Connecticut, an industrial hub between Hartford and Waterbury. Local sources including historical newspapers, company documents, parish records, and census and genealogical data are analyzed. Several questions are addressed that will help fill the gap of research about French Canadians in Connecticut. What factors brought families with French Canadian roots to Bristol from Canada, Acadian Maine and other industrial centers in New England? How were French Canadian migrants and their families received by Bristol's employers and residents? How did French Canadian migrants impact Bristol society and industry? Many of Bristol's French Canadians made the city their final stop because they had found a place where they could foster their culture without being challenged, and could benefit from a bounty of economic opportunity, an experience starkly different from their previous homes and from other cities in Connecticut. The timing of their arrival combined with the socio economic conditions in Bristol created an opportune moment for French Canadian leaders to successfully establish one of the strongest French parishes in the state, positively impacting the city and attracting families from the surrounding area. Workers became gainfully employed and the anti union sentiment faded. Many French Canadians left the declining textile towns of New England in search of better pay and benefits, and found opportunity in Bristol. The French Canadians that came to Bristol are part of the wider story of French Canadian migration to Connecticut, a part of this state's history and Franco American history that has been relatively unexplored, until now.