Reclaiming French Detroit
Addressing an Historiographical Gap in Québec’s History
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19423341 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Guillaume Teasdale (University of Windsor, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 80 |
| Pages | 49-75 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-22 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Quebec Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0737-3759 • E-ISSN: 2052-1731 |
| Publisher | Liverpool University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3828/qs.2025.14 |
| OpenAlex | W7116779630 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
This article addresses the longstanding absence of French Detroit – the French-Canadian communities that developed on both sides of the Detroit River – from Québec historiography. Despite enduring migration, kinship, and religious ties to the St. Lawrence Valley, French Detroit has remained largely invisible in Québec’s historical narrative. The article argues that this omission results from a combination of nationalist historiographical priorities, institutional silences, and a narrow geographical focus. Through case studies of migrants like Étienne Crête and Frédéric Gagnier, the author highlights the persistence of French-Canadian mobility and settlement in the Great Lakes region well into the nineteenth century. The article also examines why nineteenth-century observers such as Bouchette and Tocqueville, and early Québec-trained historians, failed to integrate this history into their narratives. The piece concludes by calling for a continental approach that redefines Québec’s historical geography to include the experiences of French Canadians beyond the province’s current borders. Reclaiming French Detroit not only enriches our understanding of French North America but also challenges the historiographical boundaries that have shaped Québec’s past
Environmental history · Historiography · Human settlement · Nationalism · Scholarship · World history · Canadian Identity and History · Literature and Culture Studies · Short Stories in Global Literature
| Highly cited | No |
|---|