People of New France

This Book Surveys The Social History of New France. For More Than A centuryuntil the British conquest of 175960 France held sway over a major portion ofthe Nort... » 

This Book Surveys The Social History of New France. For More Than A centuryuntil the British conquest of 175960 France held sway over a major portion ofthe North American continent. In this vast territory several unique colonialsocieties emerged societies that in many respects mirrored ancien regimeFrance but that also incorporated a major Aboriginal component.Whereas earlier works in this field presented preconquest Canada as completelywhite and Catholic The People of New France looks closely at other members ofsociety as well black slaves English captives and Christian Iroquois of themission villages near Montreal. The artisans and soldiers the merchantsnobles and priests who congregated in the towns of Montreal and Quebec are thesubject of one chapter. Another chapter examines the special situation ofFrench regime women under a legal system that recognized wives as equal ownersof all family property. The author extends his analysis to French settlementsaround the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi Valley and to Acadia and IleRoyale.Greers book addressed to undergraduate students and general readers providesa deeper understanding of how people lived their lives in these vanished OldRegime societies. «