askchapo

22744 readers

308 users here now

Ask Hexbear is the place to ask and answer ~~thought-provoking~~ questions.

Rules:

Posts must ask a question.
If the question asked is serious, answer seriously.
Questions where you want to learn more about socialism are allowed, but questions in bad faith are not.
Try [email protected] if you're having questions about regarding moderation, site policy, the site itself, development, volunteering or the mod team.

founded 4 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

What is the deal with French in Louisiana and Quebec, though? (hexbear.net)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

18 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Louisiana and Quebec are both settler-colonial territories at the mouths of major navigable rivers, and both have a history of Francophony. But why was French broadly displaced by English in Louisiana, while this has not happened in Quebec? What are the different historical factors that led to these different outcomes? In particular, what were the roles of the rivers, if any? What is the present language situation in these regions, and what would you predict the future language situations of these regions to look like?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

In addition to what others have said here about the linguistic specifics, I think the Expulsion itself is well worth learning about. Of course the French settlers later known as the Acadians did awful things to the indigenous people. But what the British did to the Acadians is stomach churning as well. In terms of the total number of people affected, it's nowhere near as high as later ethnic cleansings throughout the world. But in terms of proportion of people affected, it's among the worst that wasn't outright extinction.

Going deep into the history of the Expulsion made me a lot less enamoured with my Scottish ancestors than I had been before. They were willing partners with the English during the process.