Benjamin Anderson It was the summer of 1780 when Ethan Allen, Vermont’s self-proclaimed leader, was approached by a man on a dusty road to Arlington. Beverly Robinson, a Virginian Loyalist and friend of British Commander-in-Chief Henry Clinton, looked down at Allen from atop his horse and handed him a piece of paper. It was a… Continue Reading
E.A. Heaman No, “not assimilate your French”: I think he’s been misread. Lord Durham would have better advice than that because he lived in a world not unlike our own. Devastating and state-discrediting pandemic? Check. Disaffected fringe looking to topple the state? Check. Popular American violence lending strength to popular violence everywhere, including Canada? Check.… Continue Reading
Oana Godeanu-Kenworthy In Imagined Communities, the seminal study of the emergence of national feeling, Benedict Anderson devoted a chapter to the case of creole nationalism. He linked the rise of nationalism and republicanism with the rise of a literate middle class in the New World, and argued that the ideological common ground of the new… Continue Reading
Samuelle Saindon et Gregory Kennedy La contribution acadienne à la Première Guerre mondiale reste méconnue, à part quelques études du 165e (Acadien) bataillon du Corps expéditionnaire canadien (CEC).[1] Ce bataillon national fut créé à la demande d’une assemblée de notables acadiens tenue à Moncton en décembre 1915. Pourtant, au-delà du 165e bataillon, d’autres soldats acadiens… Continue Reading
Peter William Walker Earlier this year, activists in Canada toppled statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II amid nationwide protests at the Canadian residential school system. In Canada, much of the conversation surrounding the residential schools has focused on the responsibility of the churches (which ran them) and the Canadian government (which funded them).… Continue Reading
Tanya Daigle et Gregory Kennedy, Nous travaillons sur les soldats du bataillon national acadien, le 165e, depuis quelques années.[1] La création d’un bataillon national acadien a été proposée par une assemblée de notables acadiens au mois de décembre 1915 et acceptée par le gouvernement fédéral quelques semaines plus tard. Nous avons dépouillé les dossiers militaires… Continue Reading
Keith Mercer In the fall of 1807, the Royal Gazette listed the public houses licensed to operate in St. John’s for the coming year. Most of these 33 taverns catered to the business district around the waterfront, attracting patrons with drink, music, and vice, but also colourful signs such as Agincourt, Jolly Fisherman, Red Cow, and Nelson – likely named for Lord Nelson, after he fell at Trafalgar in 1805. The London Tavern, like the Ship… Continue Reading
M. Max Hamon Rough Justice: Policing, Crime, and the Origins of the Newfoundland Constabulary, 1729-1871, by Keith Mercer (St. John’s: Flanker Press, 2021). Drawing out ambiguities of the “police before the police” is an excellent way to explore the past as a different country in the classroom. For instance, a great hook to tell students… Continue Reading
Alanna Loucks Since 1959, many scholars have written biographies about the life of Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais (d’Youville), who was canonized in 1990 to become the first native-born Canadian to be declared a saint. However, the majority of these studies very briefly examine her early and married life, before she founded the Sisters of Charity… Continue Reading
In the past year, archives and libraries have closed (either permanently or periodically), non-essential international travel has been heavily discouraged or impossible, and anyone who can has been encouraged to work from home. In these circumstances, historians have had to adapt how they do research, perhaps relying more heavily on digital methods or developing more… Continue Reading
Borealia 