• Re-Narrating Canadian History after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

    Following the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report six months ago, universities across the country are re-evaluating our practices. Both individually (as recently seen at the University of Winnipeg and Lakehead University) and collectively through Universities Canada’s broad response to the commission’s final report, campuses across the country seem to be making a more concerted effort to respond to this call for change.

  • The Future of Loyalist Studies

    Christopher F. Minty “Intractable issues vex loyalist studies.” These were the words Ruma Chopra used in an essay, published in History Compass, in 2013. She’s right. As of mid-2015, loyalist studies has come to an important juncture, and the paths historians, researchers, and students go down in choosing their approaches to loyalist studies, within the… Continue Reading

  • The Quebec Invasion as Religious Encounter

    Patrick Lacroix Before Thomas Paine’s Common Sense could inflame the spirit of American colonists, the Quebec Act marked a decisive turn in the coming of the Revolution. The restoration of the Roman Catholic Church in the Province of Quebec to its prior standing aroused fears that had dissipated following the surrender of New France. The… Continue Reading

  • La « Révolution canadienne », la république américaine, et … l’esclavage?

    Maxime Dagenais Nous connaissons tous l’histoire des Rébellions de 1837-38 : l’histoire des Patriotes du Bas-Canada et des « reformers » du Haut-Canada, leurs victoires et leurs défaites, les expulsions, les exécutions. Nous connaissons les enjeux sociaux, politiques, et économiques dans un contexte canadien, et de leurs conséquences sur le Canada. En gros, les Rébellions sont généralement considérées,… Continue Reading

  • The Emerging Histories of the Early Modern French Atlantic Conference: An Early Modern Canadianist Perspective

    Mairi Cowan The early modernism of early Canadian history made a good showing last week in Williamsburg, Virginia. There, at the Emerging Histories of the Early Modern French Atlantic conference sponsored by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture, about a hundred scholars gathered to discuss the connections around and across the Atlantic… Continue Reading

  • Betting on the Continental Army’s Canadian Campaign

    Jacqueline Reynoso In mid-January 1776, the paths of two military officers crossed in Hartford, Connecticut. While passing through the city, General Charles Lee encountered the imprisoned British Major, Christopher French. There, during an evening meal, they exchanged competing assessments about the ongoing military struggles of the period. At some point during the evening, they put… Continue Reading

  • Sources for Loyalist Studies

    Christopher Minty Writing in Liberty’s Exiles, Maya Jasanoff argued that the Loyalist Claims Commission was a useful—perhaps the most useful—source available for scholars working on loyalists. They are indeed useful, offering thousands of biographical snippets of a wide range of individuals. Most scholars have used the claims, in some capacity.[1] But, alongside the claims, there… Continue Reading

  • Evaluating our Assumptions: Rethinking Literacies in Canadian History

    Thomas Peace Sarah Ainse (Oneida), Kahgegagahbowh (Mississauga), Pahtahsega (Mississauga), Shahwahnegezhik (Ojibwe), Kezhegowinninne (Ojibwe), Kahkewaquonaby (Mississauga), Sawatanen (Wendat), Ferrier Vincent (Wendat), Francois Annance (Abenaki), Pierre Paul Ozhunkarine (Abenaki), Nicolas Vincent (Wendat), Thayendanega (Mohawk), Kanonraron (Mohawk), Sahonwagy (Mohawk), Shawundais (Mississauga), Eleazar Williams (Mohawk), Henry Pahtahquahong Chase (Mississauga), and William Apess (Pequot). These are just a handful of… Continue Reading