These French Canadians who shaped the United States

Are the United States highlighting Independence Day? Let’s take this opportunity to underline the contribution of French Canadians to American identity! Because yes, they – they – have, in large numbers, brought their stone to the building of Uncle Sam. A contribution which is far from being summed up with the writer Jack Kerouac, often passed over in silence, and in certain cases completely forgotten … Here are some names from the military, political, media, sporting or artistic world.

Camille Lessard-Bissonnette (1883-1970)

Chronicler, writer, activist, Camille Lessard-Bissonnette is a little-known, but intriguing figure. Originally from the Megantic region, she immigrated with her parents in Lewiston (Maine), where she works in textiles. As early as 1910, in the pages of the Franco-American newspaper The messengershe campaigned for the right to vote for women, which makes him a pioneer of the suffrafts movement in the United States-where the female vote was not allowed until 1920. Twenty years later, she published the book Canuckself-fiction of her experience as a young Franco-Canadian immigrant woman. She died in Los Angeles in 1970, after having cut her ties with the Franco-American culture of New England. “She is recognized for having debated with men much older than she was, when she was only 25-26,” sums up Patrick Lacroix, director of the Acadian archives at the University of Fort Kent (Maine) and author of the book Everything would be possible to us-a political history of the Franco-Americans, 1874-1945. She speaks in the name of women and her trajectory is a bit out of the ordinary. She had a feminist presence at one time, which is still worthy of mention. A book was devoted to him in 1998: Camille Lessard-Bissonnette : The Quiet Evolution of French-Canadian Immigrants in New England.

Louis Jolliet (1645-1700)

How to ignore this explorer, passed to history as the first white man – with the Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette – to have mapped the Mississippi river, from the great lakes to its junction with the Arkansas river? This expedition, carried out on behalf of the King of France, will open the road to Louisiana, where many French Canadians will settle a few years later. There are two cities called Joliet in the United States. The explorer, originally from the Côte de Beaupré, was also honored by an American stamp in 1968, and a plaque, located in Chicago, recalls its decisive passage in the city of the winds.

Pierre Lemoyne d’Iberville (1661-1707)

Navigator, corsair, trader and explorer born in Montreal, Pierre Lemoyne d’Iberville is at the origins of Louisiana that we know. Officer in the French army, he will follow the road drawn up by Louis Jolliet, and found the cities of Mobile and Biloxi. His brother Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne de Bienville (1680-1767) will base the city of New Orleans, hence the many traces of French-speaking presence that is still found there. “With them, it is the expansion of the occupation of the territory by the French and Canadians,” sums up Luc Baronian, professor of linguistics at the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi. Their name is still everywhere there. It’s like nobility. »»

Toussaint Charbonneau (1767-1843)

In 1806, the Americans Lewis and Clark launched an expedition to discover the American West. They will go to the Pacific Ocean, up to what is Oregon today. Their equipped has several French Canadians, including a certain Toussaint Charbonneau, born in Boucherville. This “a little rogue” trapper, to use Mr. Baronian’s words, is accompanied by his wife Sacagawea, an Aboriginal Shoshone, who will serve as an interpreter throughout the trip. The character of Toussaint will appear alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the film The Revenant. But it is his son, Jean-Baptiste (1805-1866), that American history retains. His mother Sacagawea is today an emblem of the Aboriginal fact in the United States, and appears with Bébé J.-B. on American parts of a collection dollar! “He had a fairly interesting life,” said Luc Baronian. He waged war between the United States and Mexico. He was mayor of a small town. You can say that it is really linked to the start of the United States. »»

Eva Tanguay (1878-1947)

The Queen of Vaudeville was nicknamed, and her influence on entertainment in the United States was very real. Originally from Marbleton in Estrie, Eva Tanguay will grow in Massachusetts. Very early on, she demonstrated skills for the show and migrates to Broadway, where she developed her scenic personality as a free and carefree woman. Feminine emancipation model, it becomes a businesswoman won and one of the best paid artists of the time, performing on all the scenes in the country, as well as with the legendary Ziegfeld Follies. Alas, she will lose all her fortune (36 million in today’s money) during the stock market crash of 1929! She will record a few songs and will shoot in two films, but seems to have missed a Hollywood career. She will still end her days in Hollywood, where she is buried.

Prudent Beaudry (1819-1893)

Born in Mascouche, the prudent entrepreneur Beaudry makes a fortune thanks to import-export. Attracted in California by the gold rush from the 1850s, he became mayor of Los Angeles from 1874 to 1876, at the same time when his brother, Jean-Louis, is mayor of Montreal! With a formidable real estate instinct, Prudent buys at low prices and highlights the non-built areas that overlook the city center (Bunker Hill and Angelino Heights). It is understood that he was partly responsible for the rise of the city, which earned him a street there. This will not prevent him from being buried in Montreal, at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery. Note that another French Canadian, Damien Marchessault, was mayor of Los Angeles between 1859 and 1865. gambler Notorious will be killed at the age of 49.

Ferdinand Gagnon (1849-1886)

Between 1850 and 1930, around 900,000 French Canadians will emigrate to the United States for economic reasons. No one will protect them better than journalist Ferdinand Gagnon, founder of the newspaper The worker. When he realizes that their repatriation in Quebec, desired by the provincial government, does not hold its promises, it pleads for their naturalization and their integration into American society. “I think it is an important figure because it helps to build an American political conscience among the Franco-Americans,” explains Patrick Lacroix, director of the Acadian archives at the University of Fort Kent (Maine) and author of the book Everything would be possible to us. He really participates in the integration of an ethnic community in the United States, without cultural concessions. Ferdinand Gagnon will die young, at the age of 37.

NAP Lajoie (1874-1959)

An athlete, and not just any, since Nap Lajoie is described as the “first superstar in baseball”. This ancient hero was certainly not born in Quebec, but his parents were authentic French Canadian immigrants who came to seek fortune in the United States. In the middle, he was nicknamed “The Frenchman” and he swept everything away from the pros (1896-1916). “He was one of the best players from the first 50 years of professional baseball,” recalls the colleague Alexandre Pratt. He was very large for the time, which added to his myth. He excelled in the stick, in defense and on the trails. In addition, he had a charismatic personality. Frankly, he had everything for him. »So good, he adds, that a team has even brought their name! Our columnist of course refers to the Naps of Cleveland, for which Lajoie will evolve from 1902 to 1914, as a player … and as coach.