In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries French settlers radicallytransformed the landscape of the St Lawrence river creating strong localcommunities that be... » 

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries French settlers radicallytransformed the landscape of the St Lawrence river creating strong localcommunities that became the crucibles of a New World nationalism. Drawing onthe insights and methods of cultural history Colin Coates examines theseigneuries of Batiscan and SainteAnne de la Perade recreating the socialrelations between individuals and ethnic groups that inhabited the area. Heshows that successive waves of immigrants sought to appropriate the landscapeof the New World and replace it with a physical and cultural reality muchcloser to their European roots and traditions. «