Full of hope and promise : the Canadas in 1841 / Eric Ross.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ross, Eric.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Canadian literature.

Québec (Province)--History--Fiction.

Québec (Province).

Canada--History--1791-1841--Fiction.

Canada.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (188 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, c1991.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

As in his popular earlier book Beyond the River and the Bay, the bulk of the story is told by a character of Ross' invention, Ian Alexander Bell Robertson. Robertson, an Edinburgh gentleman born at the end of the Scottish enlightenment, acquired a deep sympathy for the displaced crofters and agricultural labourers of the Scottish Highlands. He lived in Quebec City between 1840 to 1842 to prepare a study of the Canadas intended either as a guide for the immigrant or, as Ross feels more likely, a record of the colonies at the moment they united and embarked on a promising future together. While Ross himself sets the work in historical context and explains the use of a fictitious author, it is Robertson, a keen observer, who describes in detail numerous aspects of Canadian life in 1841: transportation, communications, social institutions and customs, life on the new farms, and the relationship between the French and English residents of the colonies -- a relationship which in many ways resembles that of today. Throughout the book, Ross has interspersed snippets of information and illustration to supplement Robertson's writings. Scrupulously researched and easily accessible, Full of Hope and Promise will interest anyone wishing to know more about everyday life in Upper and Lower Canada at the time of the 1841 Union.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Two Peoples, One Country

The Rage of Emigration

The Annihilation of Space and Time

The Spirit of Improvement

Diversions

Immigrants, Optimism, and Future Prospects

Afterword

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-85567-0

9786612855672

0-7735-6305-9

OCLC:

243587142