Michigan
State University Press
Quebec During the American Invasion, 1775-1776
The Journal of François Baby, Gabriel Taschereau, and Jenkin Williams
Edited by Michael P. Gabriel and S. Pascale Dewey
Available for the first time in English, the 1776 journal of François Baby, Gabriel Taschereau, and Jenkin Williams provides an insight into the failure to incite rebellion in Quebec by American revolutionaries. While other sources have shown how British soldiers and civilians and the French-Canadian gentry (the seigneurs) responded
to the American invasion of 1775-1776, this journal focuses on French-Canadian peasants (les habitants) who made up the vast majority of the population; in other words, the journal helps explain why Quebec did not become the "fourteenth colony."
After American forces were expelled from Quebec in early 1776, the British governor, Sir Guy Carleton, sent three trusted envoys to discover who had collaborated with the rebels from the south. They traveled to fifty-six parishes and missions in the Quebec and Trois Rivières district, discharging disloyal militia officers and replacing them with faithful subjects. They prepared a report on each parish, revealing actions taken to support the Americans or the king. Baby and his colleagues documented a wide range of responses. Some habitants enlisted with the Americans; others supplied them with food, firewood, and transportation. Some habitants refused to cooperate with the king's soldiers. In some parishes, women were the Americans' most zealous supporters. Overall, the Baby Journal clearly reveals that the habitants played an important, but often overlooked, role in the American invasion.
Reviews
"Most historians assume that Canadians failed to support the American invasion of Canada in 1775. Through his superb introduction and editing of this largely unknown collection of reports by French Canadian seigneurs and priests, Michael Gabriel shows that only extensive controls and (relatively mild) punishments implemented by Governor Sir Guy Carleton and the French Canadian elite were able to prevent the Americans from receiving a good deal of support that was actually there. Gabriel's work makes the American invasion seem less foolish, more a plausible effort to liberate a sympathetic people than a blatant conquest, than it ever has in the historical literature. It also adds to the reputation of Carleton, one of the few competent generals the British possessed during the war." -- William Pencak, Pennsylvania State University
Michael P. Gabriel
Michael P. Gabriel is Professor and Chair of the Department of History at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. He is also the author of Major General Richard Montgomery: The Making of an American Hero.
S. Pascale Dewey
S. Pascale Vergereau-Dewey is Professor of Modern Language Studies at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the American Council for Quebec Studies (ACQS) and the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS), and has published widely on French Canada.
Illustrated with photographs · World Rights
192 pp., 6.00" x 9.00", 2005
Paper, 0-87013-740-9, $26.95
Rethinking
Michigan Indian History
Patrick Russell LeBeau
Should you use “Indian” or “Native
American”?
Why do we see so many Indian warriors on product labels?
Why can Michigan Indian tribes operate casinos?
How can maps be misleading about the role of Indians in Michigan history?
Rethinking Michigan Indian History is a teaching tool that honors the Chippewa,
Ottawa, and Potawatomi and the twelve federally recognized tribes of Michigan
by recognizing their role and place in Michigan history--exploring what most people
know (or do not know) about them.
Each lesson includes a background narrative, a set of hands-on activities, and
provides easily understood and visual resources. Rethinking Michigan Indian History
explores large issues of Indian stereotypes, the narrow focus on “great” Indian men, the lack of knowledge of treaties and treaty rights, and the role
of maps to mislead or distort thinking about how history unfolds and the complexities
of land ownership.
The lesson that explores Indian stereotypes identifies their existence not only
in U.S. consumer culture but also in K-12 classrooms. The goal, however, is not
to rebuke the consumer for having bought Big Chief Sugar or the teacher for having
young students construct one-dimensional canoes, paddles, and Indians out of paper
and glue but to use those activities as a demonstration of what most people know
about Indians. From this point, a foundation of facts can begin to replace stereotypes
in the learning process.
Demonstrating further how popular influences can control knowledge, the lesson
on “great” Indian men shows that the popular preference for biographies
of famous Indian warriors (Pontiac or Tecumseh) or individual women (Pocahontas
or Sacagawea) narrows an understanding of Indians to symbolic representations
and issues by ignoring their ongoing culture.
The lesson on Indian treaties and maps explains and visually shows the reason
the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi lived in Michigan in 1760 and live in Michigan
today in roughly the same places. Treaties are explored in a manner that is understandable
to fourth graders through adults, by showing where Indians lived, the treaty boundaries,
and tribal land holdings. This lesson also shows Indian cartography concepts and
how maps may be made.
What makes Rethinking Michigan Indian History unique and important is its non-confrontational
and modular approach that challenges conventional thinking and teaching practices,
while at the same time advocates change. The inclusion of graphic resources, handouts,
and colorful maps makes this book necessary for the teacher, student, and the
general reader who is interested in Michigan Indian history.
Patrick Russell LeBeau is the Director of the American Indian Studies Program
and is an Associate Professor of Writing Rhetorics and American Cultures at Michigan
State University, as well as author of a book of poetry, Stands Alone, Faces,
and Other Poems. Dr. LeBeau is a 2004 member of the Board of Directors of the
Michigan Humanities Council and is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux
Indian Reservation of South Dakota, in his father's home state. His mother is
from Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, North Dakota.
Michigan and the Great Lakes
Illustrated with 4-color maps and other illustrations
World Rights
196 pp., 8.50" x 11.00", 2004
Paper, 0-87013-712-3, $29.95
Scots in Michigan
Alan T. Forrester
Scots began settling in North America in the earliest colonial days. They were
heavily involved in the Great Lakes region’s major industries, as these evolved
from fur trade to farming and lumbering to industry. From early settlement to
the industrial revolution, Scots brought to the state a pioneer spirit and an
extraordinary level of education. Though rendered almost invisible both by clustering
under the umbrella of the British Commonwealth and by the fact that few Scottish
traditions are considered whatsoever foreign, ethnic, or exotic, Scottish influences
run deep in Michigan history and culture. From ice hockey to industry, much of what
represents Michigan has roots that were embedded in Scotland. Although Alan
T. Forrester notes that symbolic Scottish ethnicity—Highland Games,
Scottish Festivals, and Burns Night Suppers—is practically the only
obvious relic of Scottish heritage in Michigan, he illuminates how much
more of this legacy is a part of this state.
Alan T. Forrester was born in Saskatchewan of Scottish and English grandparents.
He has earned two degrees from the University of Washington and served in the
U.S. Army Medical Service.
Illustrated with photographs. World Rights
DISCOVERING THE PEOPLES OF MICHIGAN Series
90 pp., 5.50" x 8.50", 2003
Paper, 0-87013-689-5, $11.95
March 4, 2005