Ethnicity, Family Structure, and Seasonal Labor Strategies on Quebec's Appalachian Frontier, 1852-1881

Abstract

This study focuses on the economic role of the Highland Scots and French-Canadian family during the first three decades of settlement in a Quebec township. It argues that while families in both groups depended on seasonal wages earned outside the district, there were nevertheless important differences in their survival strategies and these differences were reflected in the composition of their families. The contrasting composition and economic role of the family in each group were in turn a reflection of two disparate cultures. Rather than being abandoned under the pressure of frontier conditions, presettlement values and traditions enabled each group to adapt in its own way to the harsh environment of the upper St. Francis district.