Description
Book SynopsisFrog Town describes in detail a French Canadian parish that was unique due to the high density of both Acadian and Quebecois settlers that were situated in a Yankee stronghold of Puritan stock. This demography provided for a volatile history that accentuated the inter-ethnic/sectarian conflicts of the time. In this book, Laurence Armand French discusses the work, language, and social activities of the working-class French Canadians during the changing times that transformed them from French Canadians to Franco Americans. French also articulates the current double-standard of justice within New Hampshire with details of actual cases, presented alongside their circumstances and judicial outcomes, to offer a thorough depiction of the community of Frog Town.
Trade ReviewFrog Town is an original and informative work. It combines personal experience and family history with sociology, anthropology, legal history, and social history. The work is unique in this area in that it treats the Franco-American experience and history from the perspectives of both the Francophone and the Anglophone populations. Ranging historically from the early French and British settlements of North America to present Franco-American culture and recent legal cases in New Hampshire Frog Town gives a comprehensive and synthetic overview of the topic. -- Val Dusek, professor of philosophy, University of New Hampshire
Table of ContentsPreface Chapter One: A Geo-Political Historical Framework Introduction: Understanding Human and Group Behaviors The Function of Creation Myths: Giving Meaning to Life and Belonging Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism Colonial Wars in North America: The British/French-Protestant/Catholic Rift Chapter Two: Manifest Destiny and Empire Building in the Americas: A History Different The Politics of WASP Superiority and the Road to Race and Ethnic Intolerance The French and Indian War and the Emerging Military Aristocracy and Local Heroes The Acadian Expulsion: The Prototype of Ethnic Cleansing and Cultural Genocide “We the (Chosen) People (Enfranchised, White Protestant Adult Males) of the United States….” Manifest Destiny and Indian Removal: The U.S. Policies of Cultural and Physical Genocide “Might Makes Right”: The Means of U.S. Expansionism and Imperialism Chapter Three: French-Canadians in Yankee-Land: A Workforce for an Emerging Industrial Giant Comes Into Its Own as Franco Americans Puritan Capitalism and Yankee Mills: An Auspicious Beginning The Canada Connection: The Symbiosis of Economic Conditions and a Cheap and Convenient Labor Source Chapter Four: Frog Town: Life and Times of a Franco American Community The Historic Landscape and Demographics of New Hampshire and the Region Suncook Valley—The Early Years Frog Town: St. Jean the Baptist Parish—Suncook, N.H., 1870s–1930s Frog Town—1930 to 1980: Fifty Years of Turmoil and Change The Second World War and the Transformation of Suncook The Social Milieu in Post-WWII Frog Town Chapter Five: “And Justice for Some” America’s Criminal Justice Ideals and Adaptations Selective Justice Issues Policing Society: From Community Policing to a Militarized Force A Sampler of Justice in New Hampshire Blood Politics Church, State, and Abuse Epilogue Post NAFTA Changes in U.S.-Canada Relations Celebrating Franco American Heritage in New Hampshire Notes Bibliography Index
