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1) Are most French-Canadians partially British in descent?
No, I wouldn't say most, but there are many, especially in areas where many British settled, like the Laurentians and Outaouais, and amongst French Canadians in provinces outside Quebec (although exogamy often leads to assimilation outside Quebec). It goes the other way to, many Anglo-Quebecois are also partially French, and there's like 2 million Ontarians of French descent. What's more common then British descent is mixed French and Irish descent, because the Irish were Catholic and had a very similar relationship with England. Something like 40% of Quebeckers have Irish blood and names like O'reilly and McGee are common, but a distinctly Irish, French speaking culture doesn't really exist in Quebec, the traditions and culture are mostly kept alive by the Irish that became or stayed Anglophone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by callmemaybe
2) Why do the Jews of Montreal speak English?
The reasons are three fold.
First, anyone but Catholics was banned from the province of New France, so the first Jews to come to Canada came as soldiers in the conquering British army that came up from the thirteen colonies, notably Lieutenant Aaron Hart who became very successful and whose sons helped establish the institutions of the Jewish community in Montreal. The Jews who came worked mostly as soldiers, but also as fur traders and entrepreneurs: all urban jobs typically associated with the English. So since these proto-American Jews were working in jobs where it was beneficial to speak English they retained the language. As a result, the roots of Jewish Montreal are English speaking, and when Jews really started to come to Canada from Eastern Europe during the late 19th and early 20th century, the small Jewish community they found to integrate into in Montreal was an English speaking one.
Second, at the time that the ancestors of the bulk of Montreal's Jewish community immigrated to Montreal it was a city where English was the prestige language, the language of the elite, of business, and of the federal government. Since English was the dominant language and the French Canadians were the ones who were expected to speak English, the Jews and other immigrants needed only to speak English to get by, and so they did.
Third, and most crucially of all, Jews are not Catholics. It's hard to imagine now, looking at a post quiet revolution Quebec, but Quebeckers were probably the most fervent, dogmatic Catholics on the face of the planet at the time that the ancestors of Montreal's Jewish community came to Montreal. The church was the bastion around which French Canadians based their identity, sense of community, and it even shaped the political discourse. The Catholic Church and the state were near one and the same. The church ran the schools, the hospitals, had enormous influence on the media, it even mediated labour negociations. The French language, while part of French-Canadian identity at this time, was secondary to their identity as Catholics, and the tensions between the French and English were historically about class and religion rather than about language. As a result the Catholic immigrants, the Irish, the Italians etc., were more likely to become bilingual or French speaking than the Jews were, since the Jews didn't go to Catholic schools, churches, or other institutions. Instead, they attended the schools of the Protestant school board, where the English kids went. The Jews even built their own hospital, the Jewish General Hospital, so they wouldn't have to go to the Catholic hospitals. In a society where being not Catholic was what primarily defined "the other", Jews were very unlikely to be accepted even if they spoke French, and so they stuck with the Ethnic group with which they were historically associated, the English Protestants.
Post Quiet revolution Quebec, the old conflicts remained but the emphasis shifted. Church was forgotten and replaced by the State, which took its place as the primary institution that defined and safe guarded French Canadian identity and culture. The other stopped being defined by religion and class and came to be viewed through the lenses of language and culture, although the sides were basically the same. The Catholic and Protestant school boards were done away with and were replaced by English and French ones.
You should also note that not all Jews in modern day Montreal are English. In recent times there has been a new migration of Jews, mostly Sephardic in contrast to the historical community which is Ashkenazi. The Sephardic Jews are mostly french speaking and came within the last few decades from french speaking countries like Morocco. They're a thriving and growing presence within Montreal Jewry and despite the linguistic divisions the two communities are super close.
Sorry I wrote like an entire history textbook ^_^'
No, I wouldn't say most, but there are many, especially in areas where many British settled, like the Laurentians and Outaouais, and amongst French Canadians in provinces outside Quebec (although exogamy often leads to assimilation outside Quebec). It goes the other way to, many Anglo-Quebecois are also partially French, and there's like 2 million Ontarians of French descent. What's more common then British descent is mixed French and Irish descent, because the Irish were Catholic and had a very similar relationship with England. Something like 40% of Quebeckers have Irish blood and names like O'reilly and McGee are common, but a distinctly Irish, French speaking culture doesn't really exist in Quebec, the traditions and culture are mostly kept alive by the Irish that became or stayed Anglophone.
The reasons are three fold.
First, anyone but Catholics was banned from the province of New France, so the first Jews to come to Canada came as soldiers in the conquering British army that came up from the thirteen colonies, notably Lieutenant Aaron Hart who became very successful and whose sons helped establish the institutions of the Jewish community in Montreal. The Jews who came worked mostly as soldiers, but also as fur traders and entrepreneurs: all urban jobs typically associated with the English. So since these proto-American Jews were working in jobs where it was beneficial to speak English they retained the language. As a result, the roots of Jewish Montreal are English speaking, and when Jews really started to come to Canada from Eastern Europe during the late 19th and early 20th century, the small Jewish community they found to integrate into in Montreal was an English speaking one.
Second, at the time that the ancestors of the bulk of Montreal's Jewish community immigrated to Montreal it was a city where English was the prestige language, the language of the elite, of business, and of the federal government. Since English was the dominant language and the French Canadians were the ones who were expected to speak English, the Jews and other immigrants needed only to speak English to get by, and so they did.
Third, and most crucially of all, Jews are not Catholics. It's hard to imagine now, looking at a post quiet revolution Quebec, but Quebeckers were probably the most fervent, dogmatic Catholics on the face of the planet at the time that the ancestors of Montreal's Jewish community came to Montreal. The church was the bastion around which French Canadians based their identity, sense of community, and it even shaped the political discourse. The Catholic Church and the state were near one and the same. The church ran the schools, the hospitals, had enormous influence on the media, it even mediated labour negociations. The French language, while part of French-Canadian identity at this time, was secondary to their identity as Catholics, and the tensions between the French and English were historically about class and religion rather than about language. As a result the Catholic immigrants, the Irish, the Italians etc., were more likely to become bilingual or French speaking than the Jews were, since the Jews didn't go to Catholic schools, churches, or other institutions. Instead, they attended the schools of the Protestant school board, where the English kids went. The Jews even built their own hospital, the Jewish General Hospital, so they wouldn't have to go to the Catholic hospitals. In a society where being not Catholic was what primarily defined "the other", Jews were very unlikely to be accepted even if they spoke French, and so they stuck with the Ethnic group with which they were historically associated, the English Protestants.
Post Quiet revolution Quebec, the old conflicts remained but the emphasis shifted. Church was forgotten and replaced by the State, which took its place as the primary institution that defined and safe guarded French Canadian identity and culture. The other stopped being defined by religion and class and came to be viewed through the lenses of language and culture, although the sides were basically the same. The Catholic and Protestant school boards were done away with and were replaced by English and French ones.
You should also note that not all Jews in modern day Montreal are English. In recent times there has been a new migration of Jews, mostly Sephardic in contrast to the historical community which is Ashkenazi. The Sephardic Jews are mostly french speaking and came within the last few decades from french speaking countries like Morocco. They're a thriving and growing presence within Montreal Jewry and despite the linguistic divisions the two communities are super close.
Sorry I wrote like an entire history textbook ^_^'
Don't be sorry. That was very interesting and answered my questions very well!
No, I wouldn't say most, but there are many, especially in areas where many British settled, like the Laurentians and Outaouais, and amongst French Canadians in provinces outside Quebec (although exogamy often leads to assimilation outside Quebec). It goes the other way to, many Anglo-Quebecois are also partially French, and there's like 2 million Ontarians of French descent. What's more common then British descent is mixed French and Irish descent, because the Irish were Catholic and had a very similar relationship with England. Something like 40% of Quebeckers have Irish blood and names like O'reilly and McGee are common, but a distinctly Irish, French speaking culture doesn't really exist in Quebec, the traditions and culture are mostly kept alive by the Irish that became or stayed Anglophone.
The reasons are three fold.
First, anyone but Catholics was banned from the province of New France, so the first Jews to come to Canada came as soldiers in the conquering British army that came up from the thirteen colonies, notably Lieutenant Aaron Hart who became very successful and whose sons helped establish the institutions of the Jewish community in Montreal. The Jews who came worked mostly as soldiers, but also as fur traders and entrepreneurs: all urban jobs typically associated with the English. So since these proto-American Jews were working in jobs where it was beneficial to speak English they retained the language. As a result, the roots of Jewish Montreal are English speaking, and when Jews really started to come to Canada from Eastern Europe during the late 19th and early 20th century, the small Jewish community they found to integrate into in Montreal was an English speaking one.
Second, at the time that the ancestors of the bulk of Montreal's Jewish community immigrated to Montreal it was a city where English was the prestige language, the language of the elite, of business, and of the federal government. Since English was the dominant language and the French Canadians were the ones who were expected to speak English, the Jews and other immigrants needed only to speak English to get by, and so they did.
Third, and most crucially of all, Jews are not Catholics. It's hard to imagine now, looking at a post quiet revolution Quebec, but Quebeckers were probably the most fervent, dogmatic Catholics on the face of the planet at the time that the ancestors of Montreal's Jewish community came to Montreal. The church was the bastion around which French Canadians based their identity, sense of community, and it even shaped the political discourse. The Catholic Church and the state were near one and the same. The church ran the schools, the hospitals, had enormous influence on the media, it even mediated labour negociations. The French language, while part of French-Canadian identity at this time, was secondary to their identity as Catholics, and the tensions between the French and English were historically about class and religion rather than about language. As a result the Catholic immigrants, the Irish, the Italians etc., were more likely to become bilingual or French speaking than the Jews were, since the Jews didn't go to Catholic schools, churches, or other institutions. Instead, they attended the schools of the Protestant school board, where the English kids went. The Jews even built their own hospital, the Jewish General Hospital, so they wouldn't have to go to the Catholic hospitals. In a society where being not Catholic was what primarily defined "the other", Jews were very unlikely to be accepted even if they spoke French, and so they stuck with the Ethnic group with which they were historically associated, the English Protestants.
Post Quiet revolution Quebec, the old conflicts remained but the emphasis shifted. Church was forgotten and replaced by the State, which took its place as the primary institution that defined and safe guarded French Canadian identity and culture. The other stopped being defined by religion and class and came to be viewed through the lenses of language and culture, although the sides were basically the same. The Catholic and Protestant school boards were done away with and were replaced by English and French ones.
You should also note that not all Jews in modern day Montreal are English. In recent times there has been a new migration of Jews, mostly Sephardic in contrast to the historical community which is Ashkenazi. The Sephardic Jews are mostly french speaking and came within the last few decades from french speaking countries like Morocco. They're a thriving and growing presence within Montreal Jewry and despite the linguistic divisions the two communities are super close.
Sorry I wrote like an entire history textbook ^_^'
I have to add, that Quebec was not legally a French province until the Quiet Revolution (that is to say, the language of government, not just business, was 100% English up until then). Montreal was for many decades the largest city in Canada, and all the banks, businesses, transportation hubs, the port, shipbuilding, etc., in Montreal were doing business in English. English was the "official" language of the city, even though the French-speaking Quebeckers were more numerous.
I have to add, that Quebec was not legally a French province until the Quiet Revolution (that is to say, the language of government, not just business, was 100% English up until then). Montreal was for many decades the largest city in Canada, and all the banks, businesses, transportation hubs, the port, shipbuilding, etc., in Montreal were doing business in English. English was the "official" language of the city, even though the French-speaking Quebeckers were more numerous.
You have some of that right, but I don't believe it's correct that French was not a language of government in Quebec prior to the latter half of the 20th century. I don't have a source, but I do recall from a visit to Quebec City that the government was, and is still in many respects, bilingual. Weren't both French and English official languages? Sure it was the language of business, but didn't one have the right to address the provincial assembly in either tongue?
You have some of that right, but I don't believe it's correct that French was not a language of government in Quebec prior to the latter half of the 20th century. I don't have a source, but I do recall from a visit to Quebec City that the government was, and is still in many respects, bilingual. Weren't both French and English official languages? Sure it was the language of business, but didn't one have the right to address the provincial assembly in either tongue?
You are correct, the right to address the provincial assembly in French did exist (Constitution Act, 1867 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Quebec law gave the Napoleonic code official status for civil cases, while criminal cases were subject to British law. Quebec didn't have any "official" language before the language laws were passed by the Quebec national assembly in 1974 and 1977 making French the sole official language of the province. The federal government pursued bilingualism separately.
Now, in practise, I'm not sure how that worked before the Quiet Revolution, since fluency/literacy in English would've remained a prerequisite to a public service job, shutting out many Quebecers... Mind you, local government would've been conducted in French.
I think that prior to the 70s things were quite variable. There was something of a ''one anglo drop'' rule in that only a small anglo presence was required for things to be totally bilingual or even predominantly in English with some token French.
A town with maybe 10% anglos would have been totally bilingual, and a town with 30% anglos might have leaned more towards English than French. (Meaning that the burden of bilingualism would have been on the francophones not the anglophones.)
But a 100% francophone town would have functioned predominantly in French even before the 1970s. In most cases anyway.
I think that prior to the 70s things were quite variable. There was something of a ''one anglo drop'' rule in that only a small anglo presence was required for things to be totally bilingual or even predominantly in English with some token French.
A town with maybe 10% anglos would have been totally bilingual, and a town with 30% anglos might have leaned more towards English than French. (Meaning that the burden of bilingualism would have been on the francophones not the anglophones.)
But a 100% francophone town would have functioned predominantly in French even before the 1970s. In most cases anyway.
Now most of those towns that were speaking with a certain amount of bilingualism are now 100% French and English or bilingualism is a thing of the past the remaining residents being uni-lingual Francophone,Living in N.America where the predominant language is English and also the predominant language of business and technology i wouldnt consider this a step forward for those remaining Uni-lingual Francophone residents who In todays world of globalization have for the most part relegated themselves to the status of linguistic prisoners of Quebec.
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