"A Country at the End of the World": Living and Learning in New France, 1608-1760

Abstract

This perspectives essay sketches how men and women of New France in the 17th and 18th centuries learned to make a living , live their lives, and express themselves under exceptionally difficult circumstances. This paper works with secondary sources, but brings new questions to old data. Among other things, the author explores how citizen learning was forbidden in 17th- and 18th-century New France, and at what historical point a critical adult education emerged. The author's narrative frame and interpretation of the sources constitute one of many legitimate forms of historical inquiry.