Migrants and Millworkers : The French Canadian Population of Burlington and Colchester, 1860-1870

Beattie, Betsy

Article describing the growth of the French Canadian population in Vermont around the time of the American Civil War, and the differences of Canadian immigrant labor, property ownership, and political activity in select Vermont cities, as well as between those of other New England textile centers of the same time period. Steady growth of unskilled laborers and relative decline of economic conditions among Vermont's growing French Canadian population between 1850 and 1870. Separate social, economic, and political developments of Burlington, Winooski Falls, and greater Colchester that can be traced to Burlington's incorporation in the 1860s. Research on variances in property ownership among French Canadian immigrants in these locations, as well as their rates of naturalization, English fluency, and relevant voting laws. Includes tables with figures on occupational status, childbirths, and youth labor. Subtitled, "The high level of political activity of Colchester's French Canadians contrasted sharply to that of Burlington émigrés."

1992-spr

en

Journal article

1860-1870

Burlington and Colchester, Vermont

0042-4161

Vermont History : The Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society

60

2

95-117