If our culture was influenced by First Nations contact, by the culture of the first French settlers, then by the changes brought by the British conqueror, the influence of American culture is undeniable.
Our relationship is historic and part of our Americanism. Examples abound in music, dance, literature, radio, television or cinema. The list is long, but here are a few.
Connected despite differences
Whether in the United States or elsewhere in the world, John F. Kennedy made an impression. His presidency was brief (1961-1963), but the first Catholic to assume the presidency, a charismatic leader and the embodiment of change, won the hearts of many Quebecers.
The coureurs des bois shaped our history and the expertise of the French Canadians was recognized by the Americans. After purchasing the Louisiana Territory in 1803, Thomas Jefferson commissioned Lewis and Clark with an expedition that would take them across the continent.
Photo by the US Mint, artwork by artist Glenna Godcare
This commemorative coin commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition has strong roots in Quebec.
If everything west of the Missouri is terra incognita for the Americans, it is different for the French Canadians, recruited in the first posts crossed by the expedition with names like Saint-Charles or The Cart.
Is there a more eloquent example of our Americanness than that on the expedition’s bicentennial commemorative coin? We see Sacagawea, the Indian interpreter, carrying young Jean-Baptiste on his back, the result of his relationship with one of the expedition’s French Canadians, Toussaint Charbonneau.
If you happen to visit the beaches of Maine or New England towns from Massachusetts to Rhode Island, you’ve surely noticed the French-sounding names. The thing is, there’s “a little bit of us” in the American Northeast. Whether in the second half of the 19th century or the first half of the 20th century, the Industrial Revolution attracted many Francophones south of the border.
Torn between a desire for survival and a desire for assimilation, resilient to discrimination, generations of Franco-Americans have joined the American melting pot. The son of one of these migrants, Aram Pothier, will rise to the rank of governor of Rhode Island.
Even on Quebec soil, the American presence, current or past, is palpable. For example, the most distinguished visitor to the Charlevoix region was former President William Howard Taft (1909-1913). The one for whom the air of Pointe-au-Pic was “as intoxicating as champagne” spent forty summers at his summer resort until his death in 1930.
Photograph from the collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Canada
William Howard Taft spent many summers in this Charlevoix home, seen in this 1930s photograph.
Photo from the collection of the Musée de Charlevoix
The ex-president appears at the end on the right with his family.
A quote that sums it all up
John F. Kennedy probably describes our relationship best: “Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Business has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Let no one try to divide those whom nature has brought together. What unites us is much greater than what separates us.”
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