Little Canada (term)

Most of the men were members of the 1st Canadian Regiment of the Continental Army, recruited in 1775 by James Livingston in anticipation of an invasion of northeastern Quebec.

Emigrants moved to states close to Quebec, particularly those bordering the province, because of their generally impoverished condition and lack of jobs as a result of a poor economy over-reliant on agriculture.

One of the more famous "Little Canadas" was the West Side of Manchester, New Hampshire, a city with a large French-speaking population due to the recruitment of laborers in Quebec to work in the textile mills in the 19th and 20th centuries.

In contrast, novelist Robert Cormier of Leominster, Massachusetts, highlighted the culture of fictitious but representative Little Canadas in New England in many of his works, notably "Frenchtown Summer."

As a result, a number of cultural and charitable organizations, such as the Franco-American Civic League, the Club Richelieu, La Fédération Catholique Franco-Américaine de Fall River, and L'Association Culturelle Française de Fall River, were founded to foster French language and culture within the Franco-American community.