Quebec in a French Louisiana TL

I was working on developing a TL of mine farther down past the POD and came across a question that I'd like to post to the board:

Assuming that a French-speaking territory/nation were to be created and survive in Louisiana, the size maybe affecting your answer but let's assume larger then the state but smaller than the Louisiana Purchase, what would happen with Quebec? Would we see migration of French speakers to a Francophone run state? If so, would more English speakers more into what would be the province of Quebec? Or perhapse we'd see a bigger push to establish Quebec as an independent state? Of course, in the end, is this all nonsense and Quebec would remain a French speaking area controlled by the British to start off at least?
 
You mean, with a post-1763 POD and British-controlled Quebec? There wasn't much migration between the two IOTL despite Louisiana being sporadically French and Spanish up until 1803-- I don't see why that would be the case here, either. Migration would be a pain, too, since the easiest route there would likely be down the St. Lawrence and following the Atlantic coastline all the way to New Orleans, rather than going further up the St. Lawrence, through several portages past waterfalls, past Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan, and then overland to the Mississippi.

What motivation would there be for immigration besides a shared language?
 
You mean, with a post-1763 POD and British-controlled Quebec? There wasn't much migration between the two IOTL despite Louisiana being sporadically French and Spanish up until 1803-- I don't see why that would be the case here, either. Migration would be a pain, too, since the easiest route there would likely be down the St. Lawrence and following the Atlantic coastline all the way to New Orleans, rather than going further up the St. Lawrence, through several portages past waterfalls, past Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan, and then overland to the Mississippi.

What motivation would there be for immigration besides a shared language?

Well, I'll attempt to explain my reasoning and rephrase as best I can. The POD is during the French and Indian War, with one of the immediate butterflies being that following the war a larger number of Acadians resettle in Louisiana. I guess the main question would be would a successful french speaking, independent Louisiana sway French speakers from Quebec/Upper Canada to make a move like the Acadians before them (albeit on their own free will) to a place away from British control? Perhapse instead of a Rebellion of 1837-style event there is movement to Louisiana? Would it perhapse depend on the Louisianan government's policy on immigrants, such as more favorable entry to fellow Francophones?

If it still makes no sense or is confussing, I understand and apologize - this was a random thought I had last night while working on my TL.
 
Nonono, I understand, we all post things confusedly late at night every once in a while.

Still, though, the only thing that French Louisiana would have that Quebec would not is a lack of British control, and I'm not certain that's enough to cause a lot of immigration to occur. I mean, the British weren't oppressive, and even a republican government in Louisiana wouldn't necessarily appeal more to a bunch of French Canadians than George III. You'd have to have Louisiana offer something more to draw in the Quebecois-- comparative economic strength, for instance, or a British crackdown on Catholicism for some unknown reason.
 
As a Quebecer, I can tell you than my ancestors did emigrate to western Canada and USA because they lack a future in the overcrowed province. Most were not pionners thus, like east europeans in USA in the 1800's, they just followed well-travelled trails to already established catholic communauties.

It took decennies to colonize actual Quebec territory outside the St-Laurence valley (Abitibi, Saguenay, North Coast, Laurentides) and only because the Church or US companies established a suitable environment for them.

The language wasn't the drive, it was the religion. Acadians did emigrate to Lousiana because the were homeless after 1755 "derangement". Quebecers did not move there then after the conquest, they should not later on. It was too far away.
 

mowque

Banned
Most were not pionners thus, like east europeans in USA in the 1800's, they just followed well-travelled trails to already established catholic communauties.

This is an important theme when AH.com starts messing with colonial development. It takes a very special group to just jump off into wild territory.
 
Nonono, I understand, we all post things confusedly late at night every once in a while.

Still, though, the only thing that French Louisiana would have that Quebec would not is a lack of British control, and I'm not certain that's enough to cause a lot of immigration to occur. I mean, the British weren't oppressive, and even a republican government in Louisiana wouldn't necessarily appeal more to a bunch of French Canadians than George III. You'd have to have Louisiana offer something more to draw in the Quebecois-- comparative economic strength, for instance, or a British crackdown on Catholicism for some unknown reason.

the Immigration out of Quebec to the USA is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 900,000 OTL during the course of the mass immigration and westward migration from the seaboard states. Most of these settled in NE in the developing mill towns as unskilled labourers and domestics. Present yourself with a French speaking Louisiana I expect a large number of those to be syphoned off... and head west...

most would be rural farm lads and their new families having to leave because the family homestead can no longer be further subdivided into viable plots of lands to make even a subsistence living. In these circumstances most went to the mill towns and took what employment they could find as Montreal was not the burgeoning industrial centre that it would later be. If there is a French speking terr. in the west with co-religionist and land to homestead..then they will head west, because like many heading west it was what they new and what they were brought up with.

Its the same story in UC/Maritimes as well. As soon as the supply of good farmland ran out, many would emigrate south once they came of age and leave the family farm.

the trek west to this French Louisiana is going to be no more difficult for a farm lad from the St. Lawrence valley than an immigrant landed in NYC or Baltimore. The Canal system by mid century was well developed linking the Ohio with the lakes and the seaboard states and of course there are already steam powered riverboats on the Mississippi and the Ohio.
 
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