In this morning’s Montreal Gazette, columnist John Kalbfleisch writes about slavery in 18th-century Quebec and the ads his publisher once ran. He writes that “slaves were used mainly as indoor domestics rather than as outdoor field hands. . .Most farms in Quebec were small, and their owners rarely wealthy enough that buying a slave was a possibility. Nor was it even desirable, as the Canadian climate ensured that agriculture was far from a year-round activity. Slaves were a luxury that only the urban well-to-do were likely to consider.”
Thanks to my friend, Jacques Gagné, who fortunately reads the newspaper earlier than I do.
Marcel Trudel’s book Canada’s Forgotten Slaves: Two Hundred Years of Bondage is now available in English, translated by George Tombs.
Trudel’s book looks interesting. A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about the book that you may have missed. http://genealogyalacarte.wordpress.com/2014/03/04/newly-translated-book-reveals-quebecs-history-of-slavery/
LOL! Of course! I forgot that’s where I heard about the book in the first place, and why I took it out from our local public library. Haven’t started it yet.