Race and Gender in the Northern Colonies (Paperback)

This is one of the first collections to focus on race and gender in the colonial period of Canadian history, concentrating on the era before Confederation. How were lives and culture shaped outside the charmed circle of privilege? Did ancien regime or wilderness conditions sometimes privilege outsider groups? Was the 49th parallel crucial, or largely irrelevant, to the lives of Iroquois loyalists, fugitive slaves, female visionaries? The approach is innovative. Broadening the field of vision to encompass both sides of the border allows readers to tap into the rich vein of American colonial scholarship, including gender analysis of the Salem 'witches' and New England whalers and seamen. Broadening the field to include race allows instructive comparisons of various groups such as African-Americans, Natives, and Metis. Fur trade alliances, revolutionary upheaval, and the Underground Railway led many different peoples to traverse the "middle ground" along the Great Lakes and the northern border.