Quote:
Originally Posted by Capsicum
Was there any explicit policy to forcibly assimilate French-speakers in Louisiana, or was it just that economical decision to speak English to integrate into the rest of the US lead to assimilation the way that "immigrants" do, despite Cajuns/Creoles pre-dating the Anglos, and thus it would be them assimilating to the newcomers, not vice versa.
I'm wondering if the Anglo domination of Montreal in the past was ever analogous to what happened to New Orleans. Is the status of French in NOLA basically the logical outcome of the path that Montreal might have taken had the changes of the 1960s not happened?
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Yes, there was active suppression of French in Louisiana, like there was in all of Canada's provinces except Quebec at one point. It was a major factor in the decline of French but not the only one.
While the situation was frustrating for francophones in Quebec, there never was anything of that nature in this province. In terms of the status and prospects of French, it was more of a slow but steady erosion that was taking place.