On the Move: French-Canadian and Italian Migrants in the North Atlantic Economy, 1860-1914

Graeme S. Mount is a history professor at Laurentian University.

This very scholarly book compares emigration from Quebec’s Berthier
County to New England, primarily Rhode Island and Massachusetts in that
order, with emigration from Molise and Upper Campania in Italy to
Quebec. Quebec is the common factor in both migrations, and its role
“as both a receiving and a sending society,” says the author, was
most unusual.

Ramirez examines the push and pull factors in both instances (e.g.,
post-unification upheaval and the desire to escape the draft in Italy,
the hope for a higher standard of living). He also reviews the impact of
ongoing ties between those who migrated and those who stayed at home.

In conclusion, Ramirez—a labor historian—found that most Italians
took jobs which Québécois did not want. Migration from the subsistence
farms in the Apennines and from Berthier County’s lush farmland
produced new proletariats. Each exodus increased the value of the labor
left behind, and money sent from the new homelands enriched the old.

This book will be most useful to specialists in immigration history,
Quebec history, and the history of ethnic groups in the United States.