We should know that it was never about freedom. It's like saying that the Pilgrims stood for freedom of religion. No: they wanted the freedom to impose their own religion. These folks want a government that does their violent bidding. It's about freedom to impose their own tyranny.

Hi folks, Would anyone in Washington, D.C. be willing to scan archival documents at NARA for a scared Canadian? I’d be willing to pay per hour tho’ I’m a lowly grad student. Sincerely, Scared Canadian

You know it's going to be a good Midsomer Murder when...

Apologies to everyone for accidentally toggling the military adventurism switch by posting this.

The numbers are in for my blog, Query the Past, and below is a snapshot of how it fared in 2025. The word cloud represents the five most read articles. The first post of 2026 is out with more to come. Let me know what you would like to see on QTP! #blogging querythepast.com/franco-ameri...

🚨 Nouveau billet sur QTP 🚨 Il y a 250 ans, les fondements de l’américanité « Indirectement, donc, l’invasion de 1775 sème la première graine de la franco-américanité... » #CanadaUS #francophonie #histoire #Québec #qcpoli #révolution querythepast.com/250-ans-amer...

🚨 Nouveau billet sur QTP 🚨 Il y a 250 ans, les fondements de l’américanité « Indirectement, donc, l’invasion de 1775 sème la première graine de la franco-américanité... » #CanadaUS #francophonie #histoire #Québec #qcpoli #révolution querythepast.com/250-ans-amer...

As a historian, I can't wait to explain to my confused nephews that before Al Gore invented the internet, and long before raccoons presciently identified Cybertrucks for the human dumpsters that they are, this was our only way of catching the sexiest and most brutal Middle Eastern war criminals.

But I've been extra good this year! Plus I can finally use the lumps of coal that I've been getting for 30 years.

So glad the tradition endures.

ICYMI

🚨 New on QTP: Traditions of Old #Quebec 🚨 "Christmas night is rich in prodigies if we are to trust our grandmothers. I have not verified the stories that I heard and I cannot swear to their veracity..." #cdnhist #Christmas #customs #folklore #history querythepast.com/lemay-french...

Je crois avoir lu en qq part que Médéric Lanctôt a été le premier à utiliser « Québécois(e) » comme gentilé de la province (plutôt que de la ville uniquement). Je ne me souviens plus de la source. Ça vous dit quelque chose? Auriez-vous vu qqch de semblable? Ou rencontré une théorie différente?

Literally one hundred years ago. What's that about history rhyming? St. Johnsbury Caledonian-Record, December 14, 1925. #bailout #farmers #history #maganomics #otd #tariffs

PSPP a appelé @titocurtis.bsky.social, un journaliste professionnel, sur son numéro personnel (que Chris ne lui a jamais donné, ils ne se sont jamais parlés avant) pour lui dire de retirer un tweet que le journaliste a écrit sur les politiques d'immigration du PQ. therover.ca/opinion-the-...

Experts will say it's "None." In my mind it will always be "Crone." Which, as far as occupations go... I mean, not bad.

Yesterday, we officially opened the registration portal for the next edition of the Acadian Archives' lecture series. This virtual event will take place over the course of five weeks in February and March 2026. The registration fee of $25 includes all five presentations.

🚨 New on QTP 🚨 "I cannot imagine a worse way of recruiting young people if they are constantly hearing that their culture is a thing of the past. We are signaling and advertising decline and doom." #Aroostook #francophonie #heritage #Maine querythepast.com/making-cultu...

It's going to be tough for future historians to sort through this administration's statements and figure out what was policy, what was malice, and what was just stupidity.

#OTD in #History "I believe that to have interfered as I have done, as I have always freely admitted I have done, in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right." (John Brown)

New reading at Lacroix Acres. I was excited until I saw the endnotes. #agriculture #history #Vermont

Exhorter? Well that's a new one. The Enosburg church must have been popping. #genchat #genealogy #Vermont @wikitree.bsky.social

Anyway, good luck finding out who this "Francis Frenchman" was. #FrancoAmericans #HistoryProblems

CFP: Two Days of Canadian Sovereignty, Brock University, Centre for Canadian Studies, 26-7 March 2026 brocku.ca/humanities/c...

Coming to a scholarly journal near you in 2026! #CanadaUS #FrancoAmericans #francophonie #Illinois #immigration #rural #Vermont

RANT TIME! I'm revising an article for a journal that uses APA or MLA or one of those backward styles. 😅 It's a 30-page submission, and the Works Cited section takes up nine of those pages. The journal is very strict on length. It seems a little unfair that an article with five fewer pages... (1/2)

"The lake was angry that day, my friends..."

His Most Gracious Majesty and my head of state upon waking this morning: #November5th

– Now, some of your detractors have stated that you are a conservative in name only. Would you say that you are pro-life? – Well, respectfully, my name is

I feel this deeply.

I'm just impressed that Toronto has a baseball team.

Robertson Davies on Canada's longest-serving prime minister: "Mackenzie King rules Canada because he himself is the embodiment of Canada - cold and cautious on the outside, dowdy and pussy in every overt action, but inside a mass of intuition and dark intimations... (1/2)

"[S]ome of the studies listed below have appeared in less expected places. Four are articles published in journals without an ethnic or geographical vocation . . . There is still much to do to understand Franco life in its full complexity." #francophonie #history querythepast.com/latest-franc...

200 years ago today, October 26, 1825: The Erie Canal was ceremonially opened in Buffalo, New York. The 363-mile-long artificial waterway stretched from Albany on the Hudson River to Buffalo on Lake Erie, connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. It transformed Buffalo into a major hub.

Well, it took 27 years, but I finally got around to watching "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer." Yes, there was a sequel. And yes, I wish I had checked the IMDB page ahead of time. Anyway, now I want to be friends with all of these reviewers. Also yes, I am one of the morons.

"[S]ome of the studies listed below have appeared in less expected places. Four are articles published in journals without an ethnic or geographical vocation . . . There is still much to do to understand Franco life in its full complexity." #francophonie #history querythepast.com/latest-franc...

Does anyone out there have leads for research fellowships at universities, archives, or museums in New York State? I'm looking into fellowships at the New York State Library and Fort Ticonderoga; I've missed the date for the NYPL. It would have to be available to an international (Canadian) student.

Query the Past continues to provide answers at the intersection of genealogy and history. #blogging The transnational Quebec family (yes, that's a surname): querythepast.com/paquet-dit-l...

It was on October 18 that John Brown’s struggle against the Southern slave system collapsed. The fire engine house at Harper’s Ferry fell to U.S. Marines and Virginian militiamen. Brown would not hide behind the narrow legalism of federal statutes as contemporary abettors of the slave system did.

A finding aid claims that this is "Spencer." I'm not persuaded. Thoughts?

ICYMI From this week in 2024: Remembering Lucina Young, Olive Ash, Leafy Brown, Lydia Chase Cook, Mattie Spaulding, Harriet Titus Gaudette, Eliza McMahon, and Caroline Bettis. querythepast.com/vermont-abor...

PAT'S PET PEEVES TIME!!! 1. Stop referring to your "nineteenth-century Québécois ancestors." Your ancestors were Canadian and/or French and/or French-Canadian, but they were not Québécois. They did not identify as such and it makes no sense to apply that identity to them retrospectively.

That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed.

In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand: Originals microfilmed then destroyed.

From Lacroix's Memebrary Classics.

🚨 New on the QTP 🚨 "Answering an age-old question, Françoise Grossejambe let the dogs out." On the blog this week, Joseph de la Croix's first encounter with the law, circa 1683 (or the threat of a winter without pea soup). #ancestry @genealogyalacarte.bsky.social querythepast.com/lacroix-bois...

🚨 New on the QTP 🚨 "Answering an age-old question, Françoise Grossejambe let the dogs out." On the blog this week, Joseph de la Croix's first encounter with the law, circa 1683 (or the threat of a winter without pea soup). #ancestry @genealogyalacarte.bsky.social querythepast.com/lacroix-bois...

"I believe that to have interfered, as I have done . . . was not wrong but right." www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmys...