The Jesuits in North America in the 17th Century

Francis Parkman, Jr. (1823 - 1893)

Parkman has been hailed as one of America's first great historians and as a master of narrative history. Numerous translations have spread the books around the world. The American writer and literary critic Edmund Wilson (1895-1972) in his book "O Canada" (1965), described Parkman’s France and England in North America in these terms: "The clarity, the momentum and the color of the first volumes of Parkman’s narrative are among the most brilliant achievements of the writing of history as an art."

Parkman's biases, particularly his attitudes about nationality, race, and especially Native Americans, has generated criticism. The Canadian historian W. J. Eccles harshly criticized what he perceived as Parkman's bias against France and Roman Catholic policies, as well as what he considered Parkman's misuse of French language sources. However, Parkman's most severe detractor was the American historian Francis Jennings, an outspoken and controversial critic of the European colonization of North America, who went so far as to characterize Parkman's work as "fiction" and Parkman himself as a "liar".

Unlike Jennings and Eccles, many modern historians have found much to praise in Parkman's work even while recognizing his limitations. Calling Jennings' critique "vitriolic and unfair," the historian Robert S. Allen has said that Parkman's history of France and England in North America "remains a rich mixture of history and literature which few contemporary scholars can hope to emulate". The historian Michael N. McConnell, while acknowledging the historical errors and racial prejudice in Parkman's book The Conspiracy of Pontiac, has said: "...it would be easy to dismiss Pontiac as a curious perhaps embarrassing artifact of another time and place. Yet Parkman's work represents a pioneering effort; in several ways he anticipated the kind of frontier history now taken for granted.... Parkman's masterful and evocative use of language remains his most enduring and instructive legacy."

(Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Karen Merline)

Part 1: Pioneers of France in the New World
Part 2: The Jesuits in North America in the 17th Century
Part 4: The Old Régime in Canada
Part 5: Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV
Part 6: Montcalm and Wolfe
Part 7: A Half Century of Conflict

Genre(s): *Non-fiction, History

Language: English

Group: Parkman - France and England in North America

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Intro. pt 01: Native Tribes: Divisions David Lawrence
00:09:33
Play 02 Intro. pt 02: The Hurons, CC
00:30:23
Play 03 Intro. pt 03: The Huron-Iroquois Family, Sibella Denton
00:15:16
Play 04 Intro. pt 04: The Iroquois, Sibella Denton
00:20:35
Play 05 Intro. pt 05: Religion and Superstitions aratinga
00:56:29
Play 06 Ch 01: 1634, Notre Dame des Anges; Mark Penfold
00:09:20
Play 07 Ch 02: Loyola and the Jesuits Mark Penfold
00:08:15
Play 08 Ch 03: 1632-1633, Paul le Jeune; Jacquerie
00:14:00
Play 09 Ch 04: 1633-1634, le Jeune and the Hunters; Jacquerie
00:27:18
Play 10 Ch 05: 1633-1634, The Huron Mission; Sibella Denton
00:21:16
Play 11 Ch 06: 1634-1635, Brebeuf and his Associates Sibella Denton
00:15:11
Play 12 Ch 07: 1636-1637, The Feast of the Dead; Sibella Denton
00:14:10
Play 13 Ch 08: 1636-1637, The Huron and the Jesuit Sibella Denton
00:19:36
Play 14 Ch 09: 1637, Character of the Canadian Jesuits Sibella Denton
00:13:53
Play 15 Ch 10: 1637-1640, Persecution Sibella Denton
00:21:21
Play 16 Ch 11: 1638-1640, Priest and Pagan Sibella Denton
00:13:45
Play 17 Ch 12: 1639-1640, The Tobacco Nation--the Neutrals Sibella Denton
00:13:42
Play 18 Ch 13: 1636-1646, Quebec and its Tenants; 3753 words Shirley Ellen
00:25:18
Play 19 Ch 14: 1636-1652, Devotees and Nuns Sibella Denton
00:27:03
Play 20 Ch 15: 1637-1640, Persecution Sibella Denton
00:29:50
Play 21 Ch 16 pt 1: 1641-1644, Isaac Jogues Sibella Denton
00:19:55
Play 22 Ch 16 pt 2: 1641-1644, Isaac Jogues Sibella Denton
00:19:08
Play 23 Ch 17: 1641-1646, The Iroguois--Bressani--de Noue Sibella Denton
00:27:04
Play 24 Ch 18: 1642-1644, Villemarie Sibella Denton
00:18:57
Play 25 Ch 19: 1644-1645, Peace Sibella Denton
00:27:10
Play 26 Ch 20: 1645-1646, The Peace Broken Sibella Denton
00:12:20
Play 27 Ch 21: 1646-1647, Another War Sibella Denton
00:15:22
Play 28 Ch 22: 1645-1651, Priest and Puritan Sibella Denton
00:25:05
Play 29 Ch 23: 1645-1648, A Doomed Nation Sibella Denton
00:17:08
Play 30 Ch 24: 1645-1648, The Huron Church Sibella Denton
00:15:29
Play 31 Ch 25: 1648-1649, Sainte Marie Sibella Denton
00:14:16
Play 32 Ch 26: 1648, Antoine Daniel; 1141 words Mark Penfold
00:07:02
Play 33 Ch 27: 1649, Ruin of the Hurons Sibella Denton
00:12:45
Play 34 Ch 28: 1649, The Martyrs Mark Penfold
00:11:22
Play 35 Ch 29: 1649-1650, The Sanctuary Sibella Denton
00:10:54
Play 36 Ch 30: 1649, Garnier--Chabanel Sibella Denton
00:09:19
Play 37 Ch 31: 1650-1652, The Huron Mission Abandoned; davidb
00:16:49
Play 38 Ch 32: 1650-1866, The Last of the Hurons davidb
00:15:43
Play 39 Ch 33: 1650-1670, The Destroyers Sibella Denton
00:13:33
Play 40 Ch 34: The End, David Lawrence
00:05:17