(Prompted by a chat with a historian friend who specializes in French-Canadian and Metis history)
The use of penal transportation (deporting convicts to colonial possessions) is most familiar as a practice in the British Empire, beginning (as I understand) in the mid-17th century lasting until the latter half of the 19th, and also serving as a method of colonization. France had a similar policy, but (again, to my knowledge) this was more limited, and concentrated on locales like Devil's Island and New Caledonia.
My AH question is this: What if the French monarchy (and the later Republican govts, if events still lead to the Revolution) adopted an expanded transportation policy at around the same time as the British? Would Quebec and the other North American territories be an option for sending convicts, or would Guiana and the Caribbean colonies be targeted for such as in OTL, but simply earlier? And if the policy is still continued in the wake of losing the North American colonies per OTL, would Algeria, Indochina or other colonies in Africa become destinations, or still be ruled out on military grounds (as Algeria was in OTL)? How might an expanded policy have affected France itself, in the social and political sense? Finally, on a more specific note, if North American/Quebec history late 17th-20th century remains the same, save for a (much?) larger French-Canadian population due to transportation, what might this mean for the Quebecois independence movement, and Quebecois identity?
The use of penal transportation (deporting convicts to colonial possessions) is most familiar as a practice in the British Empire, beginning (as I understand) in the mid-17th century lasting until the latter half of the 19th, and also serving as a method of colonization. France had a similar policy, but (again, to my knowledge) this was more limited, and concentrated on locales like Devil's Island and New Caledonia.
My AH question is this: What if the French monarchy (and the later Republican govts, if events still lead to the Revolution) adopted an expanded transportation policy at around the same time as the British? Would Quebec and the other North American territories be an option for sending convicts, or would Guiana and the Caribbean colonies be targeted for such as in OTL, but simply earlier? And if the policy is still continued in the wake of losing the North American colonies per OTL, would Algeria, Indochina or other colonies in Africa become destinations, or still be ruled out on military grounds (as Algeria was in OTL)? How might an expanded policy have affected France itself, in the social and political sense? Finally, on a more specific note, if North American/Quebec history late 17th-20th century remains the same, save for a (much?) larger French-Canadian population due to transportation, what might this mean for the Quebecois independence movement, and Quebecois identity?
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