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The French pioneers in America left a lasting impact on the vitality and democratic ideals of the present-day United States. Through this collection of chapters originally penned as lectures for French audiences, Finley hints that the French, more than the English, played an instrumental role in the development of the American national identity and industries. The narrative spans the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries and retraces French pioneers' journeys through the inner waterways of America, from the St. Lawrence River Valley to the Gulf of Mexico. A tribute to the French, this work conveys a sense of heritage to those contemporary inhabitants of what was once New France.