La Revanche des berceaux ( French for "the revenge of the cradles") is an expression referring to the high

birth rate Birth rate, also known as natality, is the total number of live childbirth, human births per 1,000 population for a given period divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registr ...

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

s prior to the late 20th century. The phrase originated in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, according to John Robert Colombo's "Colombo's Canadian References."''Colombo's Canadian References,'' Oxford University Press, 1976, p.444. The expression suggests that, although

English Canadian English Canadians (), or Anglo-Canadians (), refers to either Canadians of English ethnic origin and heritage or to English-speaking or Anglophone Canadians of any ethnic origin; it is used primarily in contrast with French Canadians. Cana ...

s dominated

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in the 19th century, the high birth rate of French Canadians would allow them to remain politically strong in Quebec and also to maintain their demographic weight within Canada - thus permitting resistance to

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...

into

culture. The "revenge" of the phrase references the Conquest of New France by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

in 1763. Under British rule, new immigrants to Canada came overwhelmingly from English-speaking regions, allowing English-speakers to eventually become the majority of the overall Canadian population. The implication of the phrase is that it would not be possible to discriminate against Francophones if their population remained proportionally large enough. With little Francophone immigration, the French-Canadian population could only maintain its share of the total if its birth rate exceeded that of Anglophones. Since the

Quiet Revolution The Quiet Revolution () was a period of socio-political and socio-cultural transformation in French Canada, particularly in Quebec, following the 1960 Quebec general election. This period was marked by the secularization of the government, the ...

of the 1960s, however,

has experienced

sub-replacement fertility Sub-replacement fertility is a total fertility rate (TFR) that (if sustained) leads to each new generation being less populous than the older, previous one in a given area. The United Nations Population Division defines sub-replacement fertilit ...

, which has caused anxiety about the future of Quebec's

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

References

Demographics of Canada Political history of Quebec {{Quebec-hist-stub

See also

References