A few acres of snow
"A few acres of snow" is one of several quotations from Voltaire, the 18th-century writer, which are representative of his sneering evaluation of Canada as lacking economic value and strategic importance to 18th-century France.
In Voltaire's time, Canada was the name of a territory of New France which covered most of modern-day southern Quebec. However, "Canada", was also commonly used as a generic term to cover all of New France, including the whole of the Louisiana territory, as well as modern-day southern Ontario, Labrador, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Which meaning of "Canada" Voltaire intended is a matter of some dispute.
The exact phrase "quelques arpents de neige" first appears in 1759 in chapter 23 of Voltaire's book Candide, although the phrase "a few acres of ice" appeared in a letter he wrote in 1757. Voltaire wrote similar sarcastic remarks in other works.
Historical context of the quotations
In Voltaire's day, New France included Canada, Acadia, Louisiana, and other territories. All parts of the colonies were the object of Voltaire's sarcastic comments at one point or another.Through all his writings on the subject, Voltaire's basic idea about France's Canadian colony always remained the same. It can be summarized as comprising an economic premise and a strategic premise, both of which concur to a practical conclusion, as follows:
- Almost the entirety of Canada's territory is, and will remain, an unproductive and useless frozen wasteland.
- Great Britain, having colonized the more productive territories to the south and to the east, having already provided them with a much larger population, will not tolerate the presence of another European power in that area and will relentlessly attack Canada until such presence is ousted. Given the enormous disproportion in population and material resources between the French and British colonies in North America, the impossibility of modifying that imbalance in the foreseeable future and Britain's generally better control of the maritime routes to Europe, Britain will inevitably prevail sooner or later.
- Therefore, an effective defence of Canada by France requires an extraordinarily large commitment of resources in comparison to the scant economic value in return, and any resources thus expended, even if allowing victories in the short term, are wasted as they can only serve at best to postpone for a few more decades the handing over of Canada to Britain, which is inevitable in the long term. Consequently, sound economic policy dictates handing over Canada to Britain as soon as possible and concentrating France's resources in its Caribbean colonies, more valuable economically and more readily defensible.
Today's critics of Voltaire's opinion are directed primarily at his economic assessment of the Canadian colony. Voltaire's idea of the Canadian colony based essentially on fur trade was, even at the time of his own writings, already outdated by almost a century. Thus, although it may be difficult to determine exactly what part of his depiction of Canada might be attributed to deliberate exaggeration for polemical purposes, to attachment to a preconceived idea or to mere misinformation, his few writings on the subject do seem to display a certain level of short-sightedness regarding the actual level of economic evolution that had, by then, already been reached in the settled parts of Canada and about the colony's potential for further development.
On the other hand, Voltaire's assessment of the heavy financial burden required for France's military defence of Canada and of the practical impossibility of such defence in the long term remains valid. Consequently, had he espoused a more favourable idea of the economic potential of the colony, that would likely not have changed his general conclusion.
Voltaire's famous quotations about New France were for the most part written between 1753 and 1763, shortly before, and then during, the Seven Years' War. Voltaire was living in Switzerland during most of this period. During the war, he sometimes appeared to favor the Prussian king Frederick II, with whom he was maintaining a regular personal correspondence during the war. Voltaire was also at the same time in correspondence with some French ministers. He thus corresponded with both sides of the belligerents in the war, although mostly on a personal and literary level more than a political level. He thought that the war was a mistake for France and he used several opportunities to ask the French ministers to simply quit the war. Boundary disputes in their American colonies had been an early casus belli between Britain and France in this war, which was later further complicated by purely European considerations and ended seven years later. Voltaire's position that France should let go of its North American colonies was in accord with his position about the war in general. For him, handing over New France would appease Britain. His position about the European war likely increased his tendency to paint New France as being of little value.
The quotations in their textual context
The quotations are presented in chronological order.1753 —
Chapter 151 — Of the possessions of the French in America:1756 — Letter to
In this letter to François Tronchin, written at Monriond, near Lausanne, dated January 29, 1756, Voltaire mentions the earthquake that destroyed Lisbon, Portugal, on November 1, 1755.1757 — Letter to Mr
This letter from Voltaire to François-Augustin de Paradis de Moncrif, written at Monrion, near Lausanne, on March 27, 1757, contains the first known direct use by Voltaire of his famous turn of phrase "a few acres of ice in Canada". The relevant passage of the letter reads as follows:The sentence from Voltaire's letter to Moncrif has been quoted often. The 19th-century writer Jules Verne quoted it in his novel A Family without a name, published in 1889, set in the Canada of 1837 during the reformist rebellion. The famous sentence is quoted in chapter 1 of the novel. Verne's novel has likely contributed to the quotation's popularity.
1758 —
Voltaire must have been quite happy with his "few acres of ice" phrase from his 1757 letter to Moncrif: he used it again the following year, slightly modified, in his novel Candide, although now replacing "ice" with "snow". The "snow" version of 1758 has generally become better known today in Canada than the "ice" version of 1757, perhaps because Candide is sometimes used in high school courses. The relevant passage appears in chapter 23 of Candide, when two characters of the novel are exchanging thoughts about France and Britain:In the original French version, Voltaire uses the phrase "... pour quelques arpents de neige vers le Canada", where the preposition "" does not have the usual meaning it has in today's French. Instead, "vers" is commonly used by Voltaire in his writings to express a general meaning of vagueness about an area, in the general sense of "somewhere in or around this general area". It is apparent from the whole of his writings that he views, or pretends to view, Canada as a vast icy and snowy area. Thus, it is immaterial to ponder if by "a few acres" Voltaire had in mind one of the areas in dispute in 1754, such as the Ohio valley or the Acadian border. By 1758, the war had extended to all possessions of the belligerents. Under Voltaire's pen, the term is deliberately vague and the point of using it is to convey the idea that any acres of land in the general area of Canada are so unimportant that even their location is not worth worrying about.
1760 — Letter from
Although not a Voltaire quotation, this letter from Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to Voltaire, is an example of the correspondence between Voltaire and the French ministry and of Choiseul's dry humour in the manner he informs Voltaire of the fall of Canada:1760 — Letter to the
In this letter to Bernard-François, marquis de Chauvelin, written at Les Délices, Voltaire's property near Geneva, on November 3, 1760, Voltaire writes:1762 — Letter to
This letter from Voltaire to César Gabriel de Choiseul, who had replaced his cousin Étienne de Choiseul as French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1761, written at Les Délices, on September 6, 1762, is one of the best known of Voltaire's letters about Canada, being mentioned anecdotally in some high school history textbooks. A short letter, it can be quoted in full:1763 —
The Précis was written by Voltaire over several years. The relevant passages, below, were likely written in or after 1763.1763 — Letter to
Although not directly an assessment quotation, this letter from Voltaire to Charles-Augustin de Ferriol d'Argental illustrates Voltaire's position and actions about the matter:Modern usage
The phrase continues to be referenced in the modern era. Canadian poet Louis-Honoré Fréchette paid himself a revenge on Voltaire in his poem "Sous la statue de Voltaire", published in La Légende d'un Peuple.Quelques arpents de neige is the title of a 1972 movie by Denis Héroux; "Pour quelques arpents de neige" is a 1972 song by Claude Léveillée, written for the film.
In the 1980s, the marketers of the Quebec edition of the game Trivial Pursuit punningly named their product "Quelques arpents de pièges".
The name of the board game A Few Acres of Snow is derived from this phrase. Designed by Martin Wallace, it is about the French and British conflict over what is now Canada.