French migration to the Americas in the 19th and 20th centuries as a historical problem

"How do we account for the fact that so little is known of the patterns of French emigration to, and settlement in the Americas?... If the silence of the historians cannot be adequately and simply explained by the modesty of the flow, it becomes necessary to delve deeper into the reasons which account for this silence....I suggest that a reconceptualization of French emigration along the lines of a transatlantic, comparative analysis will not only enlighten the history of the migrants themselves...but will also enrich our vision of the social history of France and of the receiving countries."