Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society

The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (French la Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste) is a patriotic institution created in 1834 by Ludger Duvernay in Lower Canada. It evolved out of the Société Aide-toi et le ciel t'aidera (Help yourself and Heaven will help you) founded by Duvernay on March 8, 1834. Most notably, it made June 24, St. John the Baptist day, the national day of the "French Canadians" (the former term for the Quebec people). Today, June 24 is the Quebec National Holiday).

The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society was setup to promote French Canadian\ culture and values, stimulate literary in the French Canadian youth. It has been active in the social, cultural, political, and economic spheres. The society was instrumental in the creation of the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, the École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal and the Société nationale de fiducie. In 1899, it created the Caisse nationale d'économie and contributed to the Chambre de Commerce de Montréal.

Initially, it adopted the maple leaf as it emblem, and was the first promoter of the song O Canada as symbols of the French Canadian nation. Ironically, those have now been taken over by English Canada as national Canadian symbols (the song eventually became the national anthem of Canada in 1980) and are now seen as contrary to the ideas of the Société and many Quebec nationalists.

The society had local branches in all the major French Canadian communities in Quebec, the other Canadian provinces and the United States. It has however changed considerably over the centuries. When it was born, the French speaking inhabitants of Quebec and Canada constitued the only large group wishing to see Canada become an independent country from Britain. The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society was an expression of this desire, in its festivals and other activites. During the 20th century the Saint-Jean-Baptiste eventually focused its action in Quebec, the homeland of the people. It is now one of the strong proponents of the independence of Quebec from Canada.