"French Canada" aimed at encouraging the development of a sense of national pride and unity among Canadians during the years of World War II. Ryerson put forth a socio-economic analysis of the Quebec and in turn educated most English-speaking Canadians about a region they knew very little about. As a sequel to "1837", Ryerson's "French Canada" revealed "the militant spirit of democracy among French Canadians" in the hopes of uniting "them with their Anglophone compatriots." Ryerson did follow a certain "great man" approach to history when, in the early chapters, he emphasized the heroes "who struggled for self-determination and/or Canadian unity"; this approach was complemented by an emphasis on "the Quebec masses and their rise out of feudal subjugation toward political power." Very much the Historical Materialist, Ryerson viewed the previous administrations of Quebec as working with representatives of English Canada and international capitalism to keep Quebec in economic subservience. Ryerson believed, "The Toronto Tory and the Quebec corporatist meet on common ground: hostility to the democratic peoples' movement, denial of our democratic heritage." Following on his contentions laid out in "1837", Ryerson viewed the failure of English Canada to recognise their connection to French Canada and to fight hand in hand for the fullest democratic rights of the minority nation only served to deepen the power of reactionary influences and limit Canadian democracy and unity in general.