Plural of colporteur; people who travel selling or distributing religious literature and moral texts.
French plural of 'colporteur.' The term remained French in form even when imported into English, similar to other French professional titles like 'entrepreneurs' or 'restaurateurs.'
In the 19th century, massive coordinated armies of colporteurs literally distributed millions of religious tracts across continents—this was the evangelical movement's version of viral marketing, and it actually shaped societies.
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