Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758 [1 ed.] 9780870139284, 9780870135705

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Copyright © 2001. Michigan State University Press. All rights reserved. Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758, Michigan State University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Control and Order

Copyright © 2001. Michigan State University Press. All rights reserved.

in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758

Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758, Michigan State University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Copyright © 2001. Michigan State University Press. All rights reserved. Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758, Michigan State University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758

Copyright © 2001. Michigan State University Press. All rights reserved.

A.

J.

B. JOHNSTON

Michigan State University Press

East Lansing

Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758, Michigan State University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Copyright © 2001 by A.

J.

B. Johnston

I§ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSIINISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).

Michigan State University Press East Lansing, Michigan 48823-5202 Printed and bound in the United States of America. 07 06 05 04 03 02 01

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Johnston, A. J. B. (Andrew John Bayly) Control and Order: The Evolution of Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758/ A. J. B. Johnston p.cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-87013-570-8 (clothbound: alk. Paper) ISBN 0-87013-571-6 (pbk. : alk. Paper) 1. Social control-Nova Scotia-Louisbourg-History-18th century 2. City Planning-Nova Scotia-Louisbourg-History-18th century 3. Civil Society-Nova Scotia-Louisbourg-History-18th century 4. Louisbourg (N.S.).-History-18th century 5. Louisbourg (N.S.).-Social Life and Customs-18th century 6. Louisbourg (N.S.).-Social conditions-18th century. 1. Title. F1039.5.L8 J63 2001 971.6/955 21

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Cover and book design by Sharp Des!gns, Lansing, MI

Cover photo: Plan and View of Louisbourg, 1758, by the Chevalier de la Rigaudiere. Cliche Bibliotheque nationale de France, Cartes et Plans, GeD 20624

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758, Michigan State University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Copyright © 2001. Michigan State University Press. All rights reserved.

for Mary Margaret Topshee

Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758, Michigan State University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Copyright © 2001. Michigan State University Press. All rights reserved. Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758, Michigan State University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Contents

List of Tables / ix List of Figures / xi List of Abbreviations / xiii Foreword / xv

Introduction / xvii Copyright © 2001. Michigan State University Press. All rights reserved.

Contrasts and Similarities: Population, Institutions and Powers Order and Control in the Colonial Context • Research on Eighteenth-Century Louisbourg Understanding the "Pacified Society" of Louisbourg • The Book Ahead

1. Creating and Organizing a New Colony / 1

Before Louisbourg: An Era of Few Controls • Founding a New Colony Cape Breton Island and Its Potential. Establishing Authority, Introducing the Powers Fundamental Control: Judicial Institutions Complexity in Diversity: The People to be Governed

VII

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, I7 I3-I758

2. The Evolution of a Planned, Fortified Town / 63 An Uncertain Beginning • First Attempts to Control the Use of Space Marking Advances • The Town Continues its Evolution A War, a Peace, a Second War. Controlling Spaces: Military Zones Profitable Spaces: Economic Sectors Community Spaces: Worship, Bury, Gather; and Celebrate

3. Pursuing Harmony in Civil Society / 121 A Controlling Atmosphere. Order on lie Royale The Quest for Harmony at the Top· Good Colonists, Bad Colonists Counting and Measuring • An Aversion for "Independent Spirits" Attempts to Control Alcohol Consumption • The Arm of Civil Justice The Necessity of Punishment· Detaining Suspects in Prisons

4. "Tenir la main" in Military Society / 173 A Difficult Garrison. The Officers • Economic Control. The Enlisted Men "Spirit of libertinage and revolt" • Positive Influences Misdemeanors, Infractions, and Punishments • Serious Crimes: The Conseil de Guerre The Never Ending Problem: Desertion • Total Disorder: The 1744 Mutiny

5. Values and Behavior /223 Men and Women • A Diverse Society • Expressing One's Opinion. On the Margins Crimes and Criminals: Punishing the Guilty

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Conclusion / 303 Bibliography / 311 Index /331

VIII

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Tables

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1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9A 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

He Royale and Louisbourg: Civil Population .................... 37 He Royale and Louisbourg: Civil and Military Population .......... 38 Population of Louisbourg: Select Years ........................ 39 Origins of the Habitants of Louisbourg ....................... 43 Origins of Grooms at Louisbourg ............................ 44 Origins of Brides at Louisbourg ............................. 45 Soldiers Infractions, 1752-1753 ............................ 193 Soldiers Punishments, 1752-1753 .......................... 197 Prison Sentences for Soldiers, 1752-1753 ..................... 199 Breakdown of the 150 Sentences from 1 to 7 Days .............. 199 Crimes in Civil Society, 1717 to July 1734 .................... 268 Accused and Victims, 1717 to July 1734 ..................... 271 Sentences, 1717 to July 1734 ............................. 273 Crimes in Civil Society, August 1734 to 1745 ................. 275 Accused and Victims, August 1734 to 1745 ................... 277 Sentences, August 1734 to 1745 ........................... 281 Crimes in Civil Society, 1749 to 1758 ....................... 283 Accused and Victims, August 1749 to 1758 .................. 287 Sentences, August 1749 to 1758 ........................... 288

IX

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Figures

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1

Map of He Royale, 1744 ................................ xxxvii 2 First trace of the streets and fortifications, 1717 ............... xxxviii 3 View of Louisbourg, ca. 1719 ............................ xxxix 4 Town plan, 1722 ...................................... xxxix 5 Louisbourg Medal, 1720. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... xl 6 View of Louisbourg, 17 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............. xl 7 Plan and view of the quay and nearby blocks, 1731 ............... xli 8 Town plan, 1734 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........ xlii 9 Louisbourg on the Eve of the First Siege, Plan of 1744 ............ xlii 10 The Quay of Louisbourg, 1734 ............................. xliii 11 Place du port, 1752 ..................................... xliii 12 North Shore of Louisbourg, 1734 ........................... xliv 13 Cemeteries, 1723 ....................................... xlv 14 Cemeteries, 1730 ....................................... xlv

XI

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Abbreviations

AAQ ACM AFL AN, Col

AN,OM APT ASHA ASQ

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DCB EO

MQUP NAC PUF PUL PUM PUQ RAPQ RHAF UTP

Archives de 1'Archidiocese de Quebec Archives des Charente-Maritime Archives of the Fortress of Louisbourg France, Archives nationales, Archives des colonies France, Archives nationales, Archives d'outre mer Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology Archives du Service historique de l'Armee (Vincennes, France) Archives du Seminaire du Quebec Dictionary of Canadian Biography Edits, ordonnances royaux, declarations et arrets du Conseil d'Etat du Roi, concernant Ie Canada McGill-Queen's University Press National Archives of Canada Les Presses universitaires de France Les Presses de l'Universite Laval Les Presses de l'Universite de Montreal Les Presses de l'Universite du Quebec Rapport de 1'archiviste de la Province du Quebec Revue d'histoire de 1'Amerique franfaise University of Toronto Press

XIII

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+ Foreword

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I WOULD NEVER HAVE UNDERTAKEN THIS STUDY, NOR HAVE COMPLETED IT, WITHout the encouragement and support of my wife, Mary Topshee. That is the simple truth. In recognition of how much lowe to her, and not just for these pages, I ded-

icate the completed study to Mary. In terms of the content and academic merit of the work, my greatest debt is without doubt to my doctoral supervisor at the Universite Laval, Professor Jacques Mathieu. This book began as a doctoral dissertation at Laval under the direction of Professor Mathieu. His commitment to clarity and precision, as well as his remarkable breadth of knowledge about New France, aided my progress immeasurably. I owe Jacques more than I can put into words. A word of appreciation is also due to the Universite Laval itself. It was the only university that offered both the academic setting I required and a doctoral program that was flexible enough to suit my particular circumstances. Were it not for the flexibility of the Universite Laval, this study would not exist, at least not in its current form. I would also like to give sincere thanks to Professors Andre Sanfa~on and Alain Laberge of the Universite Laval and to Professor Emeritus Cornelius Jaenen of the University of Ottawa. Their insightful, meticulous, and constructive comments on the dissertation, made as part of their preparation for sitting on the jury for the soutenance of the thesis, were of enormous benefit. Particular thanks are due as well to the other members of the siminaire de doctorat at the Universite Laval, and to colleagues and friends from Parks Canada. Bill O'Shea played a crucial role in providing me with the time necessary to see this book through to its completion. Fellow historians at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, Kenneth Donovan, and B. A. Balcom, have brought to my attention xv

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over the past two decades many incidents and aspects from the history of Louisbourg. Their suggestions and ideas definitely helped shape this book.

Note on Translation

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The vast majority of the documents and a good many of the books and articles researched for this study are in French. For the ease of the reader, the author has translated all cited material in the body of the text into English. In the notes, however, any citations are left in the language in which they were first published, or as they appeared in primary documents.

XVI

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Introduction

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THE BROAD SUBJECT OF THIS STUDY IS ILE ROYALE, THE FRENCH COLONY THAT

existed on Cape Breton Island during four and a half decades in the middle of the eighteenth century (1713-1758). Louisbourg was the largest and best-known settlement on the island. After a somewhat tentative beginning Louisbourg emerged as the administrative, economic, and military center for French activities in much of what are now the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Just as the French focused on Louisbourg in the eighteenth century, so the fortified town and commercial center commands the attention of the pages that follow. Ile Royale represented one of France's last initiatives in the two and a half century story of New France. The colony was founded roughly 180 years after Jacques Cartier's first voyage to the New World, and over one hundred years after habitations were erected at Port Royal and Quebec. Late starter though it was, Louisbourg emerged as a settlement of economic and strategic importance. Two years after its founding in 1713, the Comte de Pontchartrain, minister of the Marine, felt so strongly about the new colony that he declared "if France would lose this island, it would be irreparable and as a necessary consequence we would have to abandon the rest of northeastern America."! There was hyperbole in Pontchartrain's declaration yet, memoirs written over several decades by various authors, offered variations on the "importance of Ile Royale" theme. Even Voltaire picked up the refrain in the 1760s, after the colony had been irrevocably lost to France . . . . the island of Louisbourg or of Cape Breton, was then an important island for the French ... the key to their possessions in North America. The territory had been ceded to France by the peace of Utrecht. The cod fishery carried out in its waters was XVII

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758

the object of a useful commerce, employing each year more than five hundred small vessels .... It was a school of sailors; and of commerce; which joined to that of the

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cod fishery, kept ten thousand men working and circulated ten millions {livrer}.2

A bountiful fishery, prosperous commerce, and a strategic stronghold-these were the fundamental reasons for Louisbourg's rise to prominence during the first half of the eighteenth century. Since the 1960s, many historians have examined the French experience at Louisbourg. Books and articles have addressed a wide range of topics; from studies of the town's fortifications to accounts of its two sieges (1745 and 1758), to interpretations of the colony's fishery, commerce, religious life, and social history. The goal of this study is to explore a previously unexamined topic, one that has connections with all aspects of the French colonial experience on Cape Breton Island. Our focus is on the principal ways in which individuals and groups within Ile Royale, and in the ministry of the Marine in France, attempted to maintain an organized society on what for them was an island wilderness. 3 It was a drama with many actors, with leading parts going to royal administrators, military officers, and engineers. Supporting roles went to cures, merchants, fishing proprietors, and ordinary colonists. Their collective attempts to introduce order and to maintain controls on behavior continued throughout the history of the colony, evolving to meet changing circumstances as Louisbourg and Ile Royale moved beyond the initial settlement stage. This study looks at the complete life span of the island as a French colony; that is, from 1713 to 1745 and then from 1749 to 1758. During that time, Louisbourg enjoyed thirty-one years of peacetime growth and development (r713-44); endured a six-week siege followed by mass deportations (1745); four years of British occupation (1745-49); then nine more years as a French port and stronghold (1749-58). The colony came to an abrupt end in 1758 because of a military defeat that ushered in an era of British control. The life span of the French colony was roughly fortyone years. Though there were differences between the two separate periods, it is fitting to study the events as they unfolded as if they were part of a unified whole, treating the British occupation of 1745-49 as a temporary interlude or interruption. The French administrative approach to governing the colony was essentially the same during both periods. So, too, were the dominant institutions, laws, and regulations. Also alike in both 1713-45 and 1749-58 were the fundamental economic orientations of the colony as well as the military roles that the fortified town and naval port were expected to play. In light of the unchanging characteristics in the two French occupations of Louisbourg, it makes the most sense to examine the two periods as if they formed a single unit. Over the course of two generations at Louisbourg, in response to changing circumstances, the colonists and those who sought to administer them nurtured the seeds of a civilization known in France or in other parts of New France. At times, the social and cultural adaptation to the island colony was unconscious and utterly XVIII

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Introduction

natural; at other times it was deliberate and self-conscious. Regardless, the end result was the same: the attempted creation, or recreation, of a European-style community on the Atlantic frontier. The society generated was one that ultimately took on a shape of its own, as a maturing, increasingly complex unit within the overall orbit of New France. To what degree Louisbourg society-in terms of being ordered and under controls-was a repetition of known ways of doing things in France or in New France, and how much of its character was an innovative response to Cape Breton Island's particular setting, is revealed in the chapters ahead.

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CONTRASTS AND SIMILARITIES: POPULATION, INSTITUTIONS, AND POWERS

Colonizing ventures from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries were essentially experiments; sometimes on a massive scale. The ways in which these ventures were mounted varied as widely as the results. For they were not experiments in chemistry or physics, where conditions can be replicated and repeated-in a word, controlled. Instead, colonies were social, i.e., human, experiments, which were at least partly unpredictable. Yet the initiarors of the experiments, and likely the participants as well, rarely if ever thought of themselves in these terms. They believed they had the necessary control to make events and circumstances turn out the way they wanted, according to their intent. In the case of He Royale, as in Canada and Acadia, officials in France recognized early on that they did not have to duplicate each and every characteristic of the ancien regime. Up to a certain point, they could pick and choose the institutions or practices that were introduced on the other side of the Atlantic. If overlapping jurisdictions in France represented an "administrative imbroglio" that "capriciously sheared the map of the kingdom," then the judicial and administrative systems could be simplified when starting anew. 4 If lawyers and Protestants were an annoyance and a threat in the mother country, then one did not have to admit them (or at least not to practice) in New France. 5 If the streets of old France were crooked and twisting, then they could be laid straight and neatly intersecting in the new-which in Louisbourg, and elsewhere, they were, in a convincing manner.6 There were, of course, limits to the innovations that could be conceived or implemented. After all, neither the decision makers nor the colonists could, or wanted to, free themselves from the traditions, values, and perspectives of their culture d'origine. It would have been impossible, for instance, after 1663, for the French to have established official, state-supported colonies in which there was neither a royal administration nor an official presence for the Roman Catholic Church. The particular colonizing experiment that was Ile Royale can be explored in many ways. For the purposes of this study, the general context is the familiar one of the transfer and adaptation of European institutions overseas to colonial settings.7 The difference is that "institutions," in the usual sense, are not the primary object of research, though some key institutions-such as the court system, the church, XIX

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Control and Order in. French Colonial LouiJbourg, 1713-1758

and the military-are certainly discussed. What is of central interest in the pages that follow is not the institutions in and of themselves, but the degree to which they represented certain fundamental ideas and values peculiar to their time, place, and cultural traditions. Particular ideas and values, such as the upholding of a hierarchical organization of society, appear throughout this study. Specifically, I wanted to know about the measures and mechanisms of control and the ways in which society was ordered on eighteenth-century He Royale. Institutions were one type of manifestation of these needs and concerns. Yet there were other forces-formal and informal-at work as well. Some rose as naturally from the colonists as the sweat from their brows; others were introduced, and perhaps imposed, by the representatives of the state, the church, the military, the merchants, and other groups. To explore the many, multilayered forces of order and control at work on He Royale, I have based my analysis on three main elements in the colony: the population, the institutions, and the powers (or authorities). In terms of population there were both similarities and striking differences between He Royale and the other parts of New France. Throughout the different colonial holdings, it goes almost without saying, the French language and the Roman Catholic religion predominated. Moreover, in the broadest cultural sense, the colonists shared a common culture on questions ranging from tangible matters such as clothing styles, to intangibles like deportment. Nonetheless, there were some significant differences among the various parts of New France. Along the St. Lawrence River, for instance, roughly three-quarters of the colonists were involved in some form of agriculture. 8 On He Royale, only a small percentage of the settlers derived their living by cultivating the land. They were much more likely to be employed in the fishery, or in shipping, trade, or construction rather than farming. Another important difference was that in some parts of New France many colonists had parents and grandparents who had been born in North America. In Canada and Acadia, for instance, individuals had developed a specific canadien or acadien identity. In the case of the former, "their economic existence, their peculiar mores, virtually everything in their lives was firmly rooted in Canada where, by the eighteenth century, the overwhelming majority had been born."9 There is no evidence of the same phenomenon on He Royale. The majority of the French settlers on the island, especially during the period of occupation to 1745, were from France. Many of the royal officials, merchants, fishers, military officers, tradespeople, and most, if not all, of the soldiers likely felt no special attachment to the colony other than as a place to make a living or to advance a career. There is no suggestion that the collectivity had begun to develop a separate identity as He Royalais. In fact, they were just as likely to consider themselves Bretons, Normans, and Basques as they were to think in terms of being French. Only if the Cape Breton colony had lasted longer with a majority population born and raised on the island would it have developed its own distinctive identity. Such an attachment may have been underway on He Royale during the 1750S just when the colony finally ceased to exist. At that time, there was a growing number of colonists who had passed most of their lives on xx

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Introduction

the island. Moreover, there were roughly rwo thousand residents of Louisbourg who had undergone the experience of being bombarded during the 1745 siege, deported to France, then eventually returned in 1749 to their colonial "homes." That such a traumatic sequence of events was the common experience of so many Louisbourgeois may well have begun to sow the seeds of a distinctive Louisbourg identity. If the sense of rootedness found among many Acadians and Canadians was generally missing from the colonists on He Royale, so too was the relative "homogeneity" of the colonists in Canada and Acadia. Andre Lachance forwards the argument that the diversity that the settlements along the St. Lawrence River had known in the seventeenth century had diminished by the eighteenth century. A relative lack of new immigration meant that the colonists in eighteenth-century Canada had much in common in terms of their backgrounds.1O The same cannot be said about the Cape Breton colony until perhaps the 1750S, when the bombardment and deportation of 1745 had become a widely shared experience. Generally speaking, the population of He Royale was diverse in its origins. This heterogeneity resulted in a jumble of customs and traditions among the colonists, a reality that was especially pronounced in the capital and urban center of Louisbourg. The founding group in the colony consisted largely of fishing, merchant, and military families from Placentia, Newfoundland. In the years that followed, the civilian population, especially the men, came more from the northwest and west coasts of France rather than from within New France. l l There were some outport communities entirely dominated by Basques from southwestern France, while Bretons and Normans from the Gulf of St. Malo settled in othersY All of these groups were represented at Louisbourg, along with others not found in the outports. For instance, for over twenty years, the Louisbourg garrison contained a large contingent (ranging between 50 and 150 men) of German and Swiss soldiers-many of whom were Protestant. Louisbourg was also home to dozens of Irish Catholics. And over its complete life span there were well over two hundred individuals from Africa, or who were of African descent, who toiled as slaves.13 It is true that these various linguistic and cultural communities were greatly outnumbered by colonists from France. Yet, their presence added a dimension that was not found to the same extent in eighteenthcentury Canada or Acadia. The diversity of the population at Louisbourg was more like that found in Louisiana or in an Anglo-American colony.14 Due to the relative "newness" of Louisbourg and the diversity in its population, one naturally wonders if individuals from common backgrounds formed distinctive sub-communities, helped each other find work and accommodations, and frequented the same drinking establishments? Did the lack of homogeneity in the population lead to tensions and rivalries among the various groups? Were newcomers easily integrated into the colony, or were there difficulties of adaptation and integration? Did the order that was established in the colony and the controls which were maintained reflect the interests of one group more than any of the others? The institutions that arose at Louisbourg were undeniably those of France, or more accurately those developed by French officials and citizenry on both sides of XXI

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, I7 I3-I7 58

the Atlantic in the course of more than a century of colonizing experiences. The general administrative structure consisted of two royal officials at the top, a host of lesser officials, and a system of courts and administrative procedures. That is not to say, however, that the instirutions on He Royale were identical to those found elsewhere in New France. The judicial structure, for instance, was similar to that in contemporaneous settlements along the St. Lawrence. IS An important modification, however, was that there were no seigneurial courts on He Royale. This must have come as a shock to anyone arriving in the colony from rural France. In the mother country, seigneurial jurisdictions were ubiquitous, prompting the witticism that a traveler "changed his law codes more often than his horse."16 On He Royale, however, there were no such courts because there was no seigneurial system in place. Another contrast with Canada was that there were no militia captains on He Royale, or if there were, they were not institutionalized positions. There was practically no militia except for one hastily assembled when an assault became imminent. In large part this was because of the large presence of "professional" soldiers in the colony and because relations with the Mi'kmaq were relatively close and friendly (unlike in Canada, where colonists often clashed with the Iroquois). The absence of such fundamental "base elements"17 of Canadian society as militia captains and seigneurial courts meant there would be other social and institutional forces at work at Louisbourg and in the smaller communities of the island colony. One institution present on He Royale, as it was wherever the French settled in the New World, was the church. The Roman Catholic religion-both as a belief system and as a cohesive social force-was undeniably important at Louisbourg. There as elsewhere the clergy "collaborated" with royal officials to keep relations harmonious in society and to uphold the omnipresent values of a hierarchical society.18 Three religious communities were established at Louisbourg; each was active in a separate domain: the Recollets in parish matters, the Order of St. John of God in running a hospital, and the Congregation of Notre-Dame in female education. Yet, as an institution of influence in administrative or policy matters, the church on He Royale played a much less prominent role than it did either in Canada or in France. There was no resident bishop, nor did one ever visit the colony. There was no clerical representation on the Louisbourg Superior Council. There were no secular priests. Finally, to show the relative weakness of the clergy's power in the colony, the parsimonious parishioners of Louisbourg steadfastly refused to pay a compulsory tithe or even to build a parish church. They preferred instead to have their priests' salaries paid out of the royal treasury and to make do with a garrison chapel rather than contribute for the construction of a bona fide church. 19 The powers (or authorities) on He Royale had obvious connections to the institutions of the colony. Yet they were not equivalent. Power is something that is exercised,20 something that inevitably involves having control over others. 21 It can wax and wane; it is in flux, not static. Institutions can certainly wield power--or perhaps, more accurately, they can playa leading role in its manifestation-and they often do, especially the institutions that act on behalf of the "state."22 Yet, it is XXII

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Introduction

important to recognize that there are non-institutional and informal powers as well. In some contexts, the informal powers exercise a more decisive influence than the institutions. In terms of the broad categories in which power surfaced at Louisbourg, it makes no sense to speak of the three levels of power in place in France: royal, seigneurial, and parish. 23 While there was plenty of royal power at Louisbourg, there were no seigneuries, and parish influence was greatly reduced. In the particular context of He Royale, it is more useful to explore the administrative, economic, military, religious, and social dimensions within which power was exercised. The categories overlap and at best are no more than convenient abstractions of a social reality that existed as a unit or as an ensemble. Admitting that, one can still say that each category had its sphere of influence or control. Each had its staff, members, or practitioners, and each had its own code of reference, whether or not that code was officially articulated. The code, or standards of behavior, took many forms depending on the sphere of activity. For instance, there were printed works such as the Code Militaire and the Coutume de Paris, to which military or civil officers could turn to help guide them in their decisions or their actions. In the sphere of religion and morality, there were published catechisms and mandements (mandates), and then there were spoken messages from the pulpit. A host of local ordinances dealt with urban questions like zoning, the operation of businesses, and other regulations. Whatever the sphere of activity and whatever the form of the governing rules and regulations, each sphere had to be prepared to deal with those who contravened the accepted norms. For, invariably, individuals will choose to cross the boundaries of expected behavior. Western thought has a tendency to see power (and many other subjects) in terms of dichotomies; such as we/they, rich/poor, and dominantsldomines. Despite the popularity of such simplistic interpretations, reality is not ~o cur and dried. As has been observed, "what appears to be simple is only that which has been simplified."24 There are many gradations and shades of power and influence at work in any social setting. Typically, it is easier to identify and analyze people or structures at the top of a given social pyramid than those lower down. All too often, and all too easily, the lower levels are lumped together in a catch-all category like the oppressed or the domines. On He Royale, depending on the context, categories of domines included ordinary soldiers, parishioners, fishermen and shoreworkers, servants, slaves, and women and children. Taken collectively, they formed the majority of the population. It might therefore be said that the domines were not without some power of their own. Maurice Godelier describes this as the power of consent. Godelier offers that it is not necessarily force from above, or even the threat of force, that makes unequal social systems work. Rather, it is the exchange, or apparent exchange, of services. Such an exchange requires: the cooperation of all, including those who suffered the negative effects of the new forms of domination and exploitation.... Consent is the share of power which the dominated add to the share which the XXIII

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758

dominating exercise over them directly. Essentially, violence and consent combine and work to the same end in different ways. They are not mutually exclusive. 25 Applying Godelier's line of thinking to eighteenth-century Louisbourg, suggests that at least some of the controls and the striking degree of order that manifested themselves in the colony did so because the colonists wanted, or at least did not resist, them. That is, one can speak meaningfully of desired forces and constraints. Of course, one must not exaggerate the colonists' willingness to submit. One recalls Roland Mousnier's observation that "rivalry is just as natural as cooperation,"26 as well as Pierre Goubert's assertion that one of the elements of "the law" in France of the ancien regime came from the people in the form of "a spirit of either disobedience or passivity."27 Clearly, there was a choice, or many choices, in how individuals and

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groups responded to manifestations of power from above. People could choose to cooperate, to be passive, or to resist in a variety of ways. There were undeniable "sources of strain" in Ile Royale society.28 Such strains manifested themselves in a range of disobedience and deviance from established norms. We refer not only to thefts, murders, and desertions but also to less flagrant behavior. Colonists were able to find many ways to defy authority, ignore regulations, and thwart initiatives suggested by their supposed leaders. In so doing, the people of Ile Royale showed they were like their counterparts in France and along the St. Lawrence River.29 Indeed, social relations are not unlike other spheres of human life. Serge Courville has demonstrated in his studies of land use and development along the St. Lawrence, that intentions are only half the story. Once the land contains people who have their own desires, habits, and approaches, the actual patterns ofland allocation and use can differ sharply from that originally intended. 3D It was much the same in matters pertaining to the establishment of order and to the control of behavior. A given society sometimes evolves in ways the authorities neither intend nor want.

ORDER AND CONTROL IN THE COLONIAL CONTEXT

The concepts of control and order are of fundamental importance in this study. Those key terms merit a close look before I begin my analysis in detail. "Control" has many meanings, most of which now deviate far from its original definition as a double register on which one kept records dealing with finance and justiceY Around 1740, the word began to be used in connection with a mark applied by the regulating authorities in France to identify and authenticate pieces of jewelry and goldsmithing. 32 Not until the twentieth century, however, did "control" acquire its figurative meanings having to do with dominating others, or keeping them in check. Nonetheless, even though the term was not yet applied to the phenomena, the processes by which groups and individuals sought to exert control over others were definitely in existence in the colonial era and gaining momentum. 33 XXIV

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Introduction

As Jacques Mathieu writes concerning the spate of regulations issued in New France, "There was not a thing nor a person who seemed able to escape the control of the authorities."34 It is in this modern, figurative sense that I use the word "control" in the chapters that follow. The adjective "social" is often added to "control," in both historical and sociological studies. Unfortunately, social control does not always mean the same thing to different authors. The definition can range broadly, from "all social processes to induce conformity,"35 to narrowly, as the "policies, practices and institutional arrangements that a society designs in order to deal with groups or social situations that are defined as 'problematical,' 'troublesome' or 'deviant."'36 The former, much broader denotation in which social control is a really subset of socialization and social organization has been used widely by historiansY Sociologists, however, have moved away from such a sweeping definition. Increasingly they prefer to limit the use of the term "social control" to the ways in which people-typically agencies or organizations--deal with perceived wrongdoers. As I intend to examine a broad range of control mechanisms in eighteenth-century Louisbourg I suggest, to be consistent with sociological terminology, that this study of lIe Royale will not be of "social" control but of "societal" controls. 38 "Order" was already a well-developed and multi-faceted concept by the late seventeenth century. Antoine Furetiere's Dictionnaire universel (1690) listed nearly two pages of definitions for ordre. 39 They included: Situation of things according to the state, place and rank which befit their nature and functions. The laws, police and regulations which maintain the peace and glory of a state, city

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or community.

The use of "order" in this book is in the tradition of these longstanding meanings, denoting something structured, sorted, regulated, or organized. That there were already dozens of nuanced definitions of ordre by the seventeenth century is not surprising. Most European societies in the early modern era were characterized by increasingly rigid hierarchical social organizations. 40 Concomitantly, there was a growth in absolutist ideas and coercive measures taken by states to centralize their power and authority.41 Keeping or bringing about order lay at the heart of these movements. A phenomenon that was related to the growth in order-and perhaps more importantly, to an ever-growing desire for order-is described by Norbert Elias as the civilisation des moeurs. 42 This was a phenomenon that largely took place in the psychological or socio-psychological spheres. "Civilization" as a word did not enter either French or English dictionaries until the 1770S,43 yet Elias demonstrated that the processes behind the term had begun centuries earlier. At its core lay a shift toward control, especially individual control. The changes became most evident in behavioral areas: how one eats, blows one's nose, and relieves oneself. Taken together, the changes led "to a situation in which xxv

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, I7I3-I758

the many affective impulses cannot be lived out as spontaneously as before."44 Thresholds of embarrassment, shame and repugnance emerged that had not existed before. Formerly people were told to do one thing and not to do another. But very often, no further action was taken. For centuries, the same precepts and prohibitions, which from our standpoint seem elementary, were repeated without ever leading to the imposition of behaviors consecrated by usage. But from now on, this would no longer be so. Men would exercise greater pressure on one another, and the requirement of "good conduct" would become a compelling one .... On the inside, a pacified society was taking shape. The old code of manners was only gradually modified. But social control became more strict. What changed was the manner and the mechanism through which society molded emotional responses .... Over the centuries, the same habits and customs, whether good or bad, were always cited.... It was social disruption and the recasting of human relationships which finally brought about changes. It was as a result of this evolution that standards of behavior were modified. 45 The key concept in the above citation is that of a "pacified society." The constraints and compulsions that surfaced as individuals and societies became increasingly "civilized" were to affect more than personal lives. Public and social dimensions were altered as well. There had always been controls and order in European societies, yet slowly and steadily a new notion of civilise took hold. The verb form, civiliser, had been around since at least 1568.46 By the late seventeenth century, the word had gained a new signification. Here once more is a definition from Furetiere.

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To civilize [civiliser}: To render civil and polite, accommodating and courteous. The preaching of the Gospel has civilized the most savage barbarian peoples; peasants are not civilized like town dwellers, nor are the latter civilized like courtiersY There are two aspects of the definition worth noting. The first is the use of "render" with its implication of compulsion. Some might have chosen an even stronger verb. Adam Smith, the Scottish political economist, explicitly spelled out the need for forceful, coercive measures in The Wealth of Nations (1776): "It is only by means of a standing army, therefore, that the civilization of any country can be perpetuated, or even preserved for any considerable time."48 Smith was not referring to subjugating "foreign" lands or colonies. He was writing of "civilizing" any populace, including European ones. A second point in the definition by Furetiere is the evident hierarchical sense that was expressed. Being civilise, and regarded as such, was an achievement, something that distinguished and separated people, both as individuals and as members of identifiable social groups. Court societies were the first to accept and promote both the distinctions and the controlling measures that were an essential part of being civilise. The state, the church, and eventually the middle classes followed, all drawn to the concept. Elias contended that "the strict XXVI

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Introduction

codification of behavior" had two impacts for the dominant classes that embraced it. It became "an instrument of prestige; but was at the same time, in a given phase, a means of domination. It is typical of Western society that the colonization movement went forward under the sign of 'civilization."'49 These links between civilization and colonization influenced the development of this study. Yet the focus is not so much the impact that ideas and practices relating to the creation of a "pacified society" had on non-European peoples, as it is on how some of the concepts surrounding the civilisation des moeurs, and the accompanying quest for more and more order in society in general, manifested themselves within a particular transplanted European society. 50 The fact that individuals and groups were starting anew on Cape Breton Island did not mean that they could free themselves from the ways of thinking and doing they had known in Europe or elsewhere in North America. Assumptions, approaches, preconceptions, worries and solutions travel very well. The overall goal is to explore some of the major ways in which, and the extent to which, an ordered and controlled society was established at Louisbourg. Ile Royale as a colony started from scratch in 1713. Theoretically, it was open to whatever mechanisms of control the authorities might wish to introduce. Then again, wishes, including those of authorities and official institutions, do not always come true. The colonists of Ile Royale had their own ideas on the amount of order and the number of controls they were willing to tolerate. Moreover, given that the setting was the New World, the influence of beckoning frontiers and the example of a nearby aboriginal society, which was not controlled in the same way as French society was, might well have undermined the colonists' willingness to be "pacified" according to contemporary European standards. This study offers an in-depth examination of the many initiatives and responses that occurred at Louisbourg concerning the conduct, manners, and values considered desirable, and those that were felt or judged to be undesirable. That is, I look at what was encouraged or permitted and what was discouraged and not permitted (and punished if need be). A key word is "considered." Considered by whom, to what end, and against whom? It is necessary to remind ourselves that like punishment, the introduction and imposition of order and control into a society can be viewed as a "political tactic" whose aim is the "protection of those social values which the dominant social group of a state regards as good for 'society."'51 Where one sits in the power structure often determines one's perspective on the need for, or the utility of, measures for control and order. There are both positive and negative ways in which such measures can make their influence felt. A primary concern was to examine the degree to which the aspirations and actions of the colonial administrators of Ile Royale were supported by the major groups in colonial society. At Louisbourg these were the merchants and fishing proprietors (habitants-pecheurs), the military officers and enlisted men, and the fishers and other laboring people. It would be untealistic to expect unanimity or solidarity in any society, especially one so diverse as Ile Royale.

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg,

I7 Ij-I7 58

RESEARCH ON EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY LOUISBOURG

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American historian James Axtell wrote in 1984 that "more is known about the population and life of Louisbourg than perhaps of any other colonial community in North America."52 Axtell's assessment is unverifiable, yet the point is that a great many aspects of the town's forty-five-year history have already been examined by both historians and archaeologists. 53 The first major study of the colony was published in 1918, J. S. McLennan's Louisbourg from its Foundation to its Fall, 1713-1758. The book, still in print, offers a narrative of the entire Louisbourg period. Military events in the colony's history receive the most attention from McLennan, but economic and social dimensions are covered as welP4 For decades, McLennan's study had the field to itself. Few scholars wrote on lIe Royale except in passing. The most common references to Louisbourg were as a "fort" that did not live up to its role as the supposed "guardian" of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The lack of scholarly interest in the capital of lIe Royale was presumably based on factors such as the short life span of the colony, as well as the lack of the most familiar elements from the history of New France: a seigneurial regime and a fur trade. The relative absence of agriculture on lIe Royale, suggested to historians that the colony was unsuccessful and backward. 55 Except for Charles de la Morandiere, who demonstrated the scale and value of the French fisheries,56 there were few historians (until the 1970s) able to grasp the significance of Louisbourg and its sea-based economy. Happily, that significance is now wellestablished. The town is now seen by historians in the full context of what it was: a busy seaport, a populous community, and a ville fortifiieY The area of the colony's history addressed in this study is one that has never been explored in any more than a preliminary manner. The few works that have touched on the area at all were brief and appeared decades ago, offering only a glimpse into how society was controlled at Louisbourg. 58 Yet, the impulse toward order showed itself in countless ways in the colony, from the symmetry of garden plantings and table settings, to the organization of public processions to the ways in which deviant behavior was handled. Controls were a part of everyday life. Major roles were played by institutions like the military and the church, yet there were non-institutional customs and forces also at work in the community. There was an overall thtust toward the creation of an ordered society at Louisbourg, through the introduction and maintenance of a wide range of controls.

UNDERSTANDING THE "PACIFIED SOCIETY" OF LOUISBOURG

The society that developed on lIe Royale, particularly the urban community at Louisbourg, was distinctive within the broad context of New France. It was oriented toward the sea more than the land and its population mix was more diverse than that of contemporary Canada or Acadia. While these characteristics were constant XXVIII

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Introduction

throughout the history of the colony, it should not be assumed that Ile Royale society was fixed and unchanging. It was not. Far from being a butterfly pinned to a board, it was a creatute in motion: quick and darting, suddenly still, then moving again. The French colony on Cape Breton Island witnessed dramatic changes over its lifespan. From its founding in 1713, it moved in short order from a tiny fishing settlement to a bustling port of several thousand residents, to a fortified city besieged and bombarded duting two sieges. Given the transformations, it would be astonishing if the controlling measutes which were introduced on the island to achieve an ordered society did not adapt to suit changing circumstances. Changesresponses to different stimuli-were inevitable. 59 The shifts in approaches to establishing an organized and controlled society on Ile Royale lie at the heart of this study. Out hypothesis at the outset was that there was an underlying need for order in the colonizing initiative-a need that was felt by both the administrators of Ile Royale and by the colonists themselves. How much order was required, and how and when it was best introduced, was often the subject of debate or dispute. The main means of achieving the resulting organization of society on Cape Breton Island was through the introduction of controls. Those controls were both formal and informal, and they were generated by institutions, groups, and individuals. Since the various forces and influences that existed on Ile Royale were dynamic, complex and often interrelated, I futther expected that some controls were welcomed and perhaps even asked for by the constituent elements of that society, while others were grudgingly tolerated. Still others were rejected or ignored. To the same extent that Louisbourg society was shaped by a mix of institutions, powers, and population, so too were the controls that manifested themselves in that society. The challenge in the chapters that follow is to explain the interplay of influences and how they combined to produce a "pacified society" on Ile Royale. Of particular interest was how the impulse for order in Louisboutg society coped with and adapted to the challenges of its specific context--especially the heterogeneous elements in its population and the competition among different powers and institutions. I wanted to determine the principal mechanisms of control and how they changed over the life span of the colony. Similarly, I needed to ascertain the degree to which the quest and adaptations for an ordered society reflected institutions, ideas, and customs transferred from France; and how much of this quest was the result of the local conditions at Ile Royale. The observation that the government of the colony of Ile Royale was a royal administration characterized by a certain "paternalism"60 does not go far enough in explaining the forces of cohesion at work in the society. A corollary of the main hypotheses is that the evidence from Louisbourg suggests that France did not have a single, fixed colonizing system--emanating from Versailles-which it imposed on its overseas possessions. Jean Meyer is correct when he writes: "The first colonial empire came to life under an absolute monarchy. That does not mean that there was a pre-established colonial policy."61 Rather, there were XXIX

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, I7I3-I758

genera,l and often grandiose, intentions and objectives for the colonies, but the administration permitted (perhaps because it had no choice!) a range of colonizing approaches. That flexibility, in so far as it relates to the measures of control, can definitely be found in the case of He Royale. The overriding theme of the study--dealing as it does with the establishment of an ordered society subject to a wide range of controlling measures-goes beyond what Yves Zoltvany describes as examples of the "liberal critique" of New France. 62 These examples include the Abbe Raynal, Francis Parkman, and Lawrence Gipson, who interpreted the French experience in North America as characterized by a series of deliberate attempts by doctrinaire absolutists to oppress the general population. 63

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De Tocqueville was among those who saw the regime in New France in a negative light, though he was writing eighty years after the era had passed. De Tocqueville described New France as having an "administration ... [that was} preponderant, • active, regulating, restrictive, wanting to foresee everything, taking charge of everything ... always busy and sterile."64 By way of contrast, the American colonists were supposedly living lives of freedom and prosperity, free from the all-controlling atmosphere of the ancien regime. 65 There is considerable irony in this characterization. If ever there was a candidate for a rigorously controlled European society in the New World it would surely have been the seventeenth-century Puritan colony on Massachusetts Bay, where "orthodoxy" was a primary virtue, and where "the critics, doubters, and dissenters were expelled from the community. "66 It is not wrong to wonder if those who articulated the so-called "liberal critique" did not miss two fundamental points in their interpretation of the controlling measures in New France. First, many, and perhaps even most of the regulations may have been desired by the colonists. This suggests the possibility of a certain willingness to submit. 67 Second, rather than seeing the many "controls" as vestiges of an outdated, absolutist philosophy, could not one say the exact opposite? The regulations and the emphasis on order in New France were foreshadowing the future: a nineteenth- and twentiethcentury world in which ever-increasing aspects of life and society would be scrutinized, controlled, and put in order.

THE BOOK AHEAD

The body of this study offers an interpretation of how society was ordered on He Royale. Most of the emphasis is necessarily on Louisbourg, the military stronghold and bustling seaport capital. It was the dominant center of the colony, administratively, militarily, and economically. It is also the community for which there is the most complete documentation. The measures of control introduced into the urban society of Louisbourg reflected a range of competing and interrelated influences. Some were local and particular; others originated in France. They were all part of the spirit of era in which a rigidly ordered sociery was the ideal. The nature of the controls in the colony, and of their impact, varied as events unfolded. xxx

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Introduction

To comprehend better the material presented in the chapters that follow, and especially the significance that Ile Royale had in the overall context of French initiatives along the Atlantic coast of North America, the study opens with an overview of French colonizing activity on or near Cape Breton Island prior to the establishment of Louisbourg. It was out of that background that the colony ofIle Royale was founded in 1713. Following a section on the resources and assets which Cape Breton Island presented to the French colonists, we introduce the topic of how controls were relied upon in colonial society to achieve an organized society. The fundamental powers and institutions that developed at Louisbourg were recognizably French yet they had to deal with a particular demographic, economic, and social setting. The capital of Ile Royale was unusual in the context of New France and some of its differences posed challenges to the social order. The second chapter offers an in-depth examination of how the structure and shape of space were determined both within and outside of the fortifications of Louisbourg. Several years after establishing a settlement on the shores of the harbor, the French attempted to turn it into a European-style ville fortifiie and regulated port. Over a period of years much of the space at Louisbourg came under military, economic, or community-based controls .. It was in this urban setting that a number of ceremonial initiatives to mark development and other achievements occurred. In chapter three I turn from the urban infrastructure to the human drama that took place in that setting, focusing on civil society. I examine the different groups that made up the civilian population and discuss the main ways in which officials strived to reduce or eliminate social friction. Among the topics addressed are those dealing with the need to have harmonious relations between the top royal officials, the attempts to deter or banish marginal and unwanted colonists, the oft-repeated attempts to control alcohol consumption, the perceived need for physical punishment as a deterrent, and the use of prisons. With chapter four the discussion shifts to the military society at Louisbourg. Depending on the period, the garrison comprised from one-quarter to one-half of the total urban population. In comparison with the civil population, the challenges of keeping control among the soldiers were sometimes similar, yet in other respects strikingly different. Rough-and-ready behavior, typically alcohol-induced, was a problem in both worlds. Yet the military had options that did not exist in civil society for punishing unwanted actions, or at least punishments could be administered more quickly in military society. Despite the relatively easy access to punishment, or perhaps because of it, military society faced serious problems with unruly behavior, desertions, and even outright mutiny. The complex nature of the problems of keeping order and control in the garrison town of Louisbourg is the focus of the entire chapter. In chapter five the focus returns to civil society. I attempt to uncover the prevailing standards and values that were expressed and upheld on Ile Royale. The cases and incidents in which there was some form of unacceptable behavior, most notably acts of violence, provide a window into that area of life. Of primary interest are the XXXI

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758

relations that existed between men and women, the multicultural population mix, the individuals and groups who found themselves on the margin of colonial society, and the nature of the crimes committed in that colonial society. These final areasthe thefts, murders, and other crimes prosecuted at Louisbourg-are of immense importance for this study. Those infractions, and the ways in which they were handled by the courts and viewed by the wider community, reveal a great deal about the nature of society on He Royale. At the heart of the matter, articulated or implied, were points of view emphasized how the world should be ordered and the sorts of controls that were necessary to bring it closer to the ideal.

NOTES

a M.

1.

France, AN, Col, B, vol. 37, fol. 28, Jerome Phelypeaux, Comte de Pontchattrain,

2.

Desmaretz, 10 February 1715. Voltaire, Oeuvres historiques (Bruges: Editions Gallimard, 1957). The quotation comes from "Precis du siecle de Louis XV," 1462. Voltaire mentioned Louisbourg in other writings, some of which are highlighted by Victor-Levy Beaulieu in Monsieur de Voltaire (n.p.: Stanke, 1994).

3.

The island the French settled was not exactly theirs for either the taking or the making. At the time of the prise de possession in September 1713, there were a couple hundred Mi'kmaq on Cape Breton Island. Their ancestors had been in the area for untold generations before the arrival of any Europeans. To the Mi'kmaq, the island was Unama'ki, one of seven districts into which they conceptualized Maritime Canada. Philip K. Bock, "Micmacs," in Bruce Trigger, ed., Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15, Northeast (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian

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Institution, 1978), 109-22. 4.

The quotes are from Pierre Goubert, L'ancien regime, tome 2: Les pouvoirs (Paris: Armand Colin,

5.

1973), 95. Marc-Andre Bedard, Les Protestants en Nouvelle-France (Quebec: Societe historique de Quebec,

6.

1978). "Planned" cities were a common phenomenon in the European settlement of North America.

7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

See, for an introduction to the subject, John W. Reps, The Making of Urban America. A History of City Planning in the United States (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1965). For example, see Louise Dechene's opening to her study of Montreal, Habitants et marchands de Montreal au XVII' siecle (Montreal: Pion, 1974), 7. Jacques Mathieu, La Nouvelle-France. Les Franfais en Amerique du Nord, XVI' - XVIII' siecle (Quebec: PUL, 1991), 137. W. J. Eccles, "The Social, Economic and Political Significance of the Military Establishment in New France," Essays on New France (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1987), 122. Andre Lachance, "Le controle social dans la societe canadienne du Regime fran~ais au XVIII' siecle," Criminologie 18, no. 1 (PUM, 1985): 10. Seventy-seven percent of the Louisbourg grooms in the period up to 1745 were born in France, with Brittany, Normandy, and Guyenne-Gascony accounting for the greatest number. The largest group (37 percent) of Louisbourg brides, however, again for the period to 1745, were from Ile Royale. See A. J. B. Johnston, Life and Religion at Louisbourg, 1713-1758 (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, 1996), 6-7.

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Introduction 12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17. 18. 19.

There has not been a full study of the Basques on I1e Royale. Mario Mimeault does state that in 1717 there were so many in the colony with "patronymes basques, ce qui laisse supposer que la grande partie de la population de l'I1e Royale originait du Pays Basque," dans "Destins des pecheurs : Les Basques en Nouvelle-France. Une etude de la presence basque en NouvelleFrance et de son implication dans les peches en Amerique sous Ie regime fran~ais," These de mrutrise, Universite Laval, 1987, 155. On population diversity see A. J. B. Johnston, "The Fishermen of Eighteenth-Century Cape Breton: Numbers and Origins," Nova Scotia Historical

Review 9, no. 1 (1989): 62-72; Christian Pouyez, "La population de l'I1e Royale en 1752," Histoire sociale / Social History 6, no. 12 (November 1973): 147-75. A. J. B. Johnston, "The People of Eighteenth-Century Louisbourg," Nova Scotia Historical Review 11, no. 2 (1991): 75-86; Allan Greer, "The Soldiers ofIsle Royale, 1720-1745," History and Archaeology, 28 (Ottawa: Parks Canada, 1979); A. A. MacKenzie, The Irish in Cape Breton (Antigonish: Formac Publishing, 1979),20-22; Kenneth Donovan, "Slaves and Their Owners in I1e Royale, 1713-1760," Acadiensis 25, no. 1 (1995). Writing of Canada, Jacques Mathieu notes that "Ie bilan du flux migratoire est bien maigre par comparaison aux bassins de populations europeens ou a celui des colonies britanniques," in La Nouvelle-France, 79. The pattern of immigration to I1e Royale, especially Louisbourg, seems to have had more in common with that of the British colonies. Andre Lachance, La justice criminelle du Roi au Canada au XVIIle silicl' (Quebec: PUL, 1978); John Alexander Dickinson, Justice et justiciables. La procedure civile a la Privote de Quebec, 1667-1759 (Quebec, PUL, 1982). John Mackrell, "Criticism of seigneurial justice in eighteenth-century France," in French Government and Society, 1500-1850, ed. J. F. Bosher, (London: The Athlone Press, 1973), 123-44. The remark comparing jurisdictions to changing horses is attributed to Voltaire. Guy Fregault, La civilisation de la Nouvelle-France (Montreal: Societe des Editions Pascal, 1944), 142, 137. Ibid., 215. I1e Royale's longest-serving governor, Saint-Ovide de Brouillan, observed that "there is perhaps only Isle Royale in the world which does not pay the tithe to its priests." Cited in Cornelius Jaenen, The Role of the Church in New France (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1976),

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20.

21.

22. 23. 24.

25. 26.

90. I particularly like Roland Mousnier's comments on pouvoir: "II faut entendre par ce mot tous les moyens qu'un homme peut avoir d'incliner les volontes des autres hommes pour les obliger a aller dans son sens. Telle est la participation aux activites des gouvernements, les fonctions d'administrateur, de magistrat, de representant de categories diverses. Telle encore la pression economique, celle du creancier sur sesdebiteurs, du directeur d'entreprise sur ses employes"; Les hierarchies sociales de 1450 a nos jours (Paris: PUF, 1969), 13. Two sociologists write: "Social control is always, in the final analysis, exercise of power." Put more bluntly, it involves "someone bullying someone else"; and bullying can be "subtle or crude, hidden or visible." Nanette J. Davis and Bo Anderson, The Production of Deviance in the Modern State (New York: Irvington Publishers, 1983),318-19. Goubert, L'ancien regime, tome 2, Les pouvoirs, 6. This categorization surfaces, for instance, in Robert Muchembled, Societe et mentalites dans la France moderne, XV'-XVIII'silicle (Paris: Armand Colin, 1992), 68-70. Gaston Bachelard, cited in Pierre Bourdieu, "Espace social et pouvoir symbolique," 166, Choses dites (Paris: Editions de Minuit, 1987). Bourdieu adds "la complexite est dans la realite sociale et non dans une volonte ... de dire des choses compliquees." Maurice Godelier, L'idiel et Ie materiel. Pensee, economies, societes (Paris: Fayard, 1984), 23, 24. I thank Roch Samson for having brought this book to my attention. Mousnier, Fureurs paysannes; les paysans dans les rivoltes du XVII' silicle (France, Russie, Chine)

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, I7I3-I758 (Paris: Calmann-Levy, 1967), 308.

27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

32. 33.

34. 35. 36. 37.

38.

39. 40.

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41.

42.

43.

Goubert, L'ancien regime, tome 2, Les pouvoirs, 15. The phrase "sources of strain" comes from Clarice S. Stoll, "Images of Man and Social Control," Social Forces 47, no. 2 (1968): 120. See, for example, P. G. Roy, "Les chicanes de preseance sous Ie regime fran~ais," Les cahiers des Dix (1941): 67-68. For example, Serge Courville, "Espace, territoire et culture en Nouvelle-France: une vision geographique," RHAF 37, no. 3 (1983): 413-29. Antoine Furetiere, Dictionnaire universel, Contenant generalement tous les Mots Franfois (1690; Geneve: Slatkine Reprints, 1970). Entry for "contr6Ie," Paul Robert, Dictionnaire alphabetique et analogique de la langue franfaise (Paris: SNL, 1970). Though not speaking of any particular historical context, sociologist Paul Sites writes that "For whatever reason, individuals and groups attempt control;" and further, that "the most fundamental component in individual and social life is control," in Control: The Basis of Social Order (New York: Dunella Publishing Co., c1973), x, 1. Mathieu, La Nouvelle-France, 100. See also 147 and 162. Stanley Cohen, Visions of Social Control: Crime, Punishment and Classification (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1985), 2. Cohen is summarizing what he considers to be an outdated concept. Davis and Anderson, The Production of Deviance, 18. For example, Lachance, "Le contr6le social dans la societe canadienne," 10; David H. Flaherty, "Crime and Social Control in Provincial Massachusetts," The Historical Journal 24, no. 2 (1981): 339-60. Sociologists identify a wide spectrum of controls, from threatening glances to covert retaliation; from gossip to group exclusion. See Donald Black, ed., Toward a General Theory of Social Control, vol. 1, Fundamentals (Orlando: Academic Press, 1984). Furetiere, Dictionnaire universe!, entries under "ordre." Bruce G. Trigger describes European societies as being "hierarchical and coercive" in Natives and Newcomers: Canada's 'Heroic Age' Reconsidered (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, 1985), 294. Robert Muchembled concludes that the forms of coercion grew throughout the seventeenth centuty. It was a trend which was especially marked in France, which became increasingly absolutist. "Quelle etrange alchimie ... peut done produire un tel respect, une si vive deference, une si profonde obeissance ... ?" And where did it lead' To what Muchembled characterizes as "Le temps des supplices [qui] correspond 11 l'ancrage dans les profondeurs du champ social dont la sphere symbolique dont l'l~tat moderne est Ie centre." Muchembled, Le temps des supplices: de l' obiissance sous les rois absolus XV'-XVIli' siec!e (Paris: Armand Colin, c1992), 7, 225. Elias' book Ober den Prozess der Zivilisation was published in 1939, but given little attention for 30 years. The French version of Tome I is entitled La civilisation des moeurs; Tome II is La dynamique de 1 'Occident; they were originally published in 1969. The first English-language version of vol. 1 appeared in 1978, under the title The Civilizing Process, The History of Manners (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1978). Volume 2 was published in 1982, under two different titles, though the contents are the same. In Great Britain it has the title The Civilizing Process, State Formation and Civilization (Oxford: Basil Blackwell); in the United States it is Power and Civility (New York: Pantheon Books). In 1929 Lucien Febvre read a paper entitled "Civilisation. Le mot et 1'idee," which was published in 1930. Febvre's paper did not, however, have the impact of Elias' study. E. Benveniste, "Civilisation: Contribution 11 1'histoire du mot," in Collectif, Eventai! de 1 'histoire vivante, Hommage a Lucien Febvre (Paris: Armand Colin, 1953),47-54.

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758, Michigan State University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Introduction

44. 45. 46.

Elias, The Civilizing Process, The History of Manners, xii, 5, 257. Elias, La civilisation des moeurs, 114,117. Civiliser originally meant "recevoir un criminel en procf~s ordinaire," according to Annie Jacob, "Civilisation/ Sauvagerie. Le Sauvage americain et l'idee de civilisation," Anthropologie et societes

15, no. 1 (1991): 15. 47. 48. 49. 50.

Furetiere, Dictionnaire universel. Smith cited in Benveniste, "Civilisation: Contribution it 1 'histoire du mot," 52. Elias, La dynamique de I 'Occident, 296. On the topic of how the ideas and behavior surrounding the "civilisation des moeurs" had an impact within ancien regime society, Robert Muchembled has written: "la lente confrontation avec les paysans, ces 'sauvages de 1 'interieur' ... a aide les elites sociales et culturelles

a se

forger un sens profond de superiorite, une certitude d'oeuvrer pour Ie bien (Dieu), puis au XVIII' siecie pour Ie progres;" Societe et mentalites dans la France moderne, XV, - XVIII' siMe (Paris: Armand Colin, 1992), 180. 5l.

Both quotes come from works on punishment. Michel Foucault uses the term "political tactic" in Discipline and Punish. The Birth of the Prison (New York: Pantheon, 1977), 23; the second quote, also concerning punishment, comes from Georg Rusche and Otto Kircheimer,

Punishment and Social Structure (1939; New York: Russell & Russell, 1968), vi.

52. 53.

54.

55.

Copyright © 2001. Michigan State University Press. All rights reserved.

56. 57.

58.

59.

James Axtell, "Review of Louisbourg Portraits by Christopher Moore," William and Mary

Quarterly 3d ser., 41 Ganuary 1984): 154. The project to reconstruct one-fifth of the French fortified town began in 1961. Parks Canada researchers produced over 450 historical reports and nearly 250 archaeological reports. University-based and other researchers have produced their share of studies as well, with Moore's Louisbourg Portraits (Toronto: Macmillan, 1982), winning the 1982 Governor-General's award for best non-fiction work in English Canada. The latest edition of McLennan's book, the fifth, was published in 1983. The Montreal-born McLennan (1853-1939) was originally an industrialist, who became a historian after his retirement from the coal and steel industries. See Andrew Hill Clark, "New England's Role in the Underdevelopment of Cape Breton Island During the French Regime, 1713-1758," The Canadian Geographer / Le geographe canadien 9 (1965): 1-12. Christopher Moore challenges Clark's interpretation in "Cape Breton and the North Atlantic World in the Eighteenth Century," in Kenneth Donovan, ed., The Island: New Perspectives on Cape Breton History, 1713-1900 (Fredericton & Sydney: Acadiensis and UCCB Presses, 1990): 30-48. Morandiere, Histoire de fa peche franfaise de fa morue dans I 'Amerique septentrionale, 3 tomes (Paris: G.-P. Maisonneuve et Larose, 1962-66.) The studies of Moore and Balcom are cited above. On the larger topic of the French fisheries in its entirety, see Jean-Franc;:ois Briere, La peche franfaise en Amerique du Nord au XVII!, silxle (Montreal: Fides, 1990). There are dozens of studies-by Kenneth Donovan, Gilles Proulx, myself, and others--on a wide range of topics dealing with Louisbourg society. Rodrigue Lavoie, "Etude sur les proprietes de Louisbourg, Rapport No. II - Les rues," ms., AFL, 1965; Gilles Proulx, "Aubergistes et cabaretiers de Louisbourg 1713-1758," Travail inedit numero 136 (Ottawa: Parcs Canada, c 1972), and "Tribunaux et lois de Louisbourg," Travail inedit numero 303 (Ottawa: Parcs Canada, ca. 1975). It is relevant to cite Andre Vachon, writing of New France in general: "It was only gradually, with the emergence of new needs occasioned by its territorial expansion, that New France received its administrative structures. These were not to attain their complete and final form until about 1720." Further, Vachon states that along the Saint-Laurent, "for nearly a century the internal administrative apparatus was in continual evolurion," in "The Administration of New France," xv, in DCB, ed. Andre Vachon (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1969).

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758, Michigan State University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, I7I3-I758

60.

Terence Crowley, "Government and Interests: French Colonial Administration at Louisbourg, 1713-58," Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 1975. W. J. Eccles put a much finer point on it with his comment that the "official policy" adopted by France was "avowedly paternalistic," but that it was up to officials in New France "to implement the policy; to cope with the myriad ptoblems that beset the King's subjects in their day-to-day existence," in "Social Welfare Measures and Policies in New France" in Essays on New France, 39.

61.

Jean Meyer, Jean Tarrade, Annie Rey-Goldzeiguer, and Jacques Thobie, Histoire de la France coloniale. Des origines a 1914 (Paris: Armand Colin, 1991),32. Yves F. Zoltvany, The Government of New France: Royal, Clerical or Class Rule? (Scarborough: Prentice-Hall, 1971), 2~1. Francis Parkman remains the most quoted example of the "liberal" perspective, which has a

62. 63.

blind eye for the control and obedience measures in British societies and exaggerates those in New France. An oft-quoted passage about French Canada is: "An ignorant population ... trained to subjection and dependence through centuries of feudal and monarchical despotism, was planted in the wilderness by the hand of authority.... Perpetual intervention of government, regulations, restrictions, encouragements sometimes more mischievous than restrictions ... ;" in Parkman, "The Old Regime in Canada," pt. 4 of France and England in North

64. 65.

66.

Copyright © 2001. Michigan State University Press. All rights reserved.

67.

America, vol. 1 (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1899), 197. Interpretations that mix elements of determinism with ethnicity deserve to be consigned to what Norbert Elias termed the "graveyard of dead doctrines," though Elias was not referring to Parkman's interpretation, The Civilizing Process, The History of Manners, 233. Alexis de Tocqueville, L'Ancien Regime et la Revolution, 264-65, cited in Goubert, 60. A 1964 example of that interpretation is Sigmund Diamond, "Old Patterns and New Societies: Virginia and French Canada in the Seventeenth Century," in Sociology and History, Theory and Research, ed. Werner J. Cahnman and Alvin Boskoff (Toronto: Collier-Macmillan, 1964), 170-90. Witness: "Every aspect of life in Canada was subject to rational calculation .... The behaviour of each major segment of the population was prescribed in the minutest detail. ... The total corpus of these regulations betrays the assumption of the administrator, that each person is essentially the occupant of a position in an organization and that his behaviour can be made to conform to the needs of the system for order and stability," 173. Daniel J. Boorstin, The Americans, The Colonial Experience (New York: Vintage Books, 1958), 7,8. Writing of New France in general, W. J. Eccles comments that "every system of government depends, ultimately, on agreement between the governors and the governed. This last condition demands that the governors remain constantly aware of the needs, hopes, and grievances of the governed and respond to them .... In these respects the institutions of New France compare very favourably with those of the English colonies," in "New France and the French Impact on North America," in Essays on New France, 138.

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Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758, Michigan State University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,

(/OLl'llB

. LA URE NT

AINT

FIGURE I. MAP OF ILE ROYALE,

1744

The clusters of place names on the eastern and northern coasts of Cape Breton Island illustrate which Copyright © 2001. Michigan State University Press. All rights reserved.

shores were of interest to French fishers, colonists, and military officers. Among other assets, Louisbourg had the advantage of being located at the approximate mid-point of the various settled harbors along the two shores. Map by Bellin. Courtesy of Beaton Institute of Cape Breton Studies, University

College of Cape Breton.

XXXVII

Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713-1758, Michigan State University Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central,

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