In a Lawless Land: Legal Conflict, Racial Formation, and Conquest in the North American Interior
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INVENTING “CRIME” IN A LAWLESS LAND: LEGAL CONFLICT, RACIAL FORMATION, AND CONQUEST IN THE NORTH AMERICAN INTERIOR BY MICHAEL WILLIAM HUGHES DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Frederick Hoxie, Chair Professor Kristin Hoganson Associate Professor Michael Witgen, University of Michigan Assistant Professor Ikuko Asaka ABSTRACT This dissertation analyzes the changing political relationships between European agents of empire, who were usually associated in some way with the fur trade, and indigenous peoples of the continental interior north and west of Lake Superior. It examines the period between the fall of New France in 1763 and the invasion of the Canadian and American settler states in this area around 1850. It argues that British and American administrators transformed the fur trade from a system by which they managed political alliances with indigenous peoples to an instrument by which they claimed absolute territorial sovereignty over spaces delineated by international boundaries. By the 1810s, the British fur-trading companies were learning that they could no longer mobilize indigenous allies to use against their rivals, who were now British subjects. Diplomatic and political strategies deployed during the era of imperial rivalries were considered criminal and perhaps treasonous. When the Hudson’s Bay Company ascended to power in 1821, it developed a legal infrastructure that included a colonial jurisdiction, enforcement of the boundary line with the United States, and a racial hierarchy in which the “Natives” were considered dependents on the company and the Métis as “half breed” subjects who had no claim to land and independence as indigenous peoples. In this project, I examine propaganda published by fur-trading companies, records from the Hudson’s Bay Company archives, and fur-trade narrative to analyze how this transformation played out in multiple arenas. Despite the loss of their French allies, indigenous peoples insisted that the fur-trade represented a political, social, and economic institution, despite traders’ new assertion that they simply owned debts against indigenous communities. In the metropolitan centers of Montreal and London, powerful British fur-trading companies attempted to legitimate their territorial claims by defining who could be defined as British subjects, “Natives,” “half ii breeds,” and Métis. The Métis continued their assertions of sovereignty throughout the nineteenth century, and in response, the HBC undermined the Métis as “half breeds” to eliminate any competing claims to land in the interior. Finally, indigenous groups living along the boundary line attempted to retain political sovereignty and autonomy despite the American and British projects of dividing their lands. Not a precursor to or a separate world outside of the developing settler states, this dissertation argues that the structure of the fur trade mirrored racial, political, and legal hierarchies developing across North America and the world. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation could not have been possible without the support of many. We often like to image ourselves hermetically sealed from the world while assiduously attending to our studies, but this is simply not the case. I received support and guidance from many, and they all deserve more thanks than an acknowledgement can offer. First and foremost, this dissertation would not have been possible without the direction of Frederick Hoxie. He encouraged and guided the growth and development of a project that began as a broad set of questions to its materialization as my dissertation. It is safe to say that I could never have finished this dissertation without his mentorship and enthusiasm. Even when I expressed doubts about this project, Fred consistently offered an expansive perspective by showing me the larger stakes and purposes of the dissertation. I also thank the members of my committee, Kristin Hoganson, Michael Witgen, and Ikuko Asaka. Kristin especially has consistently offered encouragement, feedback, comments, and criticism on my work for almost the entirety of my time as a graduate student. My committee endured several iterations of my dissertation, provided provocative questions, offered excellent feedback, and most of all, supported me through this process. For that, I am more thankful than I can say. The faculty at UIUC serve as excellent role models for any aspiring academic. During my time in the History Department, I was fortunate enough to serve as a teaching assistant for Kristin Hoganson, David Roediger, Bruce Levine, and Jim Barrett. I learned a great deal about teaching through meetings and conversations with them as well as watching their pedagogy firsthand. Dana Rabin, Trish Loughran, Matt Sakiestewa Gilbert, and Antoinette Burton were all important influences in my intellectual development. They were all eager to hear and test my iv ideas at any stage in their development. I enjoyed and valued the many conversations I had with Bob Morrissey both about Early American history and life in the academy more generally. I was also lucky enough to have friends and family to provide space for me outside of my studies. It’s almost impossible to survive in graduate school without friends and colleagues with whom you can discuss work and life. A few include Ben Poole, Zach Sell, Benjamin Bascom, and Rachel Heeter-Smith. Stephanie Seawell has also been a wonderful and selfless friend. For the many, many morning of working out, T. J. Tallie deserves special mention. In an environment in which it is difficult to keep commitments, we managed to meet consistently six times a week for at least three years to exercise our bodies in order to clear our minds. I will always remember those mornings fondly, as they turned a daily chore into the high point of my day. Also, Paul Noe is always encouraging me to not restrict my academic training to the discipline of professional history, but also to use it in other, rewarding enterprises. Lastly, my partner Jean Lee deserves the most credit of all. She sustained me during the process of exams, research, and writing, all while completing her own dissertation. I can say with confidence that her inspiration is largely responsible for many of the insights in this project. Always willing to read work far outside her realm of expertise, my only wish is that I could live up to the academic standards that she sets in both her work and daily life. Finally, my parents John and Diane Hughes, provided their unconditional support in my pursuit of a Ph.D., even when the process seemed interminable. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: THE CHANGING SHAPE OF THE FUR TRADE.......................................1 CHAPTER 1: A PATCHWORK OF SOVEREIGNTIES: THE NWC AND THE HBC IN INDIAN COUNTRY, 1763-1812...................................................................................37 CHAPTER 2: WITHIN THE GRASP OF COMPANY LAW: LAND, LEGITIMACY, AND THE RACIALIZATION OF THE METIS, 1811-1821..........................105 CHAPTER 3: “LORDS AND MASTERS OF THE SOIL:” LAW, RACE, AND LAND AT RED RIVER, 1821-1850...........................................................................................156 CHAPTER 4: THE POLITICS OF THE BOUNDARY LINE IN OJIBWE HOMELANDS............................................................................................................................213 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................276 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................286 vi INTRODUCTION: THE CHANGING SHAPE OF THE FUR TRADE Between the fall of New France and mid-nineteenth century, the strategy by which the British claimed sovereignty to the North American interior northwest of the Great Lakes underwent a massive structural transformation. The Crown replaced the French system of claiming sovereignty by managing alliances with indigenous peoples with their own invention: a claim to sovereignty based on property rights and race. This transformation both extinguished the rights of indigenous peoples and laid the groundwork for claims to be mounted across the continent by both Canada and the United States. This process was neither quick nor uncontested. When the French Empire fell, it left a vacuum of territorial claims in the interior over which British trading companies with headquarters in Montreal and London sought to stake ownership. Vestiges of the French alliance system remained as indigenous peoples insisted that British fur traders enter into political relationships prior to trade. British traders, however, sought increasingly to solidify claims to the northwest at the expense of their competitors. While they continued to form outwardly political relationships with indigenous communities, their motivations for doing so began to change after 1763. This dissertation analyzes the political and legal complexities that white fur traders and indigenous peoples encountered during this period of transition. It explains factors that contributed to a change in British and later American administrators’ attitudes towards the trade. First, the imperial rivalry between two international powers, the British and French Empires, gave way to a rivalry between