Capitalism and Class Formation in the Angers Slate Fields, 1750-1891
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CAPITALISM AND CLASS FORMATION IN THE ANGERS SLATE FIELDS, 1750-1891 by NICHOLAS O’NEILL A THESIS Presented to the Department of HIstory And the Graduate SchooL of the UnIversIty of Oregon In partIaL fuLfILLment of the requIrements for the degree of Master of Arts June 2014 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: Nicholas O’Neill TItLe: CapItaLIsm and CLass FormatIon In the Angers SLate FIeLds, 1750-1891 ThIs thesIs has been accepted and approved In partIaL fuLfILLment of the requIrements for the Master of Arts degree In the Department of HIstory by: George J Sheridan, jr. Chair Raymond BIrn Member Daniel Pope Member and KImberLy Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation Dean of the Graduate School OrIginal signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School Degree Awarded June 2014 II © 2014 Nicholas O’NeilL III THESIS ABSTRACT Nicholas O’NeilL Master of Arts Department of History June 2014 TItLe: CapItaLIsm and CLass FormatIon In the Angers SLate FIeLds, 1750-1891 The wave of working-cLass radIcaLIsm that swept across France at the turn of the twentieth century has largely been attrIbuted by hIstorIans to the pressures of industriaLization underminIng tradItIonaL methods and organIzatIons of Labor. However, the Angers sLate minIng Industry experIenced a very stabLe productIon process from the eIghteenth to the twentIeth centurIes LImited as much by the envIronment as by the economy. WorkIng-cLass formatIon here Instead must be understood in contradistinction to capitalist-cLass formatIon coming In response to those same economic and envIronment factors. The steady growth of an entrepreneurIaL cLass In the sLate mines around Angers, France, took pLace wIthIn a LegaL and socIaL framework that aLLowed mine Investors to begIn assocIatIng and IdentIfyIng as a cLass dIstInct from theIr workers. It was agaInst thIs capItaLIst-class formatIon that workers began organIzIng In order to preserve the sociaL organizations and independence they had enjoyed in the pre-capitalist era. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: NIchoLas O’NeILL GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Southern Oregon UniversIty, AshLand DEGREES AWARDED: Master of Arts, HIstory, 2014, UnIversIty of Oregon BacheLor of Arts, HIstory, 2010, Southern Oregon UnIversIty AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: History of Modern Europe/France History of CapitaLism History of PoliticaL Economy, Labor, and Industry GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Adam Smith FeLLowshIp, Mercatus Center, 2013-2015 Graduate Summer Research Award, UnIversIty of Oregon, 2013 Graduate Teaching FelLowship, University of Oregon, 2012-2014 Mention Très Bien avec Félicitations du Jury, Centre internationaL d’étude de la langue française, 2012 UnIversIty and DepartmentaL Honors, Southern Oregon UnIversIty, 2010 MerIt Award for AchIevement In HIstory, Southern Oregon UnIversIty, 2010 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project wouLd have been ImpossIbLe wIthout the support of many people. I would like to thank Professor George Sheridan for his infectious enthusIasm towards French history and especiaLLy for the respect and humiLIty he demands of hIs students towards our historicaL subjects. I would aLso like to thank Professors BIrn and Pope for offerIng the wIsdom of theIr boundLess knowLedge to the process and Professor Hessler and the UniversIty of Oregon Graduate School for the summer research grant that made thIs project possibLe. In France, I wouLd LIke to thank Yann BeLIard for fIrst IntroducIng me to thIs subject and especIaLLy Sue Crust, who not onLy Introduced me to Angers, but has been a tremendous source of support throughout thIs project. Isabel Gilg at the ArchIves DépartementaLes de MaIne-et-Loire and Marie-NoëlLe Maisonneuve at the BIbLIothèque des MInes ParIsTech were both IncredIbLy accommodatIng and opened theIr archIve doors to me despIte scheduLed cLosures. SImiLarLy, the Musée de L’ArdoIse In TréLazé was generous In openIng Its prIvate archIves to me. The archIvists and librarIans at the BIbLIothèque MunIcIpaLe d’Angers, ArchIves MunIcIpaLes d’Angers, BIbLIothèque NatIonaLe de France, Bibliothèque Municipale de Trélazé, and ArchIves DépartementaLes de Loire-AtLantIque were extremeLy patIent wIth me In trackIng down documents. FInaLLy, I wouLd LIke to thank my frIends and famiLy for toLeratIng and even encouragIng my eccentrIcItIes and fascInatIon wIth thIs project. Most ImportantLy, I would like to thank Renae DeSautel, who endured a serIes of dIffIculties and annoyances for me to fInIsh thIs project, yet who remaIned supportIve throughout. vi To Ernay, for aLways supportIng me. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 1 Historians, IndustriaLization, and Class Conflict .................................................. 4 History of the Angers SLate Industry ......................................................................... 11 II. LIFE AND LABOR IN THE SLATE QUARRIES, 1750-1800 ......................................... 14 Preparation of the Worksite ......................................................................................... 21 Harvesting the SLate .......................................................................................................... 25 Clearing the Quarries ....................................................................................................... 34 Shaping the Slate ................................................................................................................ 43 Class Consciousness in the Era of the Revolution ............................................... 50 III. THE LEGAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF INCORPORATION, 1800-1855 ..... 63 Property Law ....................................................................................................................... 69 Corporate Law ..................................................................................................................... 77 Labor Law ............................................................................................................................. 90 Rebellion in the Slate Fields .......................................................................................... 107 IV. INTERLUDE: THE FLOOD OF 1856 .................................................................................... 127 V. THE TRANSITION TO MINING AND THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF CLASS, 1856-1890 ............................................................................................................................ 132 ImmigratIon and CLass ReLatIons ................................................................................ 143 viii Chapter Page Mining Technology ............................................................................................................ 147 Patronage .............................................................................................................................. 167 Fusion ..................................................................................................................................... 185 Workers ................................................................................................................................. 191 VI. CONCLUSION, 1890-1891 ...................................................................................................... 200 1890: Fusion and Union .................................................................................................. 203 REFERENCES CITED ....................................................................................................................... 215 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Angers was onLy InterestIng to us for the ardoIsIères, thus we forgot Angers ItseLf, Angers the oLd cIty, Angers the two cities, the bLack and the white: the bLack of straIght back aLLeys, somber, arched, the cobbLestone steps, the oLd towers and the gothIc churches; whIte where the roads are excessIvely wide, that match the others In theIr straIghtness, and where the heavy transport of bIg commerce concentrates at the steps of the oLd cIty: because Angers has anImated quays, steamshIps, Angers the meetIng poInt of three navIgabLe rIvers was In a very favorabLe posItIon for the movement of Industry, and turned it into a cItadel. —Boucheporn and Declerck, 18351 FIrst thIng Monday mornIng, November 25, 2013, representatIves of the workers and owners of France’s Last operatIonaL sLate mine packed themseLves Into a room. Here, cItIng LongstandIng fInancIaL Losses, InternatIonaL competItIon, and the exhaustIon of quaLIty sLate deposIts around Angers, the owners fInaLLy gave form to the fears that had been cIrcuLatIng among miners as a fLeetIng Look or a whIspered rumor: the mines wouLd be cLosIng permanentLy.2 In response, the 153 miners who had survIved decades of Layoffs, cLosures, and partIaL empLoyment turned to theIr communItIes for support. FIrst, they turned 1 Boucheporn and Declerck, “JournaL de voyage,” 1838, EMP J 1835 45 1. 2 Gérard TuaL, “Onde de choc sur Les ArdoIsIères,” Le Courrier de l’Ouest (Angers, 2 Gérard TuaL, “Onde de choc sur Les ArdoIsIères,” Le Courrier de l’Ouest (Angers, France), 26 November 2013. 1 to theIr work communIty, the GeneraL ConfederatIon of Labor (CGT). RefLectIng more than a century of workIng-class soLIdarIty, CGT offIcIaLs came to the mines and announced theIr whoLehearted support for the miners.3 Together they set up picket LInes around the