Land Tenure in Acadian Agricultural Settlements, 1604-1755: Cultural Retention and the Emergence of Custom Carol A
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The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fogler Library Summer 8-5-2019 Land Tenure in Acadian Agricultural Settlements, 1604-1755: Cultural Retention and the Emergence of Custom Carol A. Blasi University of Maine, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd Part of the Canadian History Commons, Cultural History Commons, and the Legal Commons Recommended Citation Blasi, Carol A., "Land Tenure in Acadian Agricultural Settlements, 1604-1755: Cultural Retention and the Emergence of Custom" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3053. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/3053 This Open-Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LAND TENURE IN ACADIAN AGRICULTURAL SETTLEMENTS, 1604-1755: CULTURAL RETENTION AND THE EMERGENCE OF CUSTOM by Carol Ann Blasi BA, Syracuse University, 1978 MA, The University of Chicago Divinity School, 1981 JD, Temple University School of Law, 1986 A DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for theDegree of Doctor of Philosophy (in History) The Graduate School The University of Maine August, 2019 Advisory Committee Members: Jacques Ferland, Associate Professor of History, Advisor Alexander Grab, Emeritus Professor of History Stephen J. Hornsby, Professor of Geography and Canadian Studies Richard W. Judd, Emeritus Professor of History Liam Riordan, Professor of History © 2019 Carol Ann Blasi All Rights Reserved ii LAND TENURE IN ACADIAN AGRICULTURAL SETTLEMENTS, 1604-1755 CULTURAL RETENTION AND THE EVOLUTION OF CUSTOM By Carol Ann Blasi Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Jacques Ferland An Abstract of the Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in History) August, 2019 Starting in 1755, the British began the process of not only expelling some eleven thousand Acadians from their homes and farms, but also of uprooting a culture that had survived for over one hundred and twenty years. This dissertation applies a legal historical approach to elucidate a crucial feature of that culture, namely Acadian land tenure. In particular, it traces the way in which seigneurialism, and the French law supporting it, were central to property formation in Acadian agricultural settlements from their inception to their destruction in 1755. Scholars have been at best ambivalent, and at worst hostile to the notion that seigneurialism existed in l’Acadie. While all agree that it was the intent of the French crown to transplant seigneurialism to l’Acadie, most question whether it actually took root. In some cases, Acadians have been portrayed as New England yeoman farmers, and several have written that seigneurialism was “moribund” in l’Acadie. Most recently, scholars have acknowledged that some Acadians paid dues to seigneurs to secure their properties, but continue to question whether seigneurialism was central to property formation. A review of seigneurialism as it had evolved in France by the seventeenth century, and as it was practiced in Canada, begins the study and provides a baseline from which to assess seigneurialism’s implementation in l’Acadie. This is followed by a close analysis of surviving concessions and land contracts. While most notarial documents were destroyed, an important collection remains, many of which are unpublished. These provide clear evidence that most Acadians held their land from, and paid dues to, a seigneur. Together with other documentary evidence, including accounts of seigneurial charges collected by the British after 1713, these legal documents demonstrate that seigneurialism not only survived, but was pervasive in the agricultural settlements. A final chapter describes Acadians’ land use practices, as revealed chiefly by their contracts. These show that while Acadians retained important elements of their French cultural inheritance, they also forged new custom in response to environmental conditions, most particularly the practical and equitable practices used in connection with the development of the marshes on which their agriculture depended. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my dissertation advisor, Dr. Jacques Ferland, whose gentle persuasion and encouragement, as well as keen insight, kept this work on the right track and moving forward. I would also like to thank the Canadian-American Center at the University of Maine for their generous financial support. This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my parents, Lucille and Michael Blasi, who gave me the courage to set out, and the tools to find my way; to my husband, Kevin Curtin, who encouraged me to begin graduate school, and whose unflinching support and love saw me through to the end; and finally, to our son, John Blasi Curtin, who is just starting out on his own journey. May he be as fortunate as I have been to meet those who would help him find and pursue his life’s work. iii NOTE ON TERMS AND TRANSLATIONS I have followed the Chicago Manual of Style’s guidelines on italics for foreign terms. French terms used frequently are thus italicized only on their first occurrence. French names of institutions and French legal terms have generally been retained if there is no English equivalent or to give a sense of the color and texture of French and Acadian culture in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. All translations are my own, unless otherwise stated. English translations are provided in the body of the text with the original French placed in footnotes. French quotations have been left as in the original with no attempt to correct for spelling or grammar. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...……………………………………………………...…...… iii NOTE ON TERMS AND TRANSLATIONS ..…………………………………….....….. iv LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………………………………..… ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...……………………………………………………….. 1 Historiography ………………………………………………………………….….. 3 A Legal Historical Approach …………………………………………………..…. 10 The Persistence of Seigneurialism: The Case for Cultural Retention ………..…… 12 Cultural Reformulation: The Emergence of Custom ………………………..…….. 19 CHAPTER 2 SEIGNEURIALISM TRANSPLANTED ..……………………………..… 22 Seigneurialism in Seventeenth Century France ………………………………….... 24 The Law Governing Land Tenure in Nouvelle-France …………………………..... 35 Introduction ……………………………………………………………..…. 35 Structure of the Coutume de Paris: Common Lands and Noble Lands ……………………………………………………………..… 38 Seigneurial Rights ……………………………………………….……..….. 41 Les droits réels fixes …………………………………………..…… 41 Les droits personnels or monopoles …………………………..…… 44 Le droit de banalité ………………………………………….…….. 48 Les droits conventionnels ……………………………….…….…… 54 Les droits honorifiques …………….…………………….……….... 58 Seigneurial Obligations ………….…………………………….…………... 59 The Commons ………………….……………………………….…….……. 62 v Inheritance Law and Property ………………………………………………….…. 65 The Evolution of Seigneurialism in Canada …………………………….…….…...70 CHAPTER 3 SEIGNEURIALISM TAKES ROOT IN L’ACADIE: 1598-1670 ……..…. 75 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………..… 75 The First Seigneurs of l’Acadie: Marquis de La Roche, Pierre Dugua, sieur de Mons, Jean Biencourt de Poutrincourt,. and Isaac de Razilly, 1598-1636 ……………………………………………..…… 77 The Seigneurie of Charles de Menou, sieur d’Aulnay: 1636 – 1650 ………..……. 89 Seigneurial Tenure, 1651 – 1670 ……………………………………………...…. 107 Events Following the Death of d’Aulnay …………………………....…... 111 Le Borgne’s Claims to the d’Aulnay Heirs’ Lands in l’Acadie Deconstructed …………..……………………….….... 125 Jeanne Motin: Acadian Seigneuresse ………..……………………….…... 135 CHAPTER 4 CULTURAL CONTINUITY, 1670 to 1713 ........……………….…….…. 148 Population Growth and the Geographic Expansion of French Settlements in l’Acadie, 1670 – 1713 ……………………………..………….…... 149 Civil and Religious Structures in l’Acadie …………………………..……….…... 158 The Settlements and Their Seigneurs ………………………………..…….……... 171 Port-Royal: Alexandre Le Borgne sieur de Belleisle, Philippe Mius d’Entremont, Marie de St. Étienne de La Tour, and the other heirs of Jeanne Motin and Charles de La Tour ……………………..…………………….....…….. 172 vi Beaubassin: Michel Le Neuf de La Vallière ……………………………. 194 The Seigneurs of Les Mines, Pisiguit and Cobeguit ……………………. 207 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………. 213 CHAPTER 5 L’ACADIE OCCUPIED: THE PERSISTENCE OF CULTURE, 1710-1755 …….………………………………………………………….. 215 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………... 215 The Treaty of Utrecht and the decision to remain in Nova Scotia ……………… 216 The Oath and the Right to Hold Land …………………………………..….…… 218 The Transfer of Seigneurial Rights to the British Crown …………………….…. 221 New Grants on Unappropriated Lands Proscribed …….…………….………….. 229 Continuity of French Land Tenure ………….……………………………...…… 233 Further Evidence of the Vitality of Seigneurialism …..…………………………. 242 Accounts of Seigneurial Charges Collected by the British ……. ……….. 242 Activities of Acadian Seigneurs after the British Assumed Control ………..……………………………………………...... 254 Did Acadian Land Tenure Evolve as a Result of Contact with English Land Tenure? …..…….…………………………………… 257 Land Tenure Among Acadians in French-held l’Acadie …..….…………………. 261 vii CHAPTER 6 ACADIAN LAND USE PRACTICE AND CUSTOM OF THE MARSH ………………….………….……………………...... 265 Subsistence and Market Farmers ………….…….………….…………………….