Between Two Fires: the Origins of Settler Colonialism in the United States and French Algeria
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! ! ! BETWEEN TWO FIRES: THE ORIGINS OF SETTLER COLONIALISM IN THE UNITED STATES AND FRENCH ALGERIA By Ashley Sanders A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of History – Doctor of Philosophy 2015 ! ABSTRACT' ! BETWEEN TWO FIRES: THE ORIGINS OF SETTLER COLONIALISM IN THE UNITED STATES AND FRENCH ALGERIA By Ashley Sanders This dissertation is a comparative study of the establishment of settler colonies in the American Midwest (1778-1795) and French colonial Algeria (1830-1848). It examines how interactions between the Indigenous populations, colonists, colonial administrators, the military, and the métropole shaped their development and advances the theory of settler colonialism. This study centers on the first fifteen to twenty years of conquest/occupation in the American Midwest, focusing specifically on southern Illinois and Indiana, and the province of Constantine, Algeria. Despite differences in geography, relative size of the military presence and Indigenous demographics, the process of establishing settler colonies in both locations followed similar trajectories. The study analyzes the founding moment of initial military occupation in Indiana/Illinois in 1778 and Constantine in 1836-1837 as well as subsequent land policies, settlement, and Indigenous resistance movements. I argue that settler colonies in the American Midwest and Algeria resulted from a bottom- up process in which settler desires for land and greater economic opportunities compelled them to migrate (or emigrate) and stake their claim to these territories. This movement then served as a catalyst for initially makeshift colonial policies that only became systematized over time. The relationship between settlers and the Indigenous populations in both locations, as well as administrators’ responses to prevailing circumstances on the ground shaped the establishment of stable settler governments. ! This research broadens our conceptions of American history and deepens our understanding of the processes by which settler colonies formed and “worked.” Settler colonialism’s legacy continues to influence geopolitics, national policy decisions, and people’s daily lives. Hence, the formation and eventual structures of settler colonies help researchers explain the founding of many contemporary societies and, taken together, recast empire, settler roles, and Indigenous actions within colonial contexts. ! Copyright by ASHLEY SANDERS 2015 ! ! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research and writing of history is often solitary task, but it is impossible without the aid, funding, and support of many people and institutions. To begin with, I am indebted to the History Department at Michigan State University for funding my coursework, language study, research, and writing. A generous U. S. Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship also enabled me to study Arabic at the Summer Cooperative African Language Institute (SCALI) and through the African Studies Center at Michigan State University. MATRIX, the Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences at Michigan State University, also granted me a Cultural Heritage Informatics Fellowship to work on a digital component of my dissertation. Together with an assistantship through H-Net, I learned invaluable Digital Humanities skills that have served me well in research, writing, and my career beyond graduate school. I am grateful to the Claremont Colleges Library, where I am putting those digital skills to work, and to Dr. Kevin Mulroy, along with Allegra Swift, for the work- release time to complete my final two chapters and revisions. I have also benefitted greatly from the opportunity to participate in the 2011 Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies (NCAIS) Graduate Institute, which allowed me to engage in stimulating scholarly conversations, broaden my perspective, and begin pre- dissertation research. A Committee on Institutional Cooperation – American Indian Studies (CIC-AIS) fellowship the following fall allowed me to continue my research as a Visiting Fellow at the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian Studies at the Newberry Library. As I reflect on my time there, I have to thank Dr. Susan Sleeper-Smith for her early guidance as I shaped my dissertation topic, as well as Dr. Scott Manning Stevens for his hospitality and v! ! ! willingness to talk through challenging research quandaries. An additional fellowship from NCAIS enabled me to complete essential research at the Ohio Valley-Great Lakes Ethnohistory Archive in Bloomington, Indiana. Dr. Bill Monaghan, Dr. April Sievert, Wayne Huxtable, and the staff at the Glenn Black Laboratory were incredibly helpful and provided me access to the archive even when it was sparsely staffed due to winter and summer absences. I am also indebted to Jill Larson for her generosity with her time and resources at the University of Vincennes’ Lewis Historical Library. Additionally, this project would have been incomplete without the treasure trove of sources in the French colonial archives at the Centre des Archives d’Outre-Mer in Aix-en-Provence, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, and Chateau de Vincennes. What is more, this dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance and support of my advisor, Dr. Peter Knupfer. His faith in my ability to complete this ambitious project, patience during my moments of panic, thoughtful critiques of many drafts, and good humor carried me through the difficult challenges that life, research, and writing posed. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Leslie Page Moch, Dr. Emine Evered, Dr. Mindy Morgan, and Dr. Mara Leichtman for their careful reading of the dissertation and suggestions to improve the manuscript for publication. The trials of graduate school would have been insurmountable without my colleagues and friends. Thank you, Dr. Laura Cuppone, the other half of the “Dissertation Dynamic Duo,” for your friendship, willingness to comment on rough drafts, and model of perseverance that kept me going when I was not sure I could. Tazin Karim Daniels, you have been more than a writing accountability partner. You have been a listening ear, a shoulder to lean on, a cheerleader when I was down, a motivational coach, and always a dear friend. The muse only shows up when we do, right? Alison Kolodzy, I am so grateful for our time together in Michigan and Paris, for your vi! ! ! friendship, and for orienting me to the massive Bibliothèque Nationale. Cindy Nguyen, your friendship, spanning two continents and many states, is one of the greatest gifts of this journey. And Linda, thank you for helping me to find ways over and through the barriers that stood in the way of completion. I am ever grateful for my parents, Stewart and Cynthia Sanders. Mom and Dad, thank you for reading my writing from my first letters to the moment I added the letters Ph.D. to my name. My brother, Gabe, has always been ready to answer a phone call, even in the middle of the night, with encouraging words. Thank you for always having my back! And “thank you” does not begin to cover my gratitude to my patient partner, Marcel Garcia, who has given me the best reason to learn to end long work sessions at a reasonable hour and to look forward to life beyond the dissertation. Thank you for reminding me that “it’s all a process” and for your assurance that I would make it through that process. I am so grateful for the love, joy, and sunshine you have brought into my life. vii! ! ! TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ix KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS x Introduction: Striking Comparisons 1 Literature Review 5 Defining Settler Colonialism 24 Methodology 31 Sources 33 Chapter Outline 37 Significance 41 Chapter 1: Context 46 North America: The Wabash and Ohio Valleys 51 Algeria: An Ottoman Regency 79 Comparing North America and Algeria on the Eve of Conquest 98 Chapter 2: Conquest 103 United States: Conquest of the Wabash Valley 105 The French Conquest of Algiers 120 Conquests: Real and Imagined 132 Chapter 3: Colonization 159 America: The Battle for Legitimacy and Sovereignty 162 United States: Fending Off Internal and External Threats 181 Algeria: The Battle for Continued Occupation 189 Algeria: The Conquest of Constantine 199 Comparative Synthesis 206 Chapter 4: Control 216 United States: Black Clouds and Council Fires 218 Algeria: Conquering Space, Settling People 240 Comparative Synthesis 255 Chapter 5: Connections 271 BIBLIOGRAPHY 300 viii! ! ! LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Map of Wabash Valley 51 Figure 2: The British Colonies in North America, 1763-1775 61 Figure 3: Pontiac’s War, 1763 64 Figure 4: “Afrique française – Algérie” 86 Figure 5: Map of Political Boundaries of North America After 1783 Treaty of Paris 164 Figure 6: United States Land Claims and Cessions 1782-1802 184 Figure 7: “La Prise de Constantine” 210 Figure 8: Settlement in Algeria, 1838-1852 247 Figure 9: Land Allotment around Algiers by 1847 253 Figure 10: First and Second French Empires 293 ix! ! ! KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS AHR American Historical Review CAOM Centre des Archives d’outre-mer, Aix-en-Provence GPO Government Printing Office IHC Illinois Historical Collections JCC Journals of Continental Congress MPHC Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections OVLGEA Ohio Valley-Great Lakes Ethnohistory Archives, Bloomington, IN SCP St. Clair Papers SHD Service Historique de la Défense, Vincennes TEFA Tableau de la situation des établissements français dans l'Algérie WHC Wisconsin Historical Collections