Environment and Culture in the Northeastern Americas During the American Revolution Daniel S
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The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fogler Library Spring 5-11-2019 Navigating Wilderness and Borderland: Environment and Culture in the Northeastern Americas during the American Revolution Daniel S. Soucier University of Maine, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd Part of the Canadian History Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Military History Commons, Nature and Society Relations Commons, Other History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Soucier, Daniel S., "Navigating Wilderness and Borderland: Environment and Culture in the Northeastern Americas during the American Revolution" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2992. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2992 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]. NAVIGATING WILDERNESS AND BORDERLAND: ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE IN THE NORTHEASTERN AMERICAS DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION By Daniel S. Soucier B.A. University of Maine, 2011 M.A. University of Maine, 2013 C.A.S. University of Maine, 2016 A THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in History) The Graduate School University of Maine May, 2019 Advisory Committee: Richard Judd, Professor Emeritus of History, Co-Adviser Liam Riordan, Professor of History, Co-Adviser Stephen Miller, Professor of History Jacques Ferland, Associate Professor of History Stephen Hornsby, Professor of Anthropology and Canadian Studies DISSERTATION ACCEPTANCE STATEMENT On behalf of the Graduate Committee for Daniel S. Soucier, I affirm that this manuscript is the final and accepted dissertation. Signatures of all committee members are on file with the Graduate School at the University of Maine, 42 Stodder Hall, Orono, Maine. ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Richard W. Judd Emeritus Professor of History Date ________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Liam Riordan Professor of History Date ii Copyright 2019 Daniel S. Soucier All Rights Reserved iii LIBRARY RIGHTS STATEMENT In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Maine, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for “fair use” copying of this dissertation for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Librarian. It is understood that any copying or publication of this dissertation for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Signature: Date: iv NAVIGATING WILDERNESS AND BORDERLAND: ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE IN THE NORTHEASTERN AMERICAS DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION By Daniel S. Soucier Thesis Advisors: Dr. Richard Judd and Dr. Liam Riordan An Abstract of the Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in History) May, 2019 This dissertation examines the evolving interactions of nature and humans during the major military campaigns in the northern theatre of the American War for Independence (1775 – 1783) as local people, local environments, and military personnel from outside the region interacted with one another in complex ways. Examining the American Revolution at the convergence of environmental, military, and borderlands history, it elucidates the agency of nature and culture in shaping how three military campaigns in the “wilderness” unfolded. The invasion of Canada in 1775, the expedition from Quebec to Albany in 1777, and the invasion of Iroquoia in 1779 are the interconnected comparative case studies that inform this project. As human and non- human actors alike utilized the chaos of war to further distinct goals and purposes, the levels of assistance or resistance that each provided to the large British and Continental forces that arrived from outside of the bioregion directly influenced the geopolitical and martial outcomes of campaigns. The study argues that as European-style war machines groped forward, in unfamiliar territories, and navigated both ecological and cultural landscapes that the Northeast Borderlands exerted substantial causal force. This contiguous bioregion stretched from the District of Maine and Quebec in the east through northern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania, and from Montreal to Iroquoia and beyond during the latter half of the eighteenth century. South of this borderlands was the emergent Euro- American imperial power of the thirteen colonies that would become the United States, and to its north were the British colonies of Nova Scotia and Quebec. The Northeastern Borderlands was a mostly autonomous region in between colonial settlements that deployed military force as a principal means to expand. This dissertation examines the intertwined relationships among varied cultural and environmental landscapes in a large bioregion, on the one hand, and the process of waging war on the other. Careful attention to the distinct human ecology of the Northeastern Borderlands, its causal significance helps to transcend nationalistic interpretations of history that still dominates popular and scholarly understanding of the past, in general, and of the American Revolution, in particular. DEDICATION For my daughter, Eliza Margret Soucier, whose questioning of the world inspires my curiosity. v AKNOWLEDGMENTS One thing that I learned throughout my time in graduate school is that no project, conference paper, article, or book chapter is a solitary endeavor. This dissertation is no exception to this universal truth of the academy. However, all faults remaining in this manuscript, as well as all other work published at present, are my own but I blame Ian J. Jesse. Chief among those who assisted me through the journey of graduate school are my co-advisers Richard Judd and Liam Riordan. Liam is to blame for inspiring a bright-eyed, non-traditional undergraduate student sitting in his U.S. History I survey class to say, “that’s what I want to be when I grow up.” Through many conversations in his office, he led me down the path of academic redemption and finally an acceptance into graduate school. My budding interest in the era of the American Revolution was then nurtured and grown in both his undergraduate and graduate seminars concerning the topic. Dick sparked my interest in environmental history as a graduate student while Liam, who was then my M.A. adviser, was in Scotland on a Fulbright Fellowship. Dick is to blame for giving a very naïve and very hungry graduate student the advice of becoming an academic entrepreneur by diversifying my credentials as much as possible. By the time he taught me to say “no” regarding digital and public history projects, academic service work, and service to the department, Pandora’s box was already opened never to be closed again. Wedding Dick’s interest in environmental history and Liam’s interest in the American Revolution with my interest of both, we came up with a co-advising relationship that led to the two of them reading vi countless drafts of my projects and writing countless letters of recommendation. This dissertation is the product of their willingness to step out of their zones of comfort to facilitate the project which I argued had great promise. Other scholars at the University of Maine helped groom this dissertation from just an idea that arose during a seminar into what it is today. Jacques Ferland set aside many hours to provide guidance in navigating the depths of Canadian historiography and borderlands methodology for this project. Stephen Miller provided me with an understanding of military history and military history methodology that became the backbone of research for this project. He also fostered my interest in the subject through a road trip to the Society of Military History conference in Ottawa. Mark McLaughlin and Micah Pawling both took the time to have countless conversations with me regarding my work and pointed me into directions and sources that I otherwise never would have explored. Claire Campbell, Ed MacDonald, Brian Payne, Matthew McKenzie of the Northeast Atlantic Canada Environment History Forum also provided critical feedback on chapters of this dissertation and assisted me through the rigors of getting an article and book chapter published. The libraries and archives, as well as the people who staff them, provided the foundation which this dissertation is built upon: the sources. A large portion of the research for this project occurred at the David Library for the American Revolution thanks to a generous fellowship. Kathie Ludwig, Meg McSweeny, and Brian Graziano, all deserve thanks for making my month long stay in Pennsylvania feel like home away from home. Kathie, who is the librarian, also deserves special thanks for pointing me vii into new directions, helping me to navigate the Revolutionary War Pensions, and giving me valuable hours of her time. Other institutions provided critical funding for this dissertation. The Society of the Cincinnati Fellowship, which I held at the Massachusetts Historical Society, provided me not only with valuable sources but with a place to ponder and explore new ideas among an energetic staff.