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Ml 48106 18 BEDFORD ROW, LONDON WC1R 4EJ, ENGLAND 8015848 A h e r n , Ja m e s Jo s e p h , Jr . PEASANTS IN ARMS: THE INSURRECTION OF THE LOT-ET-GARONNE IN DECEMBER 1851 The Ohio Slate University Ph.D. 1980 University Microfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 18 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4EJ, England Copyright 1980 by Ahern, James Joseph, Jr. All Rights Reserved PEASANTS IN ARMS: THE INSURRECTION OF THE LOT-ET-GARONNE IN DECEMBER 1851 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By James Joseph Ahern, Jr., B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1980 Reading Committee: Approved Dr. John Rothney Dr. John Rule Dr. Carole Rogel Advxser AUX MES PARENTS, A MA FEMME, A MON DIEU ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the many individuals whose assistance and constant support overcame what appeared at times to me an unbridgeable gulf between a dream and its reality: To the Institute of International Education and the Fulbright-Hays Fellowship Program whose financial support put the people and history of France truly within my reach. To M. Michel Jobert, Mme. Genvieve Ramos Acker and the staff of the Franco-American Commission who made Paris a city to be lived in and France a country to be understood, if not loved. To M. Jean Burias, director of the Archives departementales de Lot-et-Garonne and his warm and gracious staff who opened their doors, their collections and their hearts to a groping American researcher. By the end of my sojourn, I felt like one of the. staff. To Dr. John Rothney, my long-suffering adviser, whose counsel never misled and criticism challenged me to do my best. To my parents, whose dedication to the enduring value of education challenged me to continue when all seemed so futile. To my wife, Patricia Chajavec Ahern, who began the trek, endured the crushing ordeals and savored the exquisite moments of discovery and joy with me. She has been the Beatrice of this Divine Comedy. And she shares the adventure still. iii VITA October 6, 1949 ................ Born - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1971 ........................... B.A., Magna cum laude, in History, Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia 1973 ................ ........... M.A. in History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1972-1977 ....................... Teaching Associate, Department of History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1977 ........................... Research Associate, Department of History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1977-1978 ....................... Fulbright-Hays Research Fellow to France 1978-1980 ....................... Academic Adviser, University College, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History of Modern France Minor Fields: History of the Soviet Union History of Japan American Foreign Policy TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION .......................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................. iii VITA ........................................................ iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .....................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................vi INTRODUCTION ...................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: The Island Lot-et-Garonne ................................. 4 2: The Lot-et-Garonne: A Zone of Transition ................30 3: "Everywhere Political Quarrels Are Forgotten" ......... 73 4: "La Vente de changement et de destitution souffle" . 115 5: "Au premier signal..." ..................................... 163 6: The Legacy of a House D i v i d e d ............................ 204 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL N O T E .............................................. 227 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Number of Arrests - December 1 8 5 1 ............................... 5 2. Soil Types of the Lot-et-Garonne ................................ 32 3. Topography of the Lot-et-Garonne ................................ 32 4. Arrondissements of the Lot-et-Garonne ...................... 33 5. Population Changes 1846-1851 .................................. 44 6. Size of Average L a n d h o l d i n g .....................................45 7. Mode of Cultivation - Metayage .................................. 46 8. Mode of Cultivation - By Owner .................................. 47 9. Percentage Metayage (1851 census) . .....................48 10. Royal and Departmental Routes - 1835 ......................... 53 11. Literacy R a t e s .....................................................56 12. Protestant Population According to 1839 Survey ............. 62 13. Presidential Election of December 10, 1848; Percentage Vote for Louis-Napoleon ........................... 103 14. Presidential Election of December 10, 1848; Percentage Vote for General Cavaignac ....................... 105 15. Presidential Election of December 10, 1848; Percentage Vote for Ledru-Rollin .............................. 106 16. Presidential Election of December 10, 1848; Percentage Vote for Louis-Napoleon/Ledru-Rollin ........... 107 17. Election to National Assembly, May 13, 1849; Percentage Vote for Party of O r d e r ............................. 128 18. Election to National Assembly, May 13, 1849; Percentage Vote for Democrat-Socialists .................... 129 vi Figure Fage 19. Cantons in which the Democrat-Socialists triumphed over the Party of O r d e r ............................... 130 20. Election Law of May 31, 1850;.............. ..................... Number Disenfranchised ......................................... 140 21. Election Law of May 31, 1850; Percentage Disenfranchised (Number Disenfranchised per Number Registered to Vote) .................................... 141 22. Plebiscite of December 20, 1851; Percentage NON Ballots per. ......... Total Votes C a s t ............................. 190 23. Plebiscite of December 20, 1851; Percentage NON and Absentee Ballots per Total Votes C a s t .............................................191 24. Plebiscite of December 2, 1852; Percentage NON Ballots per Total Votes C a s t ................................................. 193 25. Plebiscite of December 2, 1852; Percentage NON and Absentee Ballots per Total Votes C a s t ................. • ....................... 194 26. Noted Areas of Disturbance - December 18 5 1 ..................... 210 27. Number Arrested per Canton ..................................... 211 28. Number Arrested per Ten Thousand Population .................. 212 vii INTRODUCTION "Why would an American historian travel three thousand miles to a city of 40,000 inhabitants in Southwest France?" asked the reporter from Le Petit Bleu, the local newspaper of Agen. For many inhabitants, the history of the Lot-et-Garonne drew to a close with the Revolutionary period. For a century and a half the area seen by many as the garden basket of France threatened to commit demographic suicide as family size contracted and youths struck out for Bordeaux, Toulouse or Paris, leaving homesteads to die out with the elderly. Only the timely immigration of Spaniards and Italians early in the twentieth century kept the area from becoming a "demographic desert." So the reporter had every reason to question my research into an episode in the history of nineteenth century Lot-et-Garonne. The Lot-et-Garonne had been a concern for the government during the nineteenth century, but it was not due entirely to the department's waning population. The advent of the Second Republic brought to a dramatic confrontation