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Privateering was at its all-time high in the eighteenth century, specifically during the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1713). The increase in this activity had particular consequences in the colonies and, in fact, precipitated the foundation of the first admiralty in French North America, at Plaisance. Colonial admiralties were to follow the instructions of the Ordonnance de la Marine of 1681, just like their French counterparts. While there are a few studies of the judgement of prizes in metropolitan admiralties, there are no studies that examine in detail how this procedure unfolded in colonial admiralties. This thesis asks, therefore, the following question: how did the colonial admiralties judge prizes in the eighteenth century, specifically from 1690 to 1760, in the ports of Plaisance, Québec and Louisbourg? To answer this question, the responses of the Admiral of France in the subseries G5 were used to make a preliminary statistical portrait to illuminate the main characteristics of captured prizes and their adjudication in the colonies (chapter 1). Then, records of proceedings of the Admiralty of Plaisance from the subseries G5 were used to reconstitute the judgement of prizes in detail and to identify the similarities and differences between colonial and metropolitan adjudication. Finally, in order to better understand the place of privateering in the admiralty’s overall activity, we examined how the volume of these cases compared to that of other types before the same institution. To do so, we consulted the fonds de l’amirauté de Québec and the fonds de l’amirauté de Louisbourg, with the notarized records of Plaisance. This analysis allowed us to see the particular role played by the admiralty in each port, a role shaped by the latter’s socioeconomic and geographic character (chapter 3). Main findings of the study include the similarity in procedures in metropolitan and colonial admiralties as well as the specific adaptations that were made to the colonial context.
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Since the 1960s, the history of slavery and that of the Atlantic Revolutions have carved out a significant place in the historiography. These developments have had a beneficial effect on the representation of populations of African origin in the historical literature, contributing in particular to putting the Haitian Revolution back on the map in the 1990s and 2000s. The purpose of this thesis is to examine a few works on the various revolutions of the Americas, namely the American, the Haitian and the South American, in order to study the changing importance that historians attribute to the agency of black people, and principally to slaves. The first chapter follows the evolution of this historiography by submitting to serial analysis the bibliography assembled by Aline Helg in Slaves No More!, before examining the pioneering works of Anna Julia Cooper and C.L.R. James and a sort of prehistory of the notion of the Atlantic revolution. The second chapter focuses on a selection of work individually targeting the different revolutions of the Americas, in order to observe the treatment of slaves’ roles. The last deals with the treatment of the agency of slaves in four surveys published between 1988 and 2016 covering summarily or in detail the various American revolutions.
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This thesis studies the ways in which infanticide was handled by communities and by the judicial system in New France. It draws on multiple textual and demographic sources, most notably the ten criminal trials for infanticide that occurred in the colony during the Old Regime. The dynamics between the accused, the members of their community and the magistrates during the trials reveal the existence of relations of power and solidarities that characterized collectivities in the early modern period. I therefore examine the roles played by the community in the prosecution of women suspected of infanticide. How did the women and men of New France conceptualize the act? What factors led the community to judicialize infanticide? I also examine the magistrates’ motivations. What goals did they have? What severity did they demonstrate toward accused women? Further, the thesis addresses the resistance that women could exert against these forces. What influence did the accused have on the course of the trials and the sentences pronounced against them? What strategies could they devise and execute in their own defence? Analyzing the role that witnesses played throughout the process illustrates the fundamental participation of the community in the treatment of infanticide as well as the gender and class norms imposed on the accused by their contemporaries (chapter 2). The study of the accused’s strategies and the sentences handed down against them reveals both the weight of the social and marital order reinforced by the judicial institution and the agency shown by the women of New France (chapter 3).