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Episode 092-March 1, 2020
Today we delve into the history of slavery in Quebec. Who was the first slave? Who was the last? How did slavery come to an end? How is the history of slavery represented in Quebec? We cover all that with guest Aly Ndiaye, aka Webster.
We also begin a new segment of the podcast called AFGS Moments. Our friends from the American-French Genealogical Society will join us monthly for a tip, a tale, or a suggestion or two.
Slavery in New France and Beyond
Webster and I discussed the following:
Webster is a hip-hop/rap artist and a historian. When he studied history, he realized that there was silence as far as the history of blacks and slavery in Quebec was concerned. Here in America, we learned that slaves used the Underground Railroad to escape into the safety of Canada. That was possible because slavery ended in Canada in 1834. But rarely do we ever learn about the slaves that were there before that time.
Canadian slaves were not a threat to rise up as they were elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere because there were not as many of them.
A black slave was rarer than a Native slave and therefore cost more. It cost about 900 pounds for a Black slave and 400 pounds for a Native slave. Black slaves were also more robust than Native slaves and usually lived longer. The average lifespan for a Black slave was about 25 years; whereas, a Native slave could be expected to live to about the age of 18.
Olivier Lejeune
The first slave in Canada was named Olivier Lejeune. He studied with Jesuit Paul Lejeune and most likely took his surname from his teacher. He arrived in Quebec City in 1629 with the Kirke brothers. Originally from Madagascar, Olivier was about ten years old. He was sold to a trader who gave him to Guillaume Couillard. Olivier was buried in Quebec in 1654.
Marie-Josèphe Angélique
Angélique was born either in Portugal or the Madeira Islands. A Dutch merchant brought her to New York, and she was eventually sold to a Montreal merchant, François Poulin de Francheville. When he died in the 1730s, he left Angélique to his wife, Thérèse de Couagne. In February 1734, when Angélique heard that the widow tried to sell her, she fled with her lover, Claude Thibault. They were eventually caught. Claude went to jail and was eventually released. Angélique returned to Madame Francheville.
Angélique was told that she was sold to M. Cugnet from Quebec City and would move there as soon as the river thawed. On April 10, 1734, a fire spread through the area where Madame Francheville’s house was located. There were about 46 houses, shops, and buildings destroyed in the fire. Angélique was blamed for the fire, tried, and executed.
Historians still disagree regarding Angélique’s innocence or guilt.
Charlotte
Charlotte played a role in the end of slavery in Canada. In February 1798, Charlotte fled her mistress. After she was caught, she appeared before Chief Justice James Monk. He released her due to a legal technicality. He then continued to release slaves under similar circumstances, and thus ended slavery in Lower Canada.
Slavery elsewhere
In Nova Scotia, Judges Blowers and Strange are credited with ending the practice of slavery there. They complicated the lives of slave owners by requiring them to prove ownership of a runaway slave. For the few who could produce papers, the judges asked them to then prove that the seller had legal ownership of the slave. Most were unable to do so, and the slave was freed.
Rather than slavery being abolished in Canada, it more or less just disappeared.
It took a Civil War to end slavery in the United States. In the British Empire, they had to pay millions of pounds to the slave owners to end the practice. The debt was finally paid off in 2015.
Sources
In the records, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether a servant is a free black, enslaved black, Native, or white.
The abolition movement was not recorded in newspapers, but there were notices regarding the sale of slaves and descriptions of runaway slaves.
Some people can trace their ancestry back to a Canadian slave. Maurice Duplessis is one such person. His ancestor was a Panis. Church records and notice of sales through wills are used to document this.
When Marcel Trudel wrote his book on slavery, he thought that all Blacks in Canada were slaves. Some of them were free Blacks.
Webster and the Slave Narrative
Webster is revealing the Canadian slave story using several different media:
Book
Webster wrote a children’s book telling the story of Olivier Lejeune. It is called Le Grain de sable: Olivier Le Jeune, premier esclave au Canada.
Music
Webster has produced two songs, Quebec History X and Alex Grant, which tell this story through rap.
Art
The Fugitive! exhibit tells the story of slaves who ran away. Their owners placed ads in the newspapers with complete descriptions in the hopes of getting their slaves back. (The British brought printing presses with them; the first newspaper, the Quebec Gazette, began in 1764.) Webster took the descriptions and had images created, putting a face to each slave.
Fugitive! will be at the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal from June to September, 2020.
An article about last summer’s exhibit: New exhibit explores hidden past of slavery in Quebec
Tours
Webster gives two-hour tours in Old Quebec, visiting places associated with Afro-Québecois history. Participants visit locations such as Olivier Lejeune’s residence, James Monk’s residence, and Angélique’s executioner’s house. For more information, go to QCHistoryXTours.ca.
Contact Webster
Website: Send email through websites, QCHistoryXTours.ca or websterls.com.
More information
Olivier Lejeune (Dictionary of Canadian Biography)
Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History: Torture and the Truth-Angélique and the Burning of Montréal
Marie-Joseph Angélique (The Canadian Encyclopedia)
Marie-Joseph Angélique (Dictionary of Canadian Biography)
Marie-Joseph Angelique: Remembering the Arsonist Slave of Montreal
Population (Virtual Museum of New France)
Slavery as witnessed through New France’s parish registers
Books
Canada’s Forgotten Slaves: Two Hundred Years of Bondage by Marcel Trudel
The Hanging of Angelique by Afua Cooper
Proces de Marie Josephe Angelique (French) by Denyse Beaugrand-Champagne
AFGS Moments
For our first AFGS Moments, Jan Burkhart joins us to fill in many details in Marie Josèphe Angélique’s story. Jan has been the librarian at the American-French Genealogical Society in Woonsocket, RI, since 1982. She served twelve years as president and five years as vice-president of the Society.
Announcements
Podcast support
A big thanks goes to Micheline from New York for her donation to MSS!
Journal Rundown
The French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan’s journal, Michigan’s Habitant Heritage, volume 41 #4, has the following articles that you might find of interest:
In Search of the Origin of the DeShetler Name, Part 1: This article explores the changing dit names of various descendant lines of immigrant Pierre Pinot
The genealogy of the Peltier, or Pelletier dit Antaya, family
Engagé contracts from 1732-1733 and 1752
A study of the Coppequesne surname
Confirmations at Quebec on 12 June 1696
French-Canadian News
The American-French Genealogical Society
March 8: Marian Burk Wood will present Using Social Media for #Genealogy.
Classes are held at the AFGS Library, 78 Earle Street, Woonsocket, RI, and begin at 1:30 PM (unless otherwise noted).
The French Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan
March 14, 11 AM, at the Mount Clemens Public Library: the annual get acquainted meeting. Bring charts that show descent from a settler or voyageur in/to Détroit between 24 July 1701 and 24 July 1721; an ancestor in New France by 1665; or an Acadian ancestor.
The French-Canadian Genealogical Society of Connecticut
March 11, from 6-8 pm at the FCGSC library: Introduction to Research and Resources Available at FCGSC and Online
All classes are free and are held at the FCGSC Library in Tolland.
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