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Predation, Seigneurial Tenure, and Development in French Colonial America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2020

Vincent Geloso
Vincent Geloso*
Affiliation:
King’s University College
*
Email: Vgeloso@uwo.ca
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Abstract

There is substantial debate over the colonial origins of divergence within the Americas. In this debate, the French Empire has been largely ignored even though, until 1760, it included Canada. This article uses recent empirical advances in our knowledge of the colonial Canadian economy to introduce the role of French institutions—most notably the institution of seigneurial tenure—into the debate on the colonial origins of divergence. It argues that the institution of seigneurial tenure in Canada when it was under French rule (up to 1760) had predatory features that help to explain why Canada was the poorest of the North American colonies.

Type
Research Article
Information
Social Science History , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , Winter 2020 , pp. 747 - 770
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Social Science History Association

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