February 21, 2023
“The Search for Order: English, French, and Indian Responses to Everyday Frontier Violence in the Gulf of Maine, 1620-1670”
The Gulf of Maine was a space of significant European and Native contact during the seventeenth century, with much of that contact resulting in a shocking level of everyday violence between Europeans and Indians. This lecture will focus on Native, French, and English attempts to secure peace in the face of such violence. English colonial proprietors attempted to use courts and the church to impose state-sanctioned behaviors on unruly settlers and fishermen. French leadership in Acadia focused on themselves, attempting to weed out rivals and impose personal versions of social order. And the Wabanaki Indians used notions of gift-exchange diplomacy and reciprocity to build connections and networks with both the French and the English through political readings of Catholicism and diplomatic deployment of land sales. Overall, the results were mixed. Of all three groups, the Wabanakis succeeded the most in stemming everyday violence, but even they would fail to prevent the rise of Anglo-Indian hostilities that would plague the 1670s. Free and open to the public; light refreshments will be served.
Further information
- Location: Denny 317
- Time: 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
- Cost: Free