France and the American tropics to 1700 : tropics of discontent? / Philip P. Boucher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Boucher, Philip P., 1944-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

French.

History.

Caribbean Area--History--To 1810.

Caribbean Area.

West Indies, French--History.

West Indies, French.

French--Caribbean Area--History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 372 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.

Summary:

Traditionally, the story of the Greater Caribbean has been dominated by the narrative of Iberian hegemony, British colonization, the plantation regime, and the Haitian Revolution of the eighteenth century. Relatively little is known about the society and culture of this region-and particularly France's role in them-in the two centuries prior to the rise of the plantation complex of the eighteenth century. Here, historian Philip P. Boucher offers the first comprehensive account of colonization and French society in the Caribbean. He argues that the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were not merely a prelude to the classic plantation regime model. Rather, they were an era presenting a variety of possible outcomes. This original narrative demonstrates that the transition to sugar and the plantation complex was more gradual in the French properties than generally depicted-and that it was not inevitable.

Contents:

1 At the Dawn of French Colonization: The Greater Caribbean 13

2 French Challenges to Iberian Hegemony in America up to 1625 40

3 Frontiers of Fortune? The Painful Era of Settlement, 1620s to 1640s 62

4 Frontiers of Fortune? The Era of the Proprietors, 1649 to 1664 88

5 Frontier-Era Free Society: The 1620s to the 1660s 112

6 Frontier-Era Society: The World of Coerced Labor 144

7 The Transformation from Settlements to Colonies Begins: The 1660s to the 1670s 168

8 The Sun King Asserts Control: The 1680s to the 1690s 202

9 Island Society from the 1660s to the 1690s: The Habitants 229

10 Island Society from the 1660s to the 1690s: The World of Coerced Labor 268.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-361) and index.

ISBN:

9780801887253

9780801887260

0801887259

0801887267

OCLC:

126227449

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description