Chasing empire across the sea : communications and the state in the French Atlantic, 1713-1763 / Kenneth J. Banks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Banks, Kenneth J., 1958-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Communication policy--France--History--18th century.

Communication policy.

Government correspondence--France--History--18th century.

Government correspondence.

Commercial correspondence--America--History--18th century.

Commercial correspondence.

Travelers' writings, French--History and criticism.

Travelers' writings, French.

France--Colonies--Administration--History--18th century.

France.

France--Colonies--America--History--18th century.

France--Foreign relations--1715-1774.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 319 pages) : maps.

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Ithaca : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Banks defines and applies the concept of communications in a far broader context than previous historical studies of communication, encompassing a range of human activity from sailing routes, to mapping, to presses, to building roads and bridges. He employs a comparative analysis of early modern French imperialism, integrating three types of overseas possessions usually considered separately - the settlement colony (New France), the tropical monoculture colony (the French Windward Islands), and the early Enlightenment planned colony (Louisiana) - offering a work of synthesis that unites the historiographies and insights from three formerly separate historical literatures. Banks challenges the very notion that a concrete "empire" emerged by the first half of the eighteenth century; in fact, French colonies remained largely isolated arenas of action and development. Only with the contraction and concentration of overseas possessions after 1763 on the Plantation Complex did a more cohesive, if fleeting, French empire first emerge.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Tables and Maps

Preface

A Note on Terms and Translations

Introduction

The Rise of the French Atlantic to 1763

Proclaiming Peace in 1713: A Case Study

Sea and Land Connections

State Ceremonies and Local Agendas

Travel and Assembly, Disorder and Revolt

Merchant Networks and Imperial Dependence

Authority’s Fragmented Voice

Conclusion

Appendices

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [269]-311) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-86079-8

9786612860799

0-7735-7064-0

OCLC:

929120802