Canadian Social History

Christopher Moore’s essay on the marriage of Marie-Louise Cruchon focuses on the harbour town of Louisbourg in Ile Royale, analyzing the marriage of Jacques Rolland, an apprentice merchant originally from the Breton village of Hédé, to Marie-Louise Cruchon, the elder daughter of widow Thérèse Boudier Cruchon.  In the essay, Moore carefully details Rolland’s initial interest in Louisbourg, as well as his courtship of Marie-Louise Cruchon.  This courtship soon turned to marriage in 1742, however, by the end of 1743 Rolland would humiliatingly flee Louisbourg without his wife and without a career.  While on one level, the value of Moore’s essay seems restricted to offering a history of the marriage of Marie-Louise and a glimpse into the society of Louisbourg.  However, at another level, I would argue that because the essay focuses on the institution of marriage and the wider social dynamics of marriage, Moore offers us an opportunity to firstly explore the factors that forged Marie-Louise’s marriage, and to secondly compare these factors with those that shaped marriages in New France.  By doing so, we can utilize marriage as a vehicle for understanding the essential characteristics of colonial society in eighteenth century New France.

Perception of Marriage

Before analyzing Moore’s essay, I want to explore the popular perception of marriage.  In North America, the popular perception of marriage is of a private domestic act.  Although customarily vows are exchanged in a public setting, the institution of marriage is seemingly a private matter that resides behind the closed doors of the family home.  However, I believe it is necessary to rethink this perception.  While the exchanging of vows has traditionally “tied the knot” between a man and a woman, the institution of marriage itself has always held larger social consequences.  Not only does the act of marriage change the martial status of the couple (and as such often their standing within the community), the saying of “I do” designates them into the role of being either a husband or a wife.  This role designation (becoming either a husband or a wife), has historically created a model for marriage where the husband is the head of the family and the “bread winner,” while the wife is defined as the submissive dependent.  This model, whether realistic or not, thus has become a template for establishing relationships within society.  Therefore, I would argue that rather than perceiving marriage as solely a private domestic act, marriage should also be seen as a public institution that reflects and shapes the essential characteristics of society.

Using this perception of marriage, we can begin to analyze the factors that forged the marriage between Marie-Louise Cruchon and Jacques Rolland.  As Christopher Moore notes, first and foremost the marriage was an alliance.  While Rolland’s merchant activities meant that he was becoming more well known in Louisbourg, Rolland was more than aware that marriage into a local family would help him develop as a businessman.  Prior events in Louisbourg demonstrated to Rolland that marrying a local girl made good business sense.  Novice merchant Blaise Lagoanere had married the eldest daughter of wealthy employer Michel Daccarette, accruing a good number of clients in the process.  However, a fellow Daccarette employee, Jean-Baptiste Lascorret, without any martial ties or social connections failed in his business ventures in Louisbourg.  Lascorret would leave Louisbourg and die attempting to make a new start in the Caribbean.

Social standing in New France

At the same time that Rolland sought to establish himself in the social circles of Louisbourg, Marie-Louise Cruchon’s mother, Thérèse Boudier Cruchon, was seeking to maintain the family’s social standing.  Thérèse Boudier had become the head of the Cruchon household after the death of her husband, Jean-René Cruchon.  Jean-René’s death had left the family struggling on the poverty line, getting by on a low income garnered by their limited craft work.   To maintain their social standing the Cruchons presented a façade. However, clearly the struggle to keep up the façade took its toll on Thérèse Boudier.  After being introduced to Jacques Rolland a social function in 1741, Thérèse Boudier built up a relationship with Rolland, ultimately ending up with Rolland marrying the widow’s eldest daughter.  While Rolland was neither a socially desirable military officer or civil official, he was in the eyes of Thérèse Boudier a wage-earner with potential.  The alliance and thus the marriage was born.

Socio-economic forces in New France

But were the socio-economic forces that forged the Rolland-Cruchon marriage alliance in Louisbourg typical for New France?  Allan Greer’s book, The People of New France, presents an overview of the social history of New France that offers a similar picture of marriage as Moore’s essay.  While Greer suggests that arranged marriages “were almost unheard of,” he argues that “in finding a husband and setting up a household might be considered a ‘benefit,’ given the difficulties attached in this society to the single life.”  Indeed the people of New France sought to avoid the single life, realizing that marriage became a means to surviving the pioneering difficulties of New France.  As Greer notes, “it was difficult to imagine pioneering without a mate and without the prospect of children.”  This stressing of importance in marriage for human survival meant for the women of New France marrying earlier and having more child-bearing years than their European counterparts.  For the men, marriage meant becoming the “breadwinner” to support a burgeoning family.  However, this socio-economic duty often meant time away from the family home on fur-trade expeditions or military operations.

Conclusion

So what can we conclude from the history of Marie-Louise Cruchon and Jacques Rolland marriage as well as the marriages of the people of New France?  Firstly, by adopting an understanding of marriage as an institution that had wider social dynamics, we can place marriage at the centre of both Louisbourg and New France societies.  As such, through an analysis of marriage we can identify the essential characteristics of colonial society in eighteenth century New France as being rooted in socio-economic factors.  However, perhaps most significant of all, the value of studying the institution of marriage for social historians is the opportunity to focus on subjects with agency that navigate through a world structured by material conditions.

References

Christopher Moore, “The Marriage of Marie-Louise Cruchon,” in Louisbourg Portraits: Life in an Eighteenth-Century Town, (Toronto: Macmillan, 1982), 55-117.

Nancy Cott, Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000).

Allan Greer, The People of New France, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009).