The Hanging Of Angelique

The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montreal

Afua Cooper

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9780006392798
• eBook ISBN:
  9781443406581
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

Writer, historian and poet Afua Cooper tells the astonishing story of Marie-Joseph Angélique, a slave woman convicted of starting a fire that destroyed a large part of Montréal in April 1734 and condemned to die a brutal death. In a powerful retelling of Angélique's story -- now supported by archival illustrations -- Cooper builds on 15 years of research to shed new light on a rebellious Portuguese-born black woman who refused to accept her indentured servitude. At the same time, Cooper completely demolishes the myth of a benign, slave-free Canada, revealing a damning 200-year-old record of legally and culturally endorsed slavery.

Index

The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.

abolitionist movements. See also

antislavery, 294

in the U.S. north, 102–3

Adhémar, Jean-Baptiste, 219

verdict on Angélique, 254

Affaire du Canada (fraud), 273, 275

Africa, European exploration of, 25–30

alcohol, controversial trade in, 112, 114, 152

Alva, Duke of, 47

Amherst, General Jeffrey, 139

Amo, Anton Wilhelm, 298

Anderson, John, 299–300

André de Leigne, Pierre (judge), 266, 278

Angélique, Marie-Joseph

accused of arson, 196, 214

affair with Thibault, 171–73, 175, 259

angry behavior of, 7, 128–29, 139, 172–74

arrival in Montréal of, 23, 66–67, 156

assumed historically to have been

guilty, 286

author’s views about her motives and

behaviour, 286–92

baptism of, 4, 128, 160–63

behaviour after the fire, 196–99

behaviour during the fire, 191–92

captured and returned to Montréal

unrepentant, 180–81, 231

confession of, 6, 18–19

confronts her accusers, 241–45, 249

confusion of while testifying, 246

congé (leave) sought from her mistress, 171, 175, 221

defiant acts of, 96, 128–29, 161, 173, 189–90, 260

denial of arson, 195–97

escape from slavery as her primary

wish, 67, 96, 175, 182, 241

escapes with Thibault, 173, 179–80, 221

evidence against her summarized, 252–53

fear of being sold to Cugnet, 176

fire breaks out in her bedroom at

Monière’s, 178–79

hanging of, 12, 20–22, 283–85

hatred of the French by, 228–29

lack of legal counsel for, 217

lack of status held by, 277–78

legal case against is prepared, 220–31

leisure activity of, 159

motives for arson and escape, 288–92

“New England” residence likely by, 23, 59–60

origins of, 6–7

Portuguese life of, 23, 32

pregnancies and children of, 7, 163–66

punishments of, 99, 173, 182

pyromaniac tendencies of, 229

relationship with Sieur Francheville, 128–29, 164–65

residence in low countries, 23

sale price paid for, 87

sent with Thibault to live at Alexis

Monière’s, 177–78

slavery narrative of, 304–6

social isolation and oppression of, 155–56

synopsis of her tragic end, 6

tasks (domestic & agricultural) assigned

to, 157

testimony of, 221–23, 232–36, 239–40, 245–50, 279

threats by to “roast” her mistress or

home, 12, 176–77, 182, 216, 221, 231

timing of her trial and hanging, 217

torture of, 15–19, 282

verdict rendered upon (at Montréal), 14, 16, 257–59

verdict rendered upon (at Québec), 279–81

visits Thibault often in prison, 182

Angélique-Denise (slave concubine for

hangman), 276

Angola, 35

antislavery. See also abolitionist movements

efforts on behalf of, 101, 103–4

literature of, 294, 298–304

Antwerp, decline of, 49

Arguim, 28

arson, the crime of, 220

asiento (slave trading licence), 30, 55, 83

Azores, 25–26, 30, 32, 34

Baby dit Dupéron, Jacques, 93

Baker, Dorinda, 93

baptism. See also Angélique, baptism of, 38–39, 75, 82, 105, 149, 165

Beaucours, Josué dubois Berthelot

(Montréal governor), 191, 200

Beauharnois de la Boische, Marquis

Charles de (Governor General), 62, 110–12, 115,119–20,151,188,200,210, 213–14, 267, 268, 271, 275, 277, 290

family history of, 266–68

Bégon, Michel (intendant), 72–73, 151, 211

Behrendt, Stephen, 68

Bellefeuille dit La Ruine, Louis (hospital

gardener), 196–97

testimony of, 242–43

Bennett, Isaac, 98

Benoît, Joseph (physician), 14

Bibb, Henry, 95–96, 294, 302, 306

“Black Atlantic experience”, 9, 12–13

Block, Nichus (Angélique’s second

owner), 24, 46, 51, 59–60, 283

blood lines (“polluted”), Portuguese focus

on, 39–40, 42

Bouffandeau, Jean (priest), 134

Boyajian, James C, 58

Boyer, Raymond, 289

brandy. See alcohol

Brant, Chief Joseph, 93, 96

Brazil, 32, 43–45, 52–55, 57–59

Catholic slaves in, 39, 43

Portuguese emigration to, 45

brodequins (“laced boots”) torture, 16–19

Brown, William Wells, 294

Buckley, Captain P...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• I The Torture and Hanging of Angélique
• II Atlantic Origins The Slave Woman from Portugal
• III The Secret of Slavery in Canada
• IV Bourgeois Slaveholders François Poulin de Francheville and Thérèse de Couagne
• V Angélique’ s Montréal
• VI First Fire, First Flight
• VII April’ s Fire
• VIII The Aftermath
• IX The Trial
• X The Verdict
• XI The Appeal and Final Judgment
• XXI The Execution
• XIII Angélique, the Arsonist
• EPILOGUE: A Silenced Voice Heard Again
• Notes
• Index
• Acknowledgements
• Sources
• Copyright
• About the Publisher