Imperial Control and Urban Autonomy in Eighteenth-Century French America

Kenneth Banks

Although the French state designed and closely regulated the urban development of French American towns and ports, it is striking that most of the towns developed aspects independent of absolutist control and remained nests of colonial autonomy. A reexamination of colonial correspondence and travelers' accounts suggests that French colonists, both free and unfree, exerted a far greater control over the building of towns than has previously been ascribed to them. I argue that local environments, social and ethnic compositions, and factional politics were at least as influential as the state in determining how colonial towns actually developed. This paper focuses primarily on New Orleans, which, as a well-documented settlement/slave colony founded in the eighteenth century, is an ideal case study of the limitations of French imperial control as expressed in urban design and development. Understanding the role of cities as 'Urban Crucibles,' to borrow Gary B. Nash's phrase, helps us see the critical importance of urban life in creating dynamic and democratic political and social spheres.

[WP #97010]