Alcohol in New France
Whether it is the use of brandy as a commodity in the fur trade, the local consumption of spirits and beer by the colonists at home and in the cabarets, or the wine used in religious ceremonies, its presence was ubiquitous and was one of the staples of the economy.
From the very first arrivals, French explorers and settlers of Canada observed with great interest the grapes they found growing natively in the Saint Lawrence Valley, often in the hope of producing wine with them.
[2] Although in abundance and of formidable size, they were not as suitable for winemaking as European varieties, owing to a thickened skin evolved to cope with the harsh Canadian winter, which produced an acrid taste.
[3] Local production of wine began nonetheless with Recollect and Jesuit missionaries needing to provide for religious ceremony, who found their imported supplies often close to depletion.
[11][12] During the 16th and 17th centuries, the preeminence of La Rochelle as the European point of departure to New France translated into a dominance of wines from Aunis and surrounding regions.
[23] Not long after his arrival in 1665, the first Intendant of New France Jean Talon put "his own money" towards a brewery in Quebec, in the hopes that state-driven production of beer would generate a local industry, reduce dependence on imported alcohol, ensure that excess grain was put to use, and reduce drunkenness of Canadians and Natives alike (beer being a 'weaker' alcohol).
[26] Despite a promising start, the brewery closed permanently less than ten years after opening in 1668, its product unable to compete with domestic brewing and a rise in imports of other alcohols, and moreover, failing to be in sufficient demand from the small colonial population.
[29] Nonetheless, there was a relative abundance of inns (auberges) and liquor stores (cabarets), almost one for every one hundred inhabitants in Montreal and Quebec, often operated out of a family's home as a secondary source of income.
[33] Eau-de-vie, in French (plural: eaux-de-vie), refers to a broad category of beverages produced by fermentation and then distillation, and includes such common alcohols as brandy (wine grapes), whisky and vodka (grain), bourbon (maize), and rum (sugarcane).
[36] Eaux-de-vie made using sugarcane, a plant incapable of withstanding boreal winters, was produced on and exported from the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Saint-Domingue.
True inter-colonial exchange was taking place: on ships returning to the Antilles, Canadians sold flour, cod, vegetables, and lumber.
[37] From the earliest years of the colonial establishment in New France alcohol was a contentious issue, often opposing members of the clergy with the Intendant and the habitants of the region.
Bishop Laval, in the early 1660s obtained a law punishing the trade of brandy with natives with death which forced the newly arrived governor Avaugour to execute two offenders.
[49] Although historians have argued that brandy (eau de vie), rum, beer, wine, and whiskey were neither easily produced nor imported to the region, and would have thus been in limited supply,[50] alcohol was certainly present in the colony and played a major role in trade and diplomacy with Native peoples.
[52] Mi'kmaq, Algonquin, Huron, Iroquois, and Odawa, as well as other Nations in Acadia and Western posts were similarly abusing alcohol by the latter half of the 17th century, according to missionary accounts.
Jesuit missionaries in New France frequently recognized that Aboriginal peoples had their own spiritual beliefs and practices, yet because the threat of eternal damnation and notion of temperance were not part of Native spiritual practices, Jesuits believed that Native peoples who used intoxicants were unable to abstain or control themselves, reinforcing the existing view that they were "savages.
"[54] In 1636, Paul Le Jeune, a Jesuit missionary, reported in the Relations that excessive alcohol consumption was having a negative effect in the colony, especially among Natives.
Murder, moral degradation, poverty, violence, and prostitution were viewed as some of the direct and indirect consequences of alcohol's obtainability, documented and condemned by missionary reports and further substantiated by traders and other Natives.
[57] Missionaries did their best to continue Native conversion efforts and assuage the ramifications of prevailing trade and commercial interests, but ecclesiastical representatives experienced difficulty without the full support of French Royal authorities.
Jacques Duchesneau de la Doussinière et d'Ambault, Intendant from 1675 to 1682, agreed with Jesuits that alcohol was the "obstacle to religion"[59] that contributed to the destruction of Native societies.
[67] Traders, coureurs de bois, and even soldiers peddled alcohol without much repercussion, especially in Western posts such as Michilimackinac, where Frontenac, Governor at the time, eventually allowed liquor sales.
In 1721, Intendant Michel Bégon renewed prohibition, but by 1732, Governor Beauharnois viewed punishment for illicit alcohol use as unrealistic, and argued again that colonial trade suffered as a result.
[77] This led to a number of different practices: first, individuals would get highly intoxicated then seek out enemies or people whom they held grudges against, and commit violent acts against them, often murder, without the fear of retribution.
[79] Many observers that natives solely drank for the purpose of getting as drunk as possible, they believed that absolute drunkenness apparently conferred power to the drinker, and that inebriation was a desirable state.
A Jesuit is quoted as referring to alcohol as "a demon that robs (Indians) of their reason, and so inflames their passion that, after returning from the chase richly laden with beaver-skins, instead of furnishing their families with provisions, clothing, and other necessary supplies, they drink away the entire proceeds in one day and are forced to pass the winter in nakedness, famine, and all sorts of deprivation.
The social consequences of drinking included intoxicated children who beat their parents, young men who plied girls with alcohol and corrupted them while drunk, and countless acts of violence that often ended in fatalities.
Many natives drank to escape the world they occupied, or to reach a more desirable state of mind, alcohol seemingly gave them temporary power and control over their lives once more.
Three anonymous reports by missionaries in 1693 give us some insight into the intense details of the psychological turmoil that the brandy trade brought to native communities.
And there were significant economic consequences as well; natives involved in the brandy trade became poor and lethargic, reducing the amount of furs that could be sent back to France.
[99] As well, though there is no evidence of widespread afflictions commonly associated with alcoholism, there were a significant number of recorded accidents due to intoxication, often ending in serious injury or death, which would affect the individual's family and community after the tragedy.
