French Hegemony in Spanish Louisiana and the Collapse of Mercantilism

Summary

During the late 18th century several hundred Canary Islanders (Isleños) were relocated to a remote village at the very edge of Spanish Louisiana. Recent archaeological investigations at the site of this village, known as Galveztown, are beginning to reveal the complex social processes at work on the Spanish frontier. Due to restrictive Spanish economic policies, grounded in a weak and contradiction-riddled mercantilism, the Isleños had very little control over the materiality of their daily lives. As suggested by the presence of everyday tablewares such as French faience, the French merchant elite in New Orleans took advantage of the failure of Spanish mercantilism to provide material goods to Spanish colonists in Louisiana. The result is a Spanish colonial site populated primarily by Hispanicized Canary Islanders with a very ‘French’ material signature.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Historical Archaeology of French America   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-61,07