Vincennes: From French colonial village to American frontier town, 1730-1820.

This dissertation explores the social, political, and economic transitions which occurred among the French-Canadian inhabitants of Vincennes (in present-day southern Indiana) as the colonial French village became an American frontier town. Few studies in recent decades have explored the colonial history of the Middle West, and even fewer make the chronological transition from the Colonial Period to the Early National Period. This study investigates the changes experienced by the French when they became British subjects (in 1763) and American citizens (in 1783). It also contributes to a fuller understanding of midwestern history by showing how the normal process of pioneer settlement was altered when Americans encountered long-established French towns and villages with already-constructed houses, churches, taverns, mills, merchants\u27 shops, cultivated farmland, and a population who enjoyed friendly relations with local Indian tribes. The first section of the dissertation describes what life was like in colonial Vincennes with chapters on daily life, making a living, religion, and the particular experiences of women. The cultural distinctness and unique experiences of midwestern French colonists offer a valuable comparison to English colonists in America. The middle section chronicles political and military developments in Vincennes and the West as the region was caught up in eighteenth-century imperial struggles, first between France and Great Britain and later between Great Britain and the United States. While the British Period was marked by much continuity in Vincennes due to the failure of the British government to establish firm political or military control, the Vincennes villagers faced many challenges and economic hardships during and after the American Revolution. The most significant part of the study is the last section which describes the rapid changes which occurred in Vincennes in the decades after the American Revolution (1785-1820). Topics covered in the last section include: Indian relations, French adaptation to American laws, French efforts to secure land claims, the French role in local/regional government; and the social and economic transformations which occurred from 1790 to 1820 as the French village took on increasing characteristics of an American frontier town