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Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 5 (of 8) The English and French in North America 1689-1763 — Text and Context

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Authors: Winsor, Justin, 1831-1897 [Editor] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2016 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: America -- Discovery and exploration; United States -- History; America -- History Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 345,373

Reading time 1502 min

Text sections 68

Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 5 (of 8) The English and French in North America 1689-1763 — Text and Context can be approached with a clearer sense of reading commitment from its source measurements: 345,373 words, 25 hr 2 min estimated reading time, and 68 detected text sections.

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Source: Project Gutenberg record #51470

This volume of Justin Winsor's collaborative history examines the Anglo-French struggle for North America (1689-1763), blending narrative with critical apparatus. It features facsimiles, maps, and editorial notes that foreground historiographic debate, such as the contested fate of the Acadians and the reliability of contemporary accounts.

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CANADA AND LOUISIANA. _Andrew McFarland Davis_ 1

ILLUSTRATIONS: La Présentation, 3; Autograph of Callières, 4; of Vaudreuil, 5; of Beauharnois, 7; of La Jonquière and of La Galissonière, 8; One of Céloron’s Plates, 9; Portrait of Lemoyne d’Iberville, with Autograph, 15; Environs du Mississipi (1700), 22; Portrait of Bienville, with Autograph, 26; Autograph of Lamothe, 29; of Lepinay, 31; Fac-simile of Bill of the Banque Royale, 34; Plans of New Orleans, 37, 38; View of New Orleans, 39; Map of the Mississippi, near New Orleans, 41; Fort Rosalie and Environs, 47; Plan of Fort Chartres, 54; Autograph of Vaudreuil, 57.

ILLUSTRATIONS: Autograph of La Harpe, 63; Portrait of Charlevoix, with Autograph, 64; Autograph of Le Page, 65; Map of the Mouths of the Mississippi, 66; Autograph of De Vergennes, 67; Coxe’s Map of Carolana, 70.

ILLUSTRATIONS: Portrait of John Law, 75; his Autograph, 76.

CARTOGRAPHY OF LOUISIANA AND THE MISSISSIPPI BASIN UNDER THE FRENCH DOMINATION. _The Editor_ 79

ILLUSTRATIONS: Map of Louisiana, in Dumont, 82; Huske’s Map (1755), 84; Map of Louisiana, by Le Page du Pratz, 86.

NEW ENGLAND, 1689-1763. _The Editor_ 87

ILLUSTRATIONS: Map of New England (1688), 88; Elisha Cooke, the Elder, 89; Seal of Massachusetts Province, 93; Bellomont, 97; Samuel Sewall, 100; Hertel, Seigneur de Rouville, 106; The Four Maquas (Indians), _opp._ 107; Draft of Boston Harbor, _opp._ 108; Ground Plan of Castle William, _opp._ 108; British Soldiers (1701-1714), 109; Gurdon Saltonstall, with Autograph, 112; William Dummer, 114; Jeremiah Dummer, 115; Elisha Cooke, the Younger, 117; Thomas Prince, 122; Boston Light and Province Sloop, 123; Increase Mather, 125; Mather Byles, 128; George II., 130; Popple’s Map of New England, 134; An English Fleet, 136; Benjamin Pollard, 138; Autograph of Benning Wentworth, 139; Portrait and Autograph of George Berkeley, 140; William Shirley, 142; Popple’s Chart of Boston Harbor, 143.

CRITICAL ESSAY. _The Editor_ 156

ILLUSTRATIONS: Hannah Adams, 160; John Gorham Palfrey, 161.

ILLUSTRATIONS: Rhode Island Twelve-Pence Bill, 172; Rhode Island Three-Shillings Bill, 173; New Hampshire Five-Shillings Bill, 174; New Hampshire Three-Pounds Bill, 175; Plan of Fort Halifax, 182; Autograph of Wm. Lithgow, 182; of Jabez Bradbury, 183; Flanker of Fort Halifax, 183; Restoration of Fort Halifax, 184; Block House (1714), 185; Plans of Fort Anson, 187.

MIDDLE COLONIES. _Berthold Fernow_ 189

ILLUSTRATIONS: Autograph of Jacob Leisler, 189; of Lord Cornbury, 192; of Governor Fletcher, with Seal, 194; of Lovelace, 196; of Governor Hunter, with Seal, 196; of Rip van Dam, 198; of Governor Clinton, with Seal, 202; of Governor James De Lancey, with Seal, 205; of Governor Cadwallader Colden, with Seal, 206; of Governor Robert Monckton, with Seal, 206.

CRITICAL ESSAY. (_Manuscript sources, by Mr. Fernow_) 231

(_Cartography and Boundaries of the Middle Colonies, by Mr. Fernow and the Editor_) 233

ILLUSTRATIONS: Cadwallader Colden’s Map in fac-simile, 237; Map of Pennsylvania (1756), 239.

ILLUSTRATIONS: Autograph of Daniel Horsmanden, 242; Views of New York (1732), 250; (1746), 251; (1761), 251; Plans of New York City (1695), 253; of New York and Perth Amboy Harbor (1732), 254; of New York (1755), 255; (1763), 256; (1764, by Bellin), 257; Heap’s East Prospect of Philadelphia (1754-1761), 258.

MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA. _The Editor_ 259

ILLUSTRATIONS: Frederick, Lord Baltimore, 262; Alexander Spotswood, 266; Robert Dinwiddie, with Autograph, 269.

ILLUSTRATIONS: Map of Maryland, _opp._ 273; Map of Virginia (1738), 274; William Byrd, 275; Map of Northern Neck of Virginia (1736-1737), 277; William and Mary College, 279; Autograph of Hugh Jones, 280; Map of Part of Colonial Virginia, _opp._ 280; Fac-simile of Title of _Apostolic Charity_, by Thomas Bray (1700), 283.

THE CAROLINAS. _William J. Rivers_ 285

ILLUSTRATIONS: Map of North Carolina (1663-1729), 285; Autographs of the Lords Proprietors (Clarendon, Ashley, Albemarle, G. Carteret, Craven, John Berkeley, Will. Berkeley, James Colleton), 287; Map of Cooper and Ashley Rivers, 315; Plan of Charlestown, S. C. (1732), 330; View of Charlestown (1742), 331.

CRITICAL ESSAY. _The Editor_ 335

ILLUSTRATIONS: Autograph of John Locke, 336; Shapley’s Sketch-Map of the Carolina Coast (1662), 337; Map (1666), 338; Lederer’s Map (1669-1670), 339; Morden’s Map (1687), 341; Plan of Charlestown (1704), 343; Autographs of John Archdale and John Oldmixon, 344; Carolina War-Map (1711-1715), 346; Indian Map of South Carolina (1730), 349; Moll’s Map of Carolina (1730), 351; Autograph of George Chalmers, 353.

NOTE ON THE LATER HISTORIES OF CAROLINA. _The Editor_ 354

THE ENGLISH COLONIZATION OF GEORGIA, 1733-1752. _Charles C. Jones, Jr._ 357

ILLUSTRATIONS: General Oglethorpe, 362; Map of South Carolina and Georgia (1733), 365; Early View of Savannah, 368; Tomo-chi-chi Mico, 371; Map of the County of Savannah (Urlsperger), 373; Map of Coast Settlements before 1743, 375; Map of Coast from St. Augustine to Charlestown, S. C., with Map of Simon’s Island (Urlsperger), 379; Plan of St. Augustine (1763), 381; Map of Coast of Florida (1742), 382; Map of Harbor and Town of St. Augustine (1742), 383; Whitefield, 388.

ILLUSTRATION: Handwriting of Oglethorpe, 393.

THE WARS ON THE SEABOARD: ACADIA AND CAPE BRETON. _Charles C. Smith_ 407

ILLUSTRATION: A French Frigate, 412.

AUTHORITIES ON THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS OF NEW ENGLAND AND ACADIA, 1688-1763. _The Editor_ 420

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This volume opens with a detailed examination of Canada and Louisiana under French dominion, immediately establishing the work's dual focus on narrative and historiographic criticism. The editor, Justin Winsor, integrates primary documents—including autographs, maps, and facsimiles of Céloron's lead plates—with a running commentary that weighs conflicting sources. For instance, the treatment of the Acadian expulsion reveals a deliberate tension: early accounts by Barry and others claim the Acadians "became extinct," while later authorities like Murdoch and Rameau document substantial returns and resettlement. Winsor's editorial notes thus foreground the constructed nature of historical memory, inviting readers to assess evidence rather than accept a single story.

Contrasting Voices on the Acadian Expulsion

The excerpts show Winsor juxtaposing starkly different claims about the fate of the Acadians after 1755. Barry (ii. 204) states they "became extinct, though a few of their descendants, indeed, still live at the South!"—a formulation that implies near-total disappearance. Yet Winsor immediately counters with Murdoch, who reports that "very many of them returned within a few years," and Rameau, who traces 150 families wandering back by land to found villages in the Bay of St. Mary's. The editor then cites Hannay, who asserts that "at least two thirds of the 3,000 (?) removed eventually returned." This sequence of quotations, with Hannay's question mark parenthetically questioning the initial number, exemplifies Winsor's method: he does not resolve the contradiction but arrays the evidence, letting the reader see how later scholarship revised earlier assertions. The inclusion of Rameau's Une Colonie féodale and La France aux Colonies further underscores the transnational dimension of the historiographic debate.

The Siege of Louisbourg: Multiple Diaries, One Event

Winsor's treatment of the 1758 siege of Louisbourg illustrates his reliance on multiple firsthand accounts. He notes that Parkman used four long and minute French diaries, including that of Drucour, the French commander, which contains his correspondence with Amherst, Boscawen, and Desgouttes. On the English side, Winsor cites the despatches of Amherst and Boscawen, published as A journal of the landing of his majesty's forces, and a so-called journal of Amherst printed in the London Magazine. The editor also mentions Thomas Mante's Hist. of the Late War and a journal by Franquet, who was sent to strengthen Louisbourg before the war. By listing these sources without privileging one, Winsor emphasizes that the siege is known through a mosaic of perspectives—military, naval, French, English—each with its own biases and gaps. The reader is thus positioned as a critical assembler of evidence.

Cartography and the Material Culture of Empire

The volume's extensive illustrations—maps, portraits, autographs, and even a facsimile of a Banque Royale bill—are not mere decoration but integral to its argument. The chapter on "Cartography of Louisiana and the Mississippi Basin under the French Domination" includes maps by Dumont, Huske (1755), and Le Page du Pratz, each representing a different cartographic tradition and political claim. Winsor's editorial notes also reproduce Céloron's lead plates, which were buried to assert French territorial claims. These objects function as evidence of how empires inscribed their presence on the landscape. The inclusion of autographs—from Callières to Vaudreuil to Bienville—personalizes the administrative apparatus, while the plan of Fort Chartres and the view of New Orleans ground the narrative in specific places. Readers are encouraged to consider how maps and artifacts shape historical understanding as much as written accounts do.

Readers approaching this volume should attend to the interplay between the main narrative and the critical apparatus—the footnotes, editorial notes, and illustrations that often challenge or complicate the story. Winsor's method rewards those who read across these layers, comparing the claims of different authorities and noting where the editor withholds judgment. The volume is less a definitive account than a workshop in historical method, demonstrating how evidence is selected, weighed, and contested.

That Winsor volume stayed with me because it shows how history argues with itself, how the Acadian story refuses to settle. It reminded me of the quiet patience in The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson With the journal of her first commander Lieutenant James Grant — Context and Discussion—same feel of voices straining through documents, same tenderness toward what’s uncertain.