Marie-Joseph Angélique facts for kids
Marie-Josèphe dite Angélique was a black enslaved woman born in Portugal around 1705. She lived in New France (which is now part of Quebec, Canada). Her last owners gave her the name Angélique. She was accused and found guilty of starting a big fire that destroyed many buildings in what is now Old Montreal.
For a long time, most people believed Angélique was guilty. However, some historians now think she might have been innocent. They suggest she was convicted because she had a reputation for trying to escape, rather than because of strong proof. Another idea is that she did start the fire, but as a way to fight against slavery. Historians still don't agree on whether she was truly guilty or innocent.
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Early Life in New France
Angélique was born around 1705 on the Madeira Islands, which belonged to Portugal. Later, she was sold to a man from Flanders named Nichus Block or Nicolas Bleeker. He brought her to the New World. She lived in New England before being sold again in 1725. Her new owner was a French businessman from Montreal named François Poulin de Francheville. After he died in 1733, she belonged to his wife, Thérèse de Couagne.
Slavery in New England and New France was mostly for household work. It was different from the large farms in the southern parts of what would become the United States. Angélique worked in the Francheville home in Montreal. Sometimes, she also helped on the family's small farm on Montreal Island. This farm mainly grew supplies for Francheville's trading trips.
Angélique had three children while in Montréal. A boy born in 1731 lived for only one month. Twins born in 1732 both died within five months.
Before the fire and trial, Angélique became close with Claude Thibault. He was a white servant who also worked for the Franchevilles. After Mr. Francheville died in November 1733, his wife, Madame Francheville, became very busy with his businesses. In early 1734, she asked her brother-in-law, Alexis Monière, to look after Angélique and Claude Thibault while she was away.
Attempted Escape
On February 22, while Madame Francheville was still away, Angélique and Thibault tried to escape to New England. They ran across the frozen St. Lawrence River. They stopped to get some bread Thibault had hidden in a barn. But the winter travel was too hard. They had to hide in a place called Châteauguay until the weather got better.
A few weeks later, they were caught by three militia captains. These captains acted as local police. Thibault was put in jail on March 5 and let out on April 8, the day before the fire. Angélique visited him several times in jail and brought him food.
Angélique was simply returned to Madame de Francheville. Her mistress did not punish her for trying to escape. This might be because Madame Francheville was already planning to sell her. During the trial, it was said that Madame de Francheville found it hard to control Angélique. She planned to sell Angélique to one of her late husband's business partners, François-Étienne Cugnet, for 600 pounds of gunpowder. This sale meant Angélique would be sent to Quebec City.
Angélique was afraid of being sold, especially if she ended up in the West Indies. This fear might have been why she tried to escape. There was a lot of tension between Angélique and her mistress. Madame Francheville even fired another servant because Angélique and the servant argued a lot. Angélique promised she could do all the work better. She might have hoped that working hard would make her mistress change her mind and keep her. Madame Francheville agreed, but she still planned to send Angélique away.
After Thibault was released from jail, he visited Madame de Couagne to ask for his pay. She paid him but told him not to come back to her house. She also told him that Angélique had been sold and would be sent to Quebec City as soon as the ice melted. Thibault ignored her warning and visited Angélique several times when Madame de Couagne was not home. It was early April, so they both knew the river would soon be open for ships. Angélique would not be in Montreal much longer. Angélique told another servant that she planned to run away again. It's possible that she and Thibault talked about starting a fire to help them escape.
The Great Fire of April 10, 1734
On Saturday, April 10, 1734, at seven in the evening, people in Montreal were leaving church. Suddenly, the guard shouted, "Fire!" A fire had started on one side of rue Saint-Paul and was spreading quickly. The fire was so strong that police officers could not get close to it. Many people tried to find safety at the Hôtel-Dieu, which was a hospital. But a strong wind blew from the west, and the fire spread. It destroyed the hospital in less than three hours.
Forty-five houses were also burned down. Because of the panic, many things were stolen from homes and from the convent. A nun named Sister Véronique Cuillerier wrote about how sudden the fire was:
On April 10 [1734], when everything was quiet and we weren't expecting any trouble, at 7 in the evening during our free time, we heard a cry of fire. Right away, we all got up to see where it was. It was at a nearby house. We rushed to stop the fire, but the Lord did not let us succeed. Everyone went into our church, thinking we would be safe. But the flames rose so strongly towards the church, which was just across the street from the burning houses, that we soon found ourselves surrounded by fire.
Rumors started that Angélique had set the fire. Later that evening, the convent's gardener, Louis Bellefeuille, even told her about these rumors. She denied them. The rumors seemed to start from comments made by Marie-Manon. She was a young enslaved girl owned by Madame de Couagne's neighbors. Marie-Manon claimed she heard Angélique say that her mistress would not sleep in her house that night. By the time the fire was out, many people believed Angélique had started it. She was found in the garden of the hospital and taken to the king's jail.
A warrant was also issued for Thibault. He was seen two days after the fire, but by the time police went to arrest him, he had disappeared. He was never seen again in New France.
Trial and Execution
Angélique was charged and put on trial. French law at the time allowed someone to be arrested if the community generally believed they were guilty. This was called "public knowledge." For the next six weeks, many witnesses were called. None of them said they saw Angélique start the fire. But they all claimed they were sure she had done it. They talked a lot about Angélique's character, saying she was a badly behaved enslaved person who often talked back to her owners. But no strong proof was given that she was guilty of the fire.
The lawyers were frustrated because they didn't have enough evidence to convict Angélique. They thought about asking to use torture before a final decision. This was very unusual in New France. But then, a witness suddenly appeared. Amable, the five-year-old daughter of Alexis Monière, said she had seen Angélique carrying a shovel full of hot coals to the attic of the house on the afternoon the fire started.
This new evidence allowed the prosecutor to finish his case. The judge and four other officials agreed that Angélique was guilty. Historians point out that no one questioned why it took so long for Amable to come forward. The fire and trial were widely discussed in the city. Some believe people were willing to believe the little girl's story because so many had lost so much, and they needed someone to blame.
The prosecutor automatically appealed the sentence to a higher court, as required by law. Angélique was sent to Quebec City. A week later, the appeals court also believed Angélique was guilty. They made the punishment less harsh, so Angélique would be executed.
A few days later, Angélique was back in Montréal. On June 21, the court read her the new sentence. Angélique refused to confess or name any helpers. She did confess her guilt but still said she acted alone.
On the afternoon of the same day, Angélique was taken through the streets of Montreal one last time. After stopping at the church, she was led to a platform facing the burned buildings. There, she was executed.
Legacy and Impact
Angélique's dramatic story has inspired many novels, plays, poems, and songs. One play, called Angélique by Lorena Gale, won a national playwriting competition in Canada in 1995.
Angélique has become almost a legendary figure. Parts of her story have spread, especially in places like Haiti. There, people still tell the tale that she was burned alive with her hand cut off, even though the original sentence was changed. Some authors, like the poet George Elliott Clarke, see her as a symbol of freedom. They prefer to think of her as an active rebel rather than someone who was wrongly accused. Others, like historian Denyse Beaugrand-Champagne, find her inspiring as a strong, independent woman. They see her as someone who bravely fought for her freedom and her life, even though society expected women, especially black enslaved women, to be obedient.
In 2012, a public square in Montreal, near City Hall, was named Place Marie-Josèphe-Angélique in her honor.
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