WORDS FROM MURPHY BROWNE

MURPHY BROWNE © JUNE 21-2018


MARIE JOSEPH ANGELIQUE JUNE 21-1734


On June 21 - 1734 enslaved African woman Marie Joseph Angélique was hanged in Montreal, Quebec. She was owned by Thérèse de Couagne de Francheville after de Francheville’s husband died. Marie-Joseph Angélique was part of Monsieur de Francheville’s estate when he died in 1733 and she was inherited by his widow. Angelique was accused of setting fire to her owner’s home during an escape attempt after learning that she was to be sold. Most Canadians do not seem to know that slavery is as much a part of this country’s history as it is American history. Enslaved Africans in Canada were also brutalized and even sold away from their families. African men, women and children were enslaved throughout this country.


On April 10, 1734 a fire destroyed half of Montréal. It was alleged that Angélique committed the act while attempting to escape her enslavement. She fled but was pursued, captured and tortured until she confessed then she was hanged. The arrest, torture (including having her legs crushed and the bones in her legs shattered) and hanging of Angélique is a story that proves slavery was a legal institution in Canada (1628-1834) which lasted for more than 200 years.


Angélique, who had been born into slavery in Portugal was sold more than once before being bought by de Francheville. It is possible that Angélique did not set the fire but was an ideal scapegoat for the crime: she was an enslaved African woman, a foreigner and a social outcast. As an enslaved person, Angélique had no rights that the White citizens or government would recognize. Angélique has been described as “assertive, rebellious and incorrigible.”


After a confession was tortured out of Marie Joseph Angelique on June 4, 1734, Judge Pierre Raimbault handed down his sentence: “Marie Joseph Angelique, negress, slave woman of Thérèse de Couagne, widow of the late François Poulin de Francheville, you are condemned to die, to make honourable amends, to have your hand cut off, be burned alive, and your ashes cast to the winds.” In her 2006 published book, “The Hanging of Angelique: The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montreal” African Canadian historian Dr. Afua Cooper researched court documents to tell the story of Marie Joseph Angélique. Dr. Cooper describes the scene of Marie Joseph Angelique dressed in a white chemise, forced to hold a burning torch in her hand, placed in a garbage cart, paraded through the streets then hanged and her body burned. On the way to the gallows the residents of Montreal came out in numbers to mock and curse the unfortunate woman.


Marie Joseph Angélique was born in Madeira, Portugal in 1705. She was sold to Nichus Block a Flemish merchant when she was 15 years old and taken to New England, USA. In 1725 she was 20 years old when she was sold to the French merchant François Poulin de Francheville and taken to Montreal. Imagine being born in Portugal and speaking Portuguese then sold to a Flemish merchant who spoke Dutch, then sold again to a French speaking family. At 29 years old, having been sold at least twice and having to quickly learn at least two European languages (Dutch and French) plus Portuguese Marie Joseph Angélique was on the verge of being sold once again by the widow Thérèse de Couagne de Francheville. It is little wonder she decided to flee her enslavement; no proof that she set the fire that supposedly burned half of Montreal.


The trial of Marie Joseph Angélique lasted six weeks, whereas trials in Montreal at that time usually lasted a few days. The 22 people who testified at the trial admitted that they did not see her start the fire, but they were all convinced of her guilt. The star witness who appeared suddenly after six weeks of testimony was Amable Lemoine Monière, the five-year-old daughter of Alexis Lemoine, a French merchant. The child swore under oath that she had seen Angélique going to the attic of the de Francheville house holding a shovel full of coals, just before the fire.


The five year old child’s testimony sealed Angélique’s fate despite her protestations of innocence. She did not confess until after she was subjected to inhumane torture. Marie-Joseph Angélique was hanged on June 21, 1734, in Montreal and historians are divided over whether or not she was an arsonist who burned down half of Montreal or the victim of a White supremacist conspiracy. Perhaps Angélique did start the fire as a protest/resistance against her enslavement. Enslaved Africans found various ways to protest/resist their enslavement. Most likely she was just the victim of circumstantial evidence, outright lies, rumors and racism. We will never know if Marie-Joseph Angélique was guilty of setting the fire. We do know that she was tortured into confessing after a six week trial where she consistently proclaimed her innocence. The story of Marie Joseph Angélique is Canadian history.


Murphy Browne © June 21-2018