Chapter 17 Short Story
The quest of the French Colonist, Amoux Larangie
**Disclaimer: Slight false hood has been incorporated into the story. However, this merely contributes to the plot, and does not in any way interfere with the required information, which is completely accurate. “*” will be shown next to a word or phrase to indicate its inaccuracy.
By: Dylan McCue, Franca Siroit, Hannah Hooge, Shlomo Dahan, Angie, Miliere, and Sky
“This story tells the tale of a French colonist, Amoux Larangie, who embarks on a quest across the Americas in an endeavor to obtain preliminary information about the Amerindians that will aid his future duties as a French missionary. During his escapades he encounters individuals from all walks of life, who supply him with substantial information and a remarkable sense of enlightenment…”
Part 1 :Amoux Larangie in French America
Beginning Amoux Larangie’s journey as a French missionary, he says farewell to his fellow colonists in New France who are among the smallest population in America (twenty times less than Virginia by 1627). The land he would be leaving was first brought into the interest of the French when Jacques Cartier made three voyages between 1524 and 1542 to Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but became New France because of the settlement by Samuel de Champlain. Soon Amoux would realize the maltreatment of native peoples in the Spanish, English, and Portuguese colony in comparison to the French who allied with the Huron and Algonquin people (enemies of the Iroquois Confederacy).
Though Amoux dedicated to a religious career, most young Frenchmen were coureurs de bois who settled into life among the natives and created families. These men and their children were called métis who would direct the trade of fur, expanding the French colony. Amerindians became such good customers for their reliance on the firearms, metal tools/utensils, textiles, and alcohol in exchange for fur. Amoux Larangie was thankful not to be in the fur trading business, judging risk by the apparent decrease in beavers and deer due to the native’s use of their new weapons. The mood within the colony has been low around the time of Larangie’s leave because of the multiple defeats and land losses by the Iroquois Confederacy allying the Dutch and English.
Because of the French, the native people had become more skilled in warfare and hunting with the abundance of firearms which Amoux saw as a positive impact. Amoux Larangie is a member of the Jesuits from French Canada, in effort to convert natives to Christianity by constructing boarding schools for boys and girls as well as setting up agricultural models for the converted. The role of the Catholic Church under the missionaries was to civilize indigenous people though they persisted with their culture. Epidemics such as small poxalong with what was stated prior were destructive to the efforts in spreading religion as reported by other missionaries. Being that the indigenous people were business partners and targets for the spread of Catholicism through missionaries, they had more independence and remained more in power over their land compared to other colonies. Though New France were victims of multiple losses, the colony expanded west and south as Louisiana was founded in 1699 but only inhabiting 300. Amoux along with many other of the colonists sense a larger war forming as a result of the current conflicts, but it is a topic that is avoided for its possible outcome of complete defeat for the French hence native allies.
Part 2: Amoux Larangie, a French Colonist, visits the Massachusetts Bay Colony in order toobtain preliminary information about Amerindians that will aid his future duties as a missionary.
The calm sea off the shore of the northeastern region of what is known today as America provided ideal sailing conditions. This was fortunate for the Frenchman Amoux Larangie - the navigator and promoter* of France’s quest to communicate to the Amerindian people. It was his duty to emphasize to them the extraction of natural resources – furs rather than minerals. But in order for him to fulfill his duty, it was imperative that he obtained as much information about the foreign, seemingly savage breed of human beings as possible. Luckily, he came across the British colony of the Massachusetts Bay, the inhabitants of which were Puritans, Protestant dissenters who believed that God predestined souls to heaven or hell before birth. The townsfolk agreed to tell Amoux everything they knew about the local Amerindians.
“Aye, that savage breed is bound to hell by the holy word of God,” exclaimed an elderly shopkeeper, clearly expressing his Puritan beliefs. “Both Puritans and Pilgrims believe it!” “Pilgrims?” Amoux asked. “Aye,” he responded, “they’re people who traveled to North America to seek religious refuge from the oppressive England.” “I thought you English folks had a rather peaceful relationship with the Natives” retorted Amoux. “Nowadays, it seems that way,” responded the shopkeeper, “but I don’t trust those savages.” “Do you have any knowledge with regards to any local tribes?” Amoux inquired. The shopkeeper proceeded to tell him about the Iroquois Indians, a self-governing body composed of five tribes that dominated the Northeast. “They’ve joined forces with the English,” he explained. Amoux continued with his inquiry. “I’m trying to teach the natives about resource extraction, though I’ve heard that there was a significant decline in their population over a century ago” he said. “Aye, there were rather high death rates forIndians back in the early 1520s. Central America lost over three-quarters of its inhabitants,” the shopkeeper responded. “Oh,” replied Amoux, “I remember being told that my ancestors transmitted a disease called small pox to the natives of Central America, which may have been accountable for those death rates. Amoux thanked him and went on his way, seeking more information from other sources.
Amoux, intrigued by the conversation he had with the shopkeeper, intended on broadening his knowledge of the Amerindians even more. As he walked through town, he spotted a married couple eating lunch by the harbor. The male spouse was a Catholic missionary, whose job was to spread fundamental catholic beliefs among the people of America, including the natives. His wife was of European and Amerindian descent, or, what the Spanish would call, a mestizo.. “The rapidly-expanding colonial empire has seemingly becoming relatively prominent,” noted Amoux, “How have the natives reacted to its rule?” The mestizo answered by saying; “Due to the ceaseless growth of the colonies, some of the natives have resorted to either giving up their respective land and moving elsewhere, or fighting for it. Unfortunately, those who choose to fight are not very successful, for the weaponry of the white man is far more advanced.” Her husband then retorted “Yes my dearest, but you must keep in mind that some of the native tribes, such as the Iroquois Confederacy have joined forces with us, and we welcome them to do so. We white men aren’t as callous and violent as some of the natives say we are.” “Yes,” she replied, “but your immensely wealthy Catholic Church has also brainwashed the natives into thinking that its religion is superior!” At this point, Amoux decided to excuse himself from the table, as he saw that their conversation was getting heated.
The Frenchman was satisfied with all the information he acquired in the British colony, so he set sail for another place with a different culture, different population and hopefully, more information about the Amerindians.
Part 3: Amoux’s journey through the Spanish territories
Amoux Larangie had been traveling for months and ended up in Spanish territories. He journeyed through large numbers of plantations. He saw African slaves working in the fields, but then he began to notice the Amerindians working too. He saw a sugar plantation on the brink of town. He was a bit curious, so he approached the plantation and knocked on the door. He was shown lots of courtesy by the maids inside, and then asked to speak to the owner. So they then brought to a room where the plantation owner then greeted him. Amoux Larangie spoke about what most French missionaries would, about the church. The Catholic Church of Spain became the richest institution in the Spanish colonies. It tried to convert many Amerindians to Christianity.
He then asked about the Amerindians on the plantation were they slaves? The plantation owner told him that they are forced to by the government, because they had to pay off their mit’a, or the labor tax that supported elite Spaniards. Not many of the Amerindians could survive off the wages they collected, and money left over after the mit’a. Even woman and children had to work to pay off the mit’a. Most Amerindians permanently moved to mines and farms and away from their original cities. It was either plantations or the silver mines in Mexico and Peru. But the mines had dangerous working conditions. Most of the Amerindian populations were declining due to epidemic.
Amoux Larangie traveled to Veracruz, Mexico, Mexico City, and Lima, Peru. Tax rebellions and urban riots took place in these cities, but the greatest rebellion was in 1780 by the Peruvian Indian leader Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui who took the name TupacAmaru II after TupacAmaru who was his Inca ancestor that was executed as a rebel in 1572. These were against the treatment of Amerindians. Bartolome de Las Casas was the most important advocate for the Native Amerindians, and became the first bishop.
He noticed that not all Amerindians worked, but were intermarried with the Spaniards. Their children were called mestizos. Even some of the African Slaves were freed and married to Europeans and their children were called mulattos. About 1% of slaves were freed each year. The City had many Europeans and creoles, who are the offspring of European parents. The cities had a mix of ethnicity, and the people that spoke Spanish or Portuguese where wealthy or had a high status.
Part 5: Amoux’s journey through the Portuguese territories
As Amoux walked for miles & miles, in windy and cloudy weather, he came across many sugar plantations. Slavery was big in the Latin American area, especially in the Portugal lands. This was no surprise to him, as he heard from many of the people on the boat (from which he boarded from Europe to Latin America) that sugar cane was abundant and the most important agricultural export in this area. It suddenly began to rain, so he thought he should ask for a place to stay before continuing on his journey. He came across this big wooden house, with a Portuguese plantation owner sitting out on the front porch, watching his slaves. As Amoux approached the plantation owner, the plantation owner abruptly stood up & said “Who are you and why have you come?” Amoux had learned Portuguese while in Europe, so he replied with “My name is Amoux Larangie. I am a French missionary exploring the world. If you would be so kind to provide a roof over my head till the rain ends, I will pay you in 2 pounds of silver”. “Very well then. Put your bag down & sit with me,” said the plantation owner, “I am Adão Terra. This is my plantation and these are my slaves. My wife is inside watching over the children.” Amoux gazed at the vast territory Adão owned. Along with his large land, Adão had a prodigious amount of slaves. As Amoux observed the slaves he saw that the majority were men and that all slaves were all worn out from work & suffering from malnutrition. Amoux had never seen such abuse and neglect to one’s slaves but this was very common on Portugal lands. He decided not to question or test Adão’s decisions for the risk of not having a place to rest for the night.
As complete darkness from the night came, Adão led Amoux into his home where his wife and children were sitting at the table and a mulatto slave women had served them food and drink. This wasn’t the first time Amoux saw a mulatto slave, but it was one of the few. “Where did you get her?” Amoux had asked. “I bought her from a family of a Spanish father and an African mother. She is about to gain freedom though through manumission. So she will be leaving me shortly” Adão had said. In an instant, the mulatto slave disappeared back to the fields. Adão quickly announced “This is my wife Feliciana and the mother of my two sons Cornèlo & Filipe.” His wife was a Brazilian native and his sons were mestizos. This was not rare for the time it had been. The marriage of Europeans and Amerindians was on the rise and becoming very common in many regions. When they had finished eating their dinner, Cornèlo & Felipe asked Amoux about his travels and about all that he saw. After amusing the children with his tall tales and gripping stories, it was time for bed. An African slave led Amoux into the guest room where he slept peacefully throughout the entire night. As Amoux awoke the next morning, he saw that everyone else in the house was still fast asleep. He put the 2 pounds of silver into a bag and left it by the bed with a note that read “Thank you for your hospitality. Here is what I promised and I wish you, your family, and your plantation the best.” Amoux slipped out the front door, trying to be as quiet as a mouse, to the front porch. He knew he had to leave early for another adventure had awaited him.