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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: 1789,
and
GOVERNOR WENTWORTH’S PARANOID FEAR OF THE MI’KMAQ

During the last part of the eighteenth century, traversing the rocky road of survival laid out by English racism was made more difficult for the Mi'kmaq because the invaders still feared them. Although colonial government officials treated them with disdain, they still believed the Mi'kmaq presented a threat to their security and continued to Harbour an almost paranoid anxiety towards them. Today this seems incredible, because by this time the Mi'kmaq Nation was almost without means of sustenance, let alone means to conduct warfare. The invaders eventually came to appreciate this, but not for another twenty years or so, which involved other events affecting the future of the province, including the French Revolution.

Reflecting on how the French-Mi'kmaq relationship still affected the British after the start of the French Revolution in 1789, Jaenen observed:

“The wars of the French Revolution brought new anxieties for the British in North
America [the British were fearful that the newly liberated French would form another
alliance with their former Amerindian allies and retake the colonies] and new hope
to some of the Native people of obtaining some redress of wrongs committed against
them. In 1793, for example, there were revived fears among settlers and officials in
Nova Scotia of a French invasion and a Micmac rising in favour of their former
allies.”

The paranoia the English held about the former Mi'kmaq-French relationship seems strange today. Common sense should have told them that the best way to prevent this relationship from being re-established was to court the Mi'kmaq. But their racism superseded common sense as always. In future years they would try to copy the approach the French had used to create good relationships with First Nations, but the element of sincerity was always missing. Jaenen states:

“The American alliance [between France and the United States] presented many
difficulties for the French, particularly in their relationship with the Native people.
The position adopted by the English colonists of the United States was not
substantially altered by the [American] revolution, but the British in Canada found it
necessary to adopt many aspects of the traditional French policy towards the Native
people.”

Adding to English fears were the many American and French attempts to stir up rebellion among the French Canadiens. These efforts failed because the French Canadiens were, like France's former Amerindian allies, unwilling to take up arms on behalf of a country that had already proven itself unreliable as an ally. They also had been abandoned once too often to again risk English retribution:

“Because of Citizen Genet's efforts to arouse the French Canadiens to rebellion, it
was feared that his agents might also be at work among the Micmac, exploiting their
economic and social conditions to French advantage.... Lieutenant Governor [of
Nova Scotia] Wentworth thought it essential to pacify them with gifts of food and
clothing so "that the peace of our scattered Inhabitants may not be disturbed by
them, and also that they will join us in case of an invasion."

Viewed in the abstract, Wentworth displayed incredible paranoia-fearing a poverty-stricken and helpless People! If the die-hard faithful still believe that the Great Britain of that era was awash in democratic practices, these quotes from Wentworth should set them straight:

“Wentworth thought it necessary to warn all to watch out for "Democratic French
Practices among these Savages." The British government also allocated funds for
financial relief of the Micmacs, when Wentworth described some unusual activity
among them at Windsor, "during the expectation of a Descent."

Perhaps it was their fear of a people they had already reduced to unarmed, landless and penniless beggars that motivated the English Governor of New Brunswick to sign the last treaty between the British and a Mi'kmaq community. It was made between the Mi'kmaq of the Miramichi and a representative of King George III, translated from the original written in Mi'kmaq:

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