{"id":{"repo_id":"sherbrooke","oai_identifier":"oai:usherbrooke.scholaris.ca:11143/23654"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/sherbrooke/oai:usherbrooke.scholaris.ca:11143/23654","repository":{"repo_id":"sherbrooke","name":"Université de Sherbrooke","base_url":"https://usherbrooke.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"La construction des inégalités au Canada (17e – 19e siècles) : reproduction familiale, mobilité sociale et parcours élitaires au sein de la famille Drapeau","abstract":"This thesis offers an analysis of the relationships between mechanisms of family reproduction, upward and downward social mobility, the formation of elites, and ultimately the construction of inequality in Canada from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Based on a longitudinal study of five generations of the Drapeau family, established in the St. Lawrence Valley, and structured around a prosopographical investigation involving a corpus of over 630 individuals, this research sheds light on the differentiated dynamics that shape individual and family trajectories in a predominantly agrarian colonial society, one undergoing major legal, economic, and political transformations, particularly in the aftermath of the 1763 regime change. This study follows on from the work of the joint project on the history of French and Quebec rural societies by focusing on the construction of internal inequalities within the same lineage from an intergenerational and intragenerational perspective. It uses a multi-scale approach by articulating the micro (individuals), meso (family units) and macro (branches, lineages, lineage and society) scales. The demographic, geographic, economic, social, legal and cultural dimensions are at the heart of this longitudinal analysis, and serve as a basis for detecting permanences, gaps and ruptures. At the origin of this inquiry lies a fundamental observation : while Joseph Drapeau (1752–1810), a wealthy merchant, owner of the largest seigneurial estate ever held by a Canadian layperson, politician, and elite figure, represents a remarkable upward trajectory, he cannot be studied in isolation. His path, like that of his daughters, the so-called \"Dames Drapeau\", or his many collateral relatives, only makes sense through a comparative analysis of individual and family trajectories. Indeed, within this same lineage descending from Antoine Drapeau and Charlotte Joly – two commoner settlers of French origin who established themselves in the St. Lawrence Valley in the 1660s and formed the founding couple of the Drapeau lineage in Canada – the vast majority of descendants perpetuated, generation after generation, a lifestyle rooted in rurality and agricultural labor. While a few individuals reached the upper echelons of the social hierarchy, most reproduced a position within the Canadian peasantry. It is this fundamental divergence that constitutes one of the central concerns of this thesis : to understand how, within a single family lineage, such contrasted trajectories could emerge, and what reproductive dynamics account for these profound differentiations. Rather than tracing the rise of a single individual or family unit, this study focuses on a complete family group over more than two and a half centuries, thus contributing to the social history of preindustrial Quebec and Canada, to our understanding of the evolution of colonial elites, and to the study of stratification within rural communities.","abstract_html":"This thesis offers an analysis of the relationships between mechanisms of family reproduction, upward and downward social mobility, the formation of elites, and ultimately the construction of inequality in Canada from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Based on a longitudinal study of five generations of the Drapeau family, established in the St. Lawrence Valley, and structured around a prosopographical investigation involving a corpus of over 630 individuals, this research sheds light on the differentiated dynamics that shape individual and family trajectories in a predominantly agrarian colonial society, one undergoing major legal, economic, and political transformations, particularly in the aftermath of the 1763 regime change. This study follows on from the work of the joint project on the history of French and Quebec rural societies by focusing on the construction of internal inequalities within the same lineage from an intergenerational and intragenerational perspective. It uses a multi-scale approach by articulating the micro (individuals), meso (family units) and macro (branches, lineages, lineage and society) scales. The demographic, geographic, economic, social, legal and cultural dimensions are at the heart of this longitudinal analysis, and serve as a basis for detecting permanences, gaps and ruptures. At the origin of this inquiry lies a fundamental observation : while Joseph Drapeau (1752–1810), a wealthy merchant, owner of the largest seigneurial estate ever held by a Canadian layperson, politician, and elite figure, represents a remarkable upward trajectory, he cannot be studied in isolation. His path, like that of his daughters, the so-called "Dames Drapeau", or his many collateral relatives, only makes sense through a comparative analysis of individual and family trajectories. Indeed, within this same lineage descending from Antoine Drapeau and Charlotte Joly – two commoner settlers of French origin who established themselves in the St. Lawrence Valley in the 1660s and formed the founding couple of the Drapeau lineage in Canada – the vast majority of descendants perpetuated, generation after generation, a lifestyle rooted in rurality and agricultural labor. While a few individuals reached the upper echelons of the social hierarchy, most reproduced a position within the Canadian peasantry. It is this fundamental divergence that constitutes one of the central concerns of this thesis : to understand how, within a single family lineage, such contrasted trajectories could emerge, and what reproductive dynamics account for these profound differentiations. Rather than tracing the rise of a single individual or family unit, this study focuses on a complete family group over more than two and a half centuries, thus contributing to the social history of preindustrial Quebec and Canada, to our understanding of the evolution of colonial elites, and to the study of stratification within rural communities.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bergeron-Gauthier, Raphaël"],"institution":"Université de Sherbrooke","degree_name":"Ph. D.","degree_level":"Doctorat","degree_discipline":"Histoire","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Grenier, Benoît","Viret, Jérôme-Luther"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025","date_published":"2025","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:07:34Z","subjects":["Québec","Canada","XVIIe siècle","XVIIIe siècle","XIXe siècle","Famille","Inégalités","Élites","Bourgeoisie","Noblesse","Marchand","Régime seigneurial","Seigneurs","Seigneuresses","Pouvoir féminin","Mobilité sociale","Reproduction familiale","Transmission","Paysannerie","Coutume de Paris","Féodalisme","Capitalisme","Société coloniale","Éducation","Distinction","Alliances et stratégies","17th century","18th century","19th century","Family","Inequality","Nobility","Merchants","Seigneurial regime","Female seigneurs","Female power","Social mobility","Family reproduction","Inheritance","Peasantry","Feudalism","Capitalism","Colonial society"],"languages":["fr"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/11143/23654","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Grenier, Benoît","Viret, Jérôme-Luther"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bergeron-Gauthier, Raphaël"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-12-05T15:11:35Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Université de Sherbrooke"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thèse de doctorat"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Histoire"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctorat"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph. 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Based on a longitudinal study of five generations of the Drapeau family, established in the St. Lawrence Valley, and structured around a prosopographical investigation involving a corpus of over 630 individuals, this research sheds light on the differentiated dynamics that shape individual and family trajectories in a predominantly agrarian colonial society, one undergoing major legal, economic, and political transformations, particularly in the aftermath of the 1763 regime change. This study follows on from the work of the joint project on the history of French and Quebec rural societies by focusing on the construction of internal inequalities within the same lineage from an intergenerational and intragenerational perspective. It uses a multi-scale approach by articulating the micro (individuals), meso (family units) and macro (branches, lineages, lineage and society) scales. The demographic, geographic, economic, social, legal and cultural dimensions are at the heart of this longitudinal analysis, and serve as a basis for detecting permanences, gaps and ruptures. At the origin of this inquiry lies a fundamental observation : while Joseph Drapeau (1752–1810), a wealthy merchant, owner of the largest seigneurial estate ever held by a Canadian layperson, politician, and elite figure, represents a remarkable upward trajectory, he cannot be studied in isolation. His path, like that of his daughters, the so-called \"Dames Drapeau\", or his many collateral relatives, only makes sense through a comparative analysis of individual and family trajectories. Indeed, within this same lineage descending from Antoine Drapeau and Charlotte Joly – two commoner settlers of French origin who established themselves in the St. Lawrence Valley in the 1660s and formed the founding couple of the Drapeau lineage in Canada – the vast majority of descendants perpetuated, generation after generation, a lifestyle rooted in rurality and agricultural labor. While a few individuals reached the upper echelons of the social hierarchy, most reproduced a position within the Canadian peasantry. It is this fundamental divergence that constitutes one of the central concerns of this thesis : to understand how, within a single family lineage, such contrasted trajectories could emerge, and what reproductive dynamics account for these profound differentiations. Rather than tracing the rise of a single individual or family unit, this study focuses on a complete family group over more than two and a half centuries, thus contributing to the social history of preindustrial Quebec and Canada, to our understanding of the evolution of colonial elites, and to the study of stratification within rural communities.","Cette thèse propose une analyse des rapports qui existent entre les mécanismes de la reproduction familiale, la mobilité sociale ascendante et descendante, la formation des élites et, ultimement, la construction des inégalités au Canada entre le XVIIe et le XIXe siècle. À partir d’une étude longitudinale de cinq générations de la famille Drapeau établie dans la vallée du Saint-Laurent, laquelle s’articule autour d’une enquête prosopographique portant sur un corpus de 630 personnes, cette recherche met en lumière les dynamiques différenciées qui structurent les trajectoires individuelles et familiales dans une société coloniale majoritairement agraire, soumise à des mutations juridiques, économiques et politiques majeures, notamment à la suite du changement de régime de 1763. Cette étude s’inscrit dans le sillage des travaux du projet conjoint d’histoire des sociétés rurales françaises et québécoises en s’intéressant à la construction des inégalités internes au sein d’un même lignage dans une perspective intergénérationnelle et intragénérationnelle. Elle mobilise une approche multiscalaire en articulant les échelles micro (individus), méso (cellules familiales) et macro (branches, lignées, lignage et société) entre elles. Les dimensions démographiques, géographiques, économiques, sociales, juridiques et culturelles sont au cœur de cette analyse longitudinale, et servent de fondement à la détection des permanences, des écarts et des ruptures. À l’origine de cette réflexion se trouve un constat : si Joseph Drapeau (1752-1810), riche négociant, propriétaire du plus vaste ensemble seigneurial jamais détenu par un laïc canadien, homme politique et figure de l’élite, incarne une trajectoire d’ascension remarquable, il ne saurait être analysé isolément. Son parcours, tout comme celui de ses filles les « Dames Drapeau » ou de ses nombreux collatéraux, prend sens dans une analyse comparative des trajectoires individuelles et familiales. En effet, au sein de ce même lignage issu d’Antoine Drapeau et de Charlotte Joly – deux colons roturiers d’origine française établis dans la vallée laurentienne dans les années 1660 et formant le couple fondateur du lignage Drapeau au Canada –, la très grande majorité des descendants ont perpétué, génération après génération, un mode de vie ancré dans la ruralité et le travail de la terre. Tandis que quelques individus accèdent aux sommets de la hiérarchie sociale, la vaste majorité reproduit une position au sein de la paysannerie canadienne. C’est dans cet écart fondamental que réside l’un des intérêts centraux de cette thèse : comprendre comment, au sein d’un même lignage familial, des trajectoires aussi contrastées ont pu se développer, et quelles dynamiques de reproduction familiale permettent d’expliquer ces différenciations profondes. Plutôt que de retracer uniquement l’ascension d’un individu ou d’une cellule familiale, cette étude se concentre sur un groupe familial complet sur plus de deux siècles et demi, apportant ainsi une contribution à l’histoire sociale du Québec et du Canada préindustriels, à la compréhension du devenir des élites coloniales, et à l’étude de la stratification au sein des communautés rurales."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["La construction des inégalités au Canada (17e – 19e siècles) : reproduction familiale, mobilité sociale et parcours élitaires au sein de la famille Drapeau"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Grenier, Benoît","Viret, Jérôme-Luther"],"dc:creator":["Bergeron-Gauthier, Raphaël"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-12-05T15:11:35Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis offers an analysis of the relationships between mechanisms of family reproduction, upward and downward social mobility, the formation of elites, and ultimately the construction of inequality in Canada from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Based on a longitudinal study of five generations of the Drapeau family, established in the St. Lawrence Valley, and structured around a prosopographical investigation involving a corpus of over 630 individuals, this research sheds light on the differentiated dynamics that shape individual and family trajectories in a predominantly agrarian colonial society, one undergoing major legal, economic, and political transformations, particularly in the aftermath of the 1763 regime change. This study follows on from the work of the joint project on the history of French and Quebec rural societies by focusing on the construction of internal inequalities within the same lineage from an intergenerational and intragenerational perspective. It uses a multi-scale approach by articulating the micro (individuals), meso (family units) and macro (branches, lineages, lineage and society) scales. The demographic, geographic, economic, social, legal and cultural dimensions are at the heart of this longitudinal analysis, and serve as a basis for detecting permanences, gaps and ruptures. At the origin of this inquiry lies a fundamental observation : while Joseph Drapeau (1752–1810), a wealthy merchant, owner of the largest seigneurial estate ever held by a Canadian layperson, politician, and elite figure, represents a remarkable upward trajectory, he cannot be studied in isolation. His path, like that of his daughters, the so-called \"Dames Drapeau\", or his many collateral relatives, only makes sense through a comparative analysis of individual and family trajectories. Indeed, within this same lineage descending from Antoine Drapeau and Charlotte Joly – two commoner settlers of French origin who established themselves in the St. Lawrence Valley in the 1660s and formed the founding couple of the Drapeau lineage in Canada – the vast majority of descendants perpetuated, generation after generation, a lifestyle rooted in rurality and agricultural labor. While a few individuals reached the upper echelons of the social hierarchy, most reproduced a position within the Canadian peasantry. It is this fundamental divergence that constitutes one of the central concerns of this thesis : to understand how, within a single family lineage, such contrasted trajectories could emerge, and what reproductive dynamics account for these profound differentiations. Rather than tracing the rise of a single individual or family unit, this study focuses on a complete family group over more than two and a half centuries, thus contributing to the social history of preindustrial Quebec and Canada, to our understanding of the evolution of colonial elites, and to the study of stratification within rural communities.","Cette thèse propose une analyse des rapports qui existent entre les mécanismes de la reproduction familiale, la mobilité sociale ascendante et descendante, la formation des élites et, ultimement, la construction des inégalités au Canada entre le XVIIe et le XIXe siècle. À partir d’une étude longitudinale de cinq générations de la famille Drapeau établie dans la vallée du Saint-Laurent, laquelle s’articule autour d’une enquête prosopographique portant sur un corpus de 630 personnes, cette recherche met en lumière les dynamiques différenciées qui structurent les trajectoires individuelles et familiales dans une société coloniale majoritairement agraire, soumise à des mutations juridiques, économiques et politiques majeures, notamment à la suite du changement de régime de 1763. Cette étude s’inscrit dans le sillage des travaux du projet conjoint d’histoire des sociétés rurales françaises et québécoises en s’intéressant à la construction des inégalités internes au sein d’un même lignage dans une perspective intergénérationnelle et intragénérationnelle. Elle mobilise une approche multiscalaire en articulant les échelles micro (individus), méso (cellules familiales) et macro (branches, lignées, lignage et société) entre elles. Les dimensions démographiques, géographiques, économiques, sociales, juridiques et culturelles sont au cœur de cette analyse longitudinale, et servent de fondement à la détection des permanences, des écarts et des ruptures. À l’origine de cette réflexion se trouve un constat : si Joseph Drapeau (1752-1810), riche négociant, propriétaire du plus vaste ensemble seigneurial jamais détenu par un laïc canadien, homme politique et figure de l’élite, incarne une trajectoire d’ascension remarquable, il ne saurait être analysé isolément. Son parcours, tout comme celui de ses filles les « Dames Drapeau » ou de ses nombreux collatéraux, prend sens dans une analyse comparative des trajectoires individuelles et familiales. En effet, au sein de ce même lignage issu d’Antoine Drapeau et de Charlotte Joly – deux colons roturiers d’origine française établis dans la vallée laurentienne dans les années 1660 et formant le couple fondateur du lignage Drapeau au Canada –, la très grande majorité des descendants ont perpétué, génération après génération, un mode de vie ancré dans la ruralité et le travail de la terre. Tandis que quelques individus accèdent aux sommets de la hiérarchie sociale, la vaste majorité reproduit une position au sein de la paysannerie canadienne. C’est dans cet écart fondamental que réside l’un des intérêts centraux de cette thèse : comprendre comment, au sein d’un même lignage familial, des trajectoires aussi contrastées ont pu se développer, et quelles dynamiques de reproduction familiale permettent d’expliquer ces différenciations profondes. Plutôt que de retracer uniquement l’ascension d’un individu ou d’une cellule familiale, cette étude se concentre sur un groupe familial complet sur plus de deux siècles et demi, apportant ainsi une contribution à l’histoire sociale du Québec et du Canada préindustriels, à la compréhension du devenir des élites coloniales, et à l’étude de la stratification au sein des communautés rurales."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/11143/23654"],"dc:language.iso":["fr"],"dc:publisher":["Université de Sherbrooke"],"dc:subject":["Québec","Canada","XVIIe siècle","XVIIIe siècle","XIXe siècle","Famille","Inégalités","Élites","Bourgeoisie","Noblesse","Marchand","Régime seigneurial","Seigneurs","Seigneuresses","Pouvoir féminin","Mobilité sociale","Reproduction familiale","Transmission","Paysannerie","Coutume de Paris","Féodalisme","Capitalisme","Société coloniale","Éducation","Distinction","Alliances et stratégies","17th century","18th century","19th century","Family","Inequality","Nobility","Merchants","Seigneurial regime","Female seigneurs","Female power","Social mobility","Family reproduction","Inheritance","Peasantry","Feudalism","Capitalism","Colonial society"],"dc:title":["La construction des inégalités au Canada (17e – 19e siècles) : reproduction familiale, mobilité sociale et parcours élitaires au sein de la famille Drapeau"],"dc:type":["Thèse de doctorat"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Histoire"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctorat"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph. D."],"thesis:institution_name":["Université de Sherbrooke","Université de Lorraine"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:07:34Z"}