A Canadian Slavery Story

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A story about a woman forced into slavery who may or may not have set Montréal on fire: Marie-Joseph Angélique.

#documentary #history #blackhistory #canadianhistory

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Special thanks to the Centre d'histoire de Montréal for permitting us to film on location. If you are interested in Montréal's history, you should absolutely check out the museum—you'll see the model we feature in the episode on display.

* Correction: Mathieu Léveillé's name is mispronounced in the video. We sincerely apologize for the error, which was the result of a missing accent on the second 'e' in our shooting script.

* Note: The Nôtre-Dame Basilica in Montréal today is a reincarnation of the building that Angélique was brought to in 1734. The ruins of the original building are buried beneath the Place d'Armes, right in front of the modern cathedral's entrance. Construction of the current building was completed in 1829.

* Disclaimer: Since there is no record of archival imagery for any of the subjects in this story, the character designs are entirely fictional for the purpose of illustration only (created using a blend of faces from historic photography archives).

Mathieu Léveillé suffered constant illness and severe melancholy as the executioner in New France from 1733 to 1743. He hated the job he was forced to do. He'd spent the first twenty-four years of his life in the Caribbean and had a difficult time adjusting to the change in climate—he was hospitalized at Quebec City's Hôtel-Dieu (the oldest hospital north of Mexico) almost immediately upon his arrival in Québec and again on numerous occasions. Léveillé died of pneumonia on September 9, 1743.

In Canada, unlike the south, the majority of enslaved people were of Aboriginal origin. The term "Panis" in its strictest sense actually referred to the Pawnees, a nation which inhabited the basin of the Missouri River and which was consistently targeted by the French. However, colonists soon began to use "esclave panis" as a generic term for any Aboriginal slave.

In 2012, a public square across from Montréal's city hall was named in honour of Marie-Josèphe-Angélique. However, the square was under construction when we went to film there in May 2017. A new unfinished public space named Place des Montréalaises was inaugurated in November 2017, and will be dedicated to Angélique among several other women.

"The square is named in honour of women who have marked Montréal history. Fortin mentioned Jeanne Mance, Marie-Joseph Angelique, Jessie Maxwell Smith, Ida Roth Steinberg and the 14 engineering students murdered at Polytechnique Montréal in 1989."

The Hôtel-Dieu burned and was rebuilt three times between 1695 and 1734. In 1861 it was moved from Old Montreal to its present location near Mount Royal.

The torture scene is taken from a public domain film made in 1922 called Häxan. It's Swedish-Danish silent-film that borders between documentary and horror. It just so happened to have the perfect depiction of 'The Boot.'

A few tangents (look for more on a future blogpost):

- Marie-Josèphe-Angélique was not silent during her trial, she consistently maintained that she had not started the fire right up until she was brutally tortured. She yelled at Marie-Manon when she felt betrayed by her testimony, and she pleaded with the widow's niece not to incriminate her—fearing she was being forced to against her will.

- Claude Thibault's timeline changes slightly in accounts. He was either released on the day of the fire, or the day or two before. In one case, he was seen eating a sandwich at an inn. When he was told that the Merchant's Quarter was on fire and Angélique the main suspect—he fled. Was he part of a another escape plan?

French subtitles by: Marika Lapointe
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Turns out humans are disgusting in every country on earth. There was literally no need for her punishment to be this vile. Plus the kid could easily have been told to say that by her mother. Rumours aren't evidence either. May Marie-Joseph Angelique rest in peace. She was cheated of the justice she deserved

Kaynasou
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I wish this was in my Canada/Quebec history curriculum. It’s a shame that this story isn’t taught to us in school.

SeanJonas
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FINALLY!! A great video without robotic voices. Im American and am curious about Canadian history. Much respect to you, Canada!

AmyCCloverlanez
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There was no evidence, only rumours, no one saw her set the fire!! She was horribly tortured (the bones in her legs crushed) until she confessed!

murphybrowne
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Thank you for your work and dedication. As a fellow Canadian I enjoy watching your episodes.

jenndoe
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why does this only have 1k views everyone should know this. Canadians are so ignorant to their history :(

rperry
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Well that was certainly a disturbing event in Canadian history I was never taught in school...

adamlamb
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Thank you so much guys ! quality stuff with amazing history that i would have never known keep promoting your work !!!!

k.n.v.b
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I never knew this story. I don't even have words. New subscriber to your channel

rawc
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for those of you interested in more depth on this event,
I recommend Dr Afua Cooper's book,
"The Hanging of Angélique"

kidmohair
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These are amazing and so well done, thank you!

verasantillana
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Hey Neil Young why don't you do a song on this one

jtt
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Putting things into perspective, the total population of chattel slaves in the colony of New France between 1689 and 1763 totalled 1131, the exact same number as the largest slave owner in U.S. history, Col. Joshua John Ward of 1850’s South Carolina. Isn’t that a coincidence!.?

ianhilmer
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very interesting and sad! I hope you come out west and do more stories!

kaylabellbell
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So is there any historical proofs that she was innocent? I mean that's the undertone of this video. She had ample motive and the only witness to say she did not do it was her friend, out of dozens.

gsasdgggg
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WE should remenber that first nations had slaves before the europeens arrived. Slavery was practice in every corner of the world and is still practiced today in many parts of the world.

vaisseauspatialterre
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Thanks so much. THIS is the sort of history I wish I had been taught in school!!!!

louiselloyd
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Once again this very interesting and so well executed !!!! Bravo !

poishish
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One question don’t kill me the Brits didn’t even name it Canada until 1791. They abolished slavery in 1834, and we didn’t become independent until 1867, how is this a Canadian story.

michaelsalasny
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I’m sure i missed some great information over the unnecessarily loud music…

samanthamendosa