Predation, Seigneurial Tenure and Development in French Colonial America

Abstract

This paper argues that significant transfers from peasants to landlords through private taxes and duties under seigneurial law in the French colonies in North America in the eighteenth century have been underestimated. They represented a burden equal to 5.19% to 6.89% of income. This high taxation burden – which was not converted into public goods – created a supply-side impediment to economic growth.

Keywords: Seigneurial tenure, divergence, colonial origins, predatory state, Canada, economic history

JEL Classification: K0, N21, O17