2013 Articles

Stratégies matrimoniales et émigration vers l’Amérique au 18e siècle: la maison Berrio de La Bastide Clairence

Force, Pierre

Prior to the massive emigration to South America in the 19th century, rural communities in the Western French Pyrenees produced a significant emigration to Saint-Domingue and other Caribbean islands. This study focuses on the connections between migratory movements and the organization of these communities as “house societies” (Lévi-Strauss) in which the continuity of the “house” was paramount and no new “houses” could be added. Using a micro-historical approach, it analyzes the complex role of inheritance rights in the decision to emigrate, and reconstructs the networks that made emigration possible. Against the traditional image of the son who had to leave because he was deprived of his share of inheritance, it shows that the migration of cadets had the full support of the family group. It also argues that emigration supported the “house system” and undermined it at the same time.