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Trade or raid: Acadian settlers and native Americans before 1755

Author

Listed:
  • Rosolino A. Candela

    (Mercatus Center At George Mason University)

  • Vincent J. Geloso

    (King’s University College)

Abstract

Could North America have been settled more peacefully, with fewer property rights violations against Native Americans? To answer this question, we utilize the case of French colonists of Atlantic Canada (the Acadians) and a Native American tribe (the Mi’kmaq) between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the areas around the Bay of Fundy in the modern provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Under a relative state of anarchy, both the Acadians and the Mi’kmaq were able to minimize the relative returns to using violence by adopting rules of collective decision-making that favored consensus-building. By prioritizing consensus, distributional coalitions were faced with higher decision-making costs, making it difficult for concentrated interest groups within each society to capture the gains from fighting and spilling them over as external costs over the rest of the population. As a result, both the Acadians and the Mi’kmaq were able to reap the benefits of productive specialization and social cooperation under the division of labor.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosolino A. Candela & Vincent J. Geloso, 2021. "Trade or raid: Acadian settlers and native Americans before 1755," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 188(3), pages 549-575, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:188:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-020-00853-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-020-00853-y
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    3. D. Bruce Johnsen, 2024. "Potlatch economy: reciprocity among northwest coast Indians," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 199(3), pages 233-255, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Anarchy; Collective decision making; Property rights;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • N11 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • P14 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Property Rights

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