Élites locales et institutions à l'époque des Rébellions : Jacques Archambault et l'épisode de presbytère de Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan

Abstract

In Lower Canada before 1840, many found that their social status and identity was being reconfigured by the conflict and social turmoil of the time. For certain members of the local elite, the social prestige acquired over the years through occupying official positions in the community was no longer a measure of their status or privilege in the context of the Rebellions of 1837–1838. An individual case study illustrates how this unsettling social context created a wide spectrum of social movement in which the status of any individual was affected by a range of factors. The case of Jacques Archambault, a member of the local elite, provides an opportunity to examine what constitutes elite identity and the extent and limitations of the privilege of a social elite.