The Work Characteristics of Pre-Industrial Colonial Societies

There were many necessary work characteristics for the people of pre-industrial colonial societies. However, perhaps the most important factor was the choosing of the career itself. The choice of the career was an extremely important one in the pre-industrial colonial societies, therefore if the son had not made a decision by age twelve or thirteen the father would decide in which direction his career would go, and usually that would be in his father's footsteps. If the child did decide a worthy choice for his career and the father approved, then the next important step would be apprenticeship. Apprenticeship relied almost entirely on the people who you knew within that career. When a family was known in that particular industry then it often helped to give the young boy an apprenticeship into that particular job, and therefore a good start was developed by this apprenticeship. Furthermore, depending on the career choice, an education was also extremely important and could help a person to advance much farther within their job. However, the most important factor within pre-industrial colonial societies work ethics was the fact that the work was always left to the workers;

The organization of work was left to the workers, even when sailors were property-less labourers and merchants owned the means of production. In these ways the small coastal vessel remained a pre-industrial craft: not a factory, where the owner of capital controlled and managed every stage of production, but the domain of a craftsman, a worker who possessed 'the accumulated knowledge of materials and processes by which production was accomplished in the craft'.[1]

Thus, this rule within these colonial societies not only enabled the work to be pre-industrial instead of factory, but it also allowed the workers to obtain relationships with each other as well as with the masters. Masters are also another important element within the work of pre-industrial colonies, "the term master was applied to a number of different occupations. Common to all, however, was their control of means of production and their hiring of wage labour."[2] Therefore, the work characteristics of pre-industrial colonial societies rotated around the particular career, but most importantly it was a family career choice, and once that choice was made it was expected that the individual work his way up within the career, and that relied quite heavily on apprenticeship, education, and the master. However, some lifestyle choices did not require such elements to advance their careers, but instead depended on a strong and independent spirit, such is the case in the lives of the voyageurs. Thus, work characteristics within the pre-industrial colonial societies depended entirely on the career choice, and the factors that helped to make that job a worthy one.

Furthermore, this essay is going to revisit the notion of apprenticeship. Within Christopher Moore's essay "The Sea and Jean Lelarge" apprenticeship was a main focus of work in pre-industrial societies; "Jean Lelarge served the first stage of his apprenticeship in short schooner voyages between his home in Louisbourg and the outports south and north of it."[3] Furthermore, this apprenticeship was a necessity in the life of an aspiring shipmaster. It not only showed him the ways in which a fishing vessel operated, but also gave him the experience that was so necessary;

In the summers he spent sailing the waters of Ile Royale, Jean Lelarge experienced the daily life of the ordinary seaman. Rank meant little aboard a schooner crewed by only three or four men, and no one could claim priviledges when six-foot holds packed with cargo offered little space for anyone's privacy. The navigation was not complex, for the schooners were rarely far from familiar shores, but keeping the ship on an optimum course, heading along rugged, four-weather coasts in changing winds, tides, and currents, demanded long hours of vigilance. The men turned out at all hours to change sails or bring their ship to an anchorage. It was hard work, appropriate training for a prospective shipmaster.[4]

Thus, it was the apprenticeships, which certainly helped an aspiring seaman to work his way upwards and for some men towards the role of shipmaster.

Education was another important element within the career of a seaman. If a young man was intending to become a shipmaster some day, then an education in that particular industry was almost the only way to obtain that goal;

His father, the master artisan, did not intend the boy to grow up a barely literate coastal boatman, lost beyond sight of Ile Royale's surf-washed shore. Both the boy and his father saw Lelarge as a qualified master mariner, a blue-water sailor. To gain the formidable education such a career presumed, the young apprentice seaman spent his winters at the school for sailors newly established by hydrographer Jean-Rene Cruchon of Saint-Malo.[5]

It was often only the families, which were financially well situated who could afford to send a member of the family to such a school for aspiring sailors. The curriculum for Jean-Rene Cruchon's school for sailors was quite intense, and quickly weeded out the determined and qualified from the not so determined and qualified. There was no introduction or quick briefing within such a school either, it got straight to the point and quickly, "Cruchon assumed new students could read and write and figure a little."[6] Furthermore, it was within Jean-Rene's school that Jean Lelarge was taught the methods every sailor must know and know completely. The curriculum often began with a quick arithmetic review and continued on from there;

Under Cruchon he now learned to calculate tide tables from the moon's phases and discovered the use of angles, dividers, and compasses in plotting and charting. The class then passed from geometry to astronomy, fixing latitude by the sun in daylight, pinpointing Polaris and the other guiding stars by night...Then Cruchon led his students into geography and hydrography, teaching them the use of maps and charts and familiarizing them with the position of the major coasts and islands they would visit.[7]

It was within a sailor school therefore that a young man could learn to be an accomplished seaman, and perhaps shipmaster one day. The school taught aspiring seaman all the elements of working onboard a ship, as well as all the elements not only a seaman would need to know, but also a aspiring shipmaster;

The students who mastered these subjects-young townspeople like Lelarge, officer cadets of the colonial troops, junior ship's officers wintering in the colony-moved on to practise their skills: position plotting; mapping; methods to measure distance travelled; the use of the magnetic compass, the sextant, and other navigational tools; ways to record soundings, keep sea logs, and compile maps. Jean Lelarge's subsequent career suggests he was the apt pupil of a gifted teacher, for navigational challenges seem never to have inhibited the career of this Louisbourg-trained sailor.[8]

Therefore, education was indeed an important element within the life of an apprentice and aspiring seaman. It was with this education from the school of sailors that certain young men were given advantages and a more likely outcome of a successful seaman.

Eric Sager's article entitled "Working the Small Craft" has a large focus on masters and the roles they possessed. Masters were common in the time of pre-industrial colonial societies. As mentioned earlier, "the term master was applied to a number of different occupations...common to all, however, was their control of means of production and their hiring of wage labour."[9] Masters could basically be described as "traders" and this was because a large number of them owned and provided their own methods of production such as their own boats and fishing gear. There were also different statuses for the masters within these societies, "The smaller fishing master or planter often laboured beside his employees."[10] Although, the term master implies that the individual was indeed in charge of the ship and its employees, this is not altogether true. Masters were often recruits of "larger merchant firms." Therefore, the masters did not hold complete ownership and control of the ship as their title suggests, "Whether or not they owned vessels or boats, the planters, boatkeepers, and ship masters were usually middlemen or agents of larger merchant firms located in Britain or, increasingly, in the colonies."[11] However, although these masters were not the sole owners and controllers they were still basically given total freedom onboard the ship, "the master-employee was still relatively independent of merchant domination in the workplace."[12] Thus, although the shipmaster was in reality employed by a merchant he still had complete control over the vessel, which is why he was given the title master. The merchants trusted these men to be the masters of their ships and to keep them moving smoothly, "But the ship master, like the fishing skipper, could not be supervised or controlled directly. He was in control of everything in the schooner, in port or at sea."[13] Also, as expected the merchant ensured loyalty from the master he employed by allowing himself the right to dismiss the master or if necessary to withhold wages. Therefore, the masters were not only an important element within the smooth operation of a ship, but also essential. It would be without masters that there would be no direct control of the ship, and therefore the operation would most definitely not run as anticipated, thus masters are crucial within the operation of a ship or vessel.

The master-employee relationship was also extremely important within the work ethics of a sailing vessel. The duties of an employee to his master are not as they are today within a job between an employee and boss. There is one huge difference. The employee commits his whole self to his master compared to now where a person just does what he has to do to keep his job and to get by, "the servant committed his whole person, or so it was assumed, and did not perform only a few specified tasks but committed himself to the needs of the entire seasonal enterprise. The master expected his worker to do everything in his power for my interest."[14] This ensured that all the employee's and servants onboard the ship were completely and utterly loyal to the master, however there was also a respect between all person's onboard the ship, which also helped to ensure the smooth operation of the vessel, "the ship was a type of working household with the master at its head."[15] Therefore, the environment onboard a working ship was not that of a typical work environment. Many of the men onboard the ships knew each other and were either friends or relatives. This also helped to ensure that the work environment was a fairly respectful and friendly one, which was also aided by complete respect and loyalty to one another.

Another industry to look at involving work characteristics of the pre-industrial colonial societies would be the life and work of the voyageurs in the fur trade. Voyageurs were young men who dedicated a large portion of their lives to trading in the bush, "French voyageurs rather than Natives would be in charge of the flotillas bringing furs from the interior to the St.Lawrence colony."[16] These young men lived extremely rough lives. The days were long, they were forced to face the elements of nature every single day, and they had to learn how to be extremely independent, all-in- all it was a very violent and difficult lifestyle. As well, these men were expected to travel a great deal in order to enhance the fur trade. Most of this travel was done on foot, although there were times when canoes were used. These voyageurs did therefore not only live extremely difficult lifestyles, but also dangerous and more often than not short ones.

Furthermore, within the lives of the voyageurs and the routines of the sailors there were a few extremely important similarities. For one, there was the whole notion of independence. The voyageurs and the sailors both needed to learn how to adopt an independent lifestyle. This was because both of these lifestyle routines were mainly based on traveling. The sailors were sailing around the country, "the long separations, the constant travel, and the perils of the sea,"[17] while the voyageurs were constantly traveling around the bush trading, "young men who spent a good part of their lives trading in the bush."[18] Thus, because both these job routines evolved around traveling and the men were constantly away from their families and loved one's; it was therefore necessary for them to learn how to become completely independent. Another similarity between the voyageurs and the sailors was that many of the men who chose these jobs were relatively young men. This is because for both of these jobs the men had to be quite agile and energetic. An older man would not be able to adopt to the life of a voyageur because the lifestyle is just too harsh with the constant traveling and fighting the "elements of nature," etc. Sailing also needed young, agile men because they were constantly running around the ship, climbing the mast poles and basically keeping the ship on an even and clean course. Thus, younger men were needed in pre-industrial colonial societies not only because they were faster and more agile, but also because they were a larger commodity. Men who lived within pre-industrial times did not live long healthy lives, and this was because the work was so exhausting and tough, both physically and mentally, "At sixty, Pierre Lelarge was among the older men of his community."[19] As well, there was also the element of danger that was involved in both jobs. Sailing was in constant competition against nature, such as dangerous wind speeds, waves, and storms, "In 1725, when thirteen-year-old Jean Lelarge should already have been an experienced small-boat sailor, he and every resident of Ile Royale received grim notice of the dangers a prospective sailor faced."[20] Voyageurs faced the same dangers. They were also constantly facing dangers from nature, such as fierce weather, wildlife, and enemies who were also traveling throughout the bush. This, concludes that both the sailors and voyageurs did indeed face dangers every day that they were on the job. Therefore, although there was not a vast number of similarities between the lives of the sailors and the lives of the voyageurs, the few similarities that there were, were major ones.

T
hus, a major point made from the work characteristics of pre-industrial colonial societies was how difficult it actually was. These jobs were not simple eight-hour jobs as they are today, but they were lifetime jobs that more often than not put the man's life in danger every single day that he was on the job. The jobs were so physically demanding and draining that the life span in those days was considerably shorter than it is today. Therefore, the work of pre-industrial colonial societies was extremely grueling and unrewarding. The men were in constant danger, and were constantly away from their families and loved ones. It is therefore quite realistic that this was a lifestyle that could never be fully understood and respected unless you were actually there to live it yourself.

Bibliography

Conrad Margaret and Finkel Alvin. History of the Canadian Peoples: Beginnings to 1867. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Education Canada Inc., 2002.

Moore Christopher, "The Sea and Jean Lelarge," Louisbourg Portraits. Macmillan, 1982, 145-202.

Sager W. Eric, "Ch.2: Working the Small Craft," Seafaring Labour: The Merchant Marine of Atlantic Canada. McGill-Queen's Univ. Press, 1989, 45-73.

[1] Eric W. Sager, "Ch.2: Working the Small Craft," in Eric W. Sager, Seafaring Labour: The MerchantMarine of Atlantic Canada (McGill-Queen's Univ. Press, 1989): 45.

[2] Sager, "Ch.2: Working the Small Craft," 45.

[3] Christopher Moore, "The Sea and Jean Lelarge," in Christopher Moore,Louisbourg Portraits (Macmillian, 1982): 160.

[4] Moore, "The Sea and Jean Lelarge," 162.

[5] Moore, "The Sea and Jean Lelarge," 162.

[6] Moore, "The Sea and JeanLelarge," 162.

[7] Moore, "The Sea and Jean Lelarge," 162/163.

[8] Moore, "The Sea and Jean Lelarge," 163.

[9] Sager, "Ch.2: Working the Small Craft," 44/45.

[10] Sager, "Ch.2: Working the Small Craft," 45.

[11] Sager, "Ch.2: Working the Small Craft," 45.

[12] Sager, "Ch.2: Working the Small Craft," 46.

[13] Sager, "Ch.2: Working the Small Craft," 46.

[14] Sager, "Ch.2: Working the Small Craft," 47.

[15] Sager, "Ch.2: Working the Small Craft," 47.

[16] Margaret Conrad and Alvin Finkel, History of the Canadian Peoples: Beginnings to 1867 (Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Education Canada Inc., 2002), 73.

[17] Moore, "The Sea and Jean Lelarge," 159.

[18] Conrad and Finkel, History of the Canadian Peoples: Beginnings to 1867, 77.

[19] Moore, "The Sea and Jean Lelarge," 170.

[20] Moore, "The Sea and Jean Lelarge," 158.