Guide to Documents Relating to French and British North America in ...

in the United Provinces and then as the first bishop of Baltimore. In 1910 he published a series of 34
documents in their original language, drawn from different series (Acta, Lettere, Congressi, Instruzioni,
Decreti), covering the years l783-1789. 11S Although partially used by Shea,lI6 these documents were
almost entirely unpublished and unknown. As always, the transcription leaves much to be desired. ll1
On account of their interest, Fish's documents were almost immediately translated into English by the
Jesuit Edward I. Devitt. lI8 In a brief introduction to the documents, Devitt describes Fish's work and
the copies of the documents of Propaganda that Shea had left with the archives of Georgetown
University.lI9
Guilday used the Georgetown University copies some years later to write an article on the years
1783-1785 and Carroll's appointment. 12o This was useful summary of facts already known, but no new
sources were introduced. Two years later, Guilday published a complete biography of Carroll. l2l
Although he used the documents of Propaganda again, and this time more abundantly, Guilday had still
not consulted the archives of the Congregation directly, but had some additional copies made for his
own use. 122
Thomas O'Brien Hanley recently edited all of Carroll's papers. 123 Although many of the published
documents come from the archives of Propaganda,l24which is only one of the many archives consulted,
it does not seem that a systematic search was carried out. Carroll's letters were drawn exclusively from
Congressi. The SOCG series, which is equally important for its references to Carroll, was not at all
mentioned, even though several documents appearing in that series were published via copies kept in
other American archives. Therefore most of Carroll's letters that are in the present Calendar or in
Kenneally's United States Documents are not in the Carroll papers. In addition, the editor has chosen
merely to indicate the names of the archives consulted at the bottom of each document, omitting all
data regarding archival series or folio numbers. This makes the process of finding specific information
on any original document very difficult.125
In conclusion, one can say that, except for a few cases, the history of the relationship between
Propaganda and North America has yet to be written. The principal exception is Morin's work, which
was unfortunately never published. Other notable exceptions are the articles written by Campeau,
Lemieux and O'Neill, which stemmed from Metzler's Sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide
Memoria Rerum, and this writer's Coldest Harbour. Several questions therefore remain unanswered.
How did the officials of Propaganda see the New World? Did their attitudes change over time? How
did these attitudes influence their periodical decisions vis-ti-vis North America? What influence and
what authority did they have over missionaries, vicars apostolic and bishops operating in America?
What place did North America have in the overall policies of Propaganda? What was the power of the
Congregation in the context of the Holy See's general policies of missionary expansion? Is it possible
to determine in what way the history of French and British North America was influenced by the
decisions made in Rome in the offices of Propaganda or of the Holy See in general? The historian who
can provide answers to these questions will shed new light on some important points regarding the
development of North American history in the colonial period.
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