Events from the year 1740 in Canada.
Louis XV[1]
Charles de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville
Description of making and using Mi'kmaw canoes, both moosehide (in past) and birchbark currently used[3]
Woman in Montreal who needs money sells enslaved 20-year-old Pawnee named Manon for 300 livres "in receipts from the Beaver trade"[4]
In spring and summer, Joseph La France canoes Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods, meeting Monsoni Ojibwe and "Sturgeon Indians"[5]
Suffering from gout, Jesuit ministers to Indigenous people, parish of 400 and distant members of his flock near Montreal (Note: "savages" used)[6]
Council president Paul Mascarene "notifies the Indians and inhabitants" of Nova Scotia that King has declared war on King of Spain[7]
To preserve "Indulgence they have heitherto Enjoyed," Acadians are reminded to conform to government orders and decisions[8]
Mascarene letter (summary) ends with warning to Acadians to be loyal or face reaction that "will involve the innocent with the guilty"[9]
Acadian deputies to handle "restless spirits" so that "community may not make itself suspected, and avoid the ruin which may overtake it"[10]
Mascarene specifies some civil service roles, and is concerned that in "these thirty years past," Protestants have not peopled Nova Scotia[11]
Handling Acadians' need for new land when it is allowed only to Protestants means letting them take land anyway or expelling them[12]
Fearing unauthorized priest will direct when "a stroke" is to be given their government, Council decides his community must expel him[13]
Priests forbidden to excommunicate "Whereby to Deprive His Majesty's Subjects[...]of Assistance or means To Procure their Livelyhood"[14]
Mascarene advises missionary priest of King's supremacy over both Catholic Church and his conduct in Nova Scotia[15]
Mascarene reports that some shippers into and out of Nova Scotia are not clearing with port authorities[16]
"Succeeded far above our Expectations" - "Indian trade" at Oswego has undercut prices at Montreal by half and increased trade fivefold[17]
"Be always on your Guard" - Hudson's Bay Company urges Bay staff to be prepared for (probably unlikely) attack by Spanish[18]
Given war with Spain and perhaps France, chief factor at Prince of Wales Fort cancels next year's northern expedition in order to augment defences[19]