The evolution of the Gulf of St. Lawrence as a maritime borderland

This essay addresses the lacuna that exists for maritime environments in borderlands history, with a particular focus on how borders and borderlands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence region have changed over time. The paper is divided into three parts. The first section reviews briefly some of the major concepts and approaches that frame borderlands research and then considers some of the ideas that emerge from the contemporary investigation of maritime borderlands which can provide theoretical guidance to the historical study of these regions. The second section investigates the evolution of the Gulf of St. Lawrence borderland, following the transitions occurring between the pre-contact, colonial, and modernizing periods of history. The final section considers the Gulf as an intranational borderland, i.e., as a shared space administered by governments and exploited/protected by groups with similar and different philosophies, goals, and practices. The discussion in both these sections is framed by concepts identified in the first section that are deemed to be relevant to the study of maritime borderlands history.