New France

New France
Created by tbonnar.

When and Where?
• In the early 1500s, European countries
(specifically France) began sending explorers to
the “New World”
• They were looking for a route to the Far East
(Asia) to find silks and metals- Jacques Cartier
• They discovered the St. Lawrence area of
Canada and began setting up colonies there
because of the fertile lands and the fur trade
(coureurs de bois- runners of the woods)

Jacques Cartier
Born in France in 1491,
Jacques Cartier is
usually acknowledged
as the explorer who
discovered Canada. He
was in fact the one who
first used the name
Canada, to describe the
small area he claimed
for France in 1535.

Jacques Cartier
• Jacques Cartier explored the Maritimes and the
St. Lawrence river between 1534 and 1542.

Jacques Cartier
• He tried to establish a
colony for France on the St.
Lawrence, but ultimately
failed because:
– The gold and diamonds
Cartier thought he had
found turned out to be just
iron pyrite and quartz. This
eliminated the incentive to
establish a colony.

– He had destroyed relations with the Iroquois by
kidnapping Chief Donnacona and his sons. The
Iroquois refused to help the French or trade with
them.

Samuel de Champlain
• Samuel de Champlain
was born circa 1570 in
France and died at
Québec City 25 Dec 1635
• He was a cartographer
and explorer.
• He is known as the
“Father of New France.“
• There is no authentic
portrait of Champlain.

Challenges of New France
• Europeans did not know about our cold winters
• They did not know if their crops would grow
• They did not know how to hunt or protect
themselves against wildlife
• The did not know if the people already living
there would accept them or try to get rid of
them (First Nations peoples)

The Early Years
• The trip over on was difficult and many
got sick
• Those that came were mostly poor people
in search of a better life
• They either farmed or entered the fur
trade (coureurs de bois)
• The populations grew slowly at first due
to the tough life style and lack of women

Failures to Colonize
• Profits continued in both fishing and the
growing fur trade, but other French
attempts at starting a colony also failed
until 1605
• In 1605, Samuel de Champlain started a
colony called Port Royal in what is now
Nova Scotia
• This colony failed by 1607, though some
stayed on as farmers in the area

Abitation De Qvebecq
• In 1608, he started a new colony at what
is now Quebec City. This habitation
became the center of the colony of New
France. He chose this location because:
– it was at the top of a cliff that was a good
spot for a fortress

Abitation De Qvebecq
• He chose this location because:
– From there he was able to trade with the
Algonkians, Montagnais, and Hurons

• He allied with these tribes against the
Iroquois, who were working with the
English

Champlain and the Huron
vs. the Iroquois

Double Standard
• He (and France) maintained a strange
double standard:
– They wanted to have a colony so that wealth
could be extracted (in the form of furs),
– But they didn’t want the effort or
responsibility of a larger settlement, so they
tried to stop people from coming to the
colony to work as farmers or anything other
than fur traders.

Jesuit Missionaries
• He did allow Roman Catholic
missionaries to come and to work to
Christianize the Natives. Some did
become Christians, but others become
angry at the French because of the new
religion and the new diseases that the
missionaries brought. Conflict with the
Natives increased because of this.

Settlement
• Despite the conflict with Natives and the
efforts to restrict colony growth, the
colony continued to survive. Not long
before Champlain died, The Company of
a Hundred Associates took over the
colony and was forced by France to bring
settlers to Canada. It did so, but still
reluctantly.

A Slow – Growing Empire
• During the reign of
King Louis XIV (16431715), times were
good in France.
• Few people were
interested in leaving
France to live in the
wilderness of North
America.

Settlement
• The reluctance of the leaders of New
France to encourage settlement was one
of the factors that led to a major
population difference with the colonies of
the British that eventually led to the fall
of New France.

Population Chart comparing
New France to the
Thirteen American Colonies

Settlement and Colonization
• In North America in
the 1600s, England
and France were both
trying to claim land
and develop colonies.
• The colony of New
France had three
main groups of
people involved in
the development of
the colony:

Fur Traders
• the Company of 100 Associates controlled
the colony. It was mostly interested in
developing the Fur Trade. It had a
monopoly on the fur trade.
• However, many Frenchmen avoided that
monopoly by becoming Coureurs de Bois
(runners of the woods). They travelled
long distances into the country searching
for people to trade furs with and then
sneaked these furs back into Montreal.

Coureurs de Bois
• Runners of the
woods
• Started the fur trade
(originally without
permission)

Settlers
• France had told the Company of a
Hundred Associates that it had to bring in
settlers to develop the colony.
• The Company divided the land up into
pieces called seigneuries and gave these
seigneuries to Nobles who would control
them as feudal-style manors. The
Seigneurs then rented out land to peasant
settlers called Habitants.

Seigneural system
• The King of France originally owned the land of
New France
• Farms were set up in seigneuries, which were
long, thin strips of land with access to water
• Once the farms were set up, the men would
often leave to enter the military or fur trade to
earn extra money
• Egages (hired hands) and the women and
children ran the farms

Missionaries
• the Roman Catholic Church sent many priests
and nuns to New France. They were
responsible for the souls of the French settlers
and fur traders, but they were also supposed
to try to save the souls of the Natives.

Missionaries
• The best known and most
effective of the missionaries
were the Jesuits. They were
successful because they were
willing to go and live with
and like the Natives. They
were able to convince many of
the Huron to become
Christians, and this caused
conflict within the Huron
nation.

The Royal Province of New France
• By 1661, it was obvious to the King of
France that the current system was not
working. The colony was not growing
the way that the English colonies were
growing. This was a problem to people
who believed in mercantilism.

Mercantilism
• The theory that there is a limited amount of
wealth in the world and therefore the way to
become powerful is to control that wealth and
keep it away from others.
• One way to do this is to obtain raw materials
(natural resources) cheaply from colonies and
use them to make finished products in the home
country that can be sold in both the home
country and the colony. The colony will remain
poor while the home country becomes rich.

Mercantilism
Wealth of the World

11%
40%

22%

England
France
Spain
Portugal

27%

Wealthy Country / Poor Colony
160
140
120
100

80

Country

60

Colony

40
20
0
England

France

Spain

Portugal

The Royal Province of New France
• Since New France was not really
benefiting France very much, France
decided to try harder to make New
France an economic success. In 1663, it
was made a royal colony (controlled by
the king). There were three people in
charge:

Hierarchy of New France
Louis XIV/Colbert
▼
Governor (Military)
Intendant (Justice/Finances)
▼
Bishop of the Catholic Church
▼
Military officers, merchants, church leaders, seigneurs
▼
Habitants (Filles de Roi)
(96.5-97% of population)
▼
Engagés/Domestic Servants/Slaves

Life in New France: Seigneurs
• Seigneuries
• there were 104 seigneuries in 1663
• seigneurs were responsible for:
–
–
–
–

building a manor house and a mill
attracting settlers
acting as judges in disputes
defence of the seigneury (usually with a
militia – an unofficial army)
– collecting taxes/rent

Habitants
• rented the land from the seigneurs
• were required to:
–
–
–
–

pay rent
provide service
serve in the militia
grind their own grain at the mill

• often had second jobs in the fur trade or
in industry

Habitants
• women also worked on the farms and
had many children
• farmed, harvested sugar
maples, fished, cared for animals
• were not rich, but were considerably
better off than peasants in France because
they had lower rent, tithes and taxes

Towns
• there were several small towns; Quebec
was the biggest, most important and best
fortified
• had schools, hospitals and small
industries (businesses where things are
made)

Women
• many of the first women were Nuns sent to
convert Natives
• the filles du roi, or “the king’s daughters” had
been recruited to leave difficult lives in France
to come to New France to be wives to settlers
• women had few official legal rights, but in
practice often worked as almost equal partners
• widows could control land and businesses, and
worked alongside men on the farms

The End of New France
• New France had many conflicts
throughout its history - with
Natives, British troops and the American
colonies
• Four major wars took place between
England and France that affected the
colonies
• In each of those wars, Britain (England)
won and took land from New France

Wars with England
• King William’s War (1689-1692) - Acadia was
lost for the first time.
• Queen Anne’s War (1704-1713) - Acadia was
lost permanently and the Acadians were exiled.
• King George’s War (1744-1748) – Louisburg was
lost to the English.
• Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) –
Quebec, Montreal and all of New France was
occupied by the English. They took control of
the colony.

New France

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New France