New France

New France (French: la Nouvelle-France) describes the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 to the cession of New France to the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763. At its peak in 1712 (before the Treaty of Utrecht), the territory of New France extended from Newfoundland to Lake Superior and from the Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. The territory was then divided in five colonies, each with its own administration: Canada, Acadia, Hudson Bay, Newfoundland and Louisiana.

Royal control

In the 1650s, Montreal still had only a few dozen settlers and a severely underpopulated New France almost fell completely to the Iroquois attempts to drive the French out. In 1660, settler Adam Dollard des Ormeaux led a Canadian and Huron militia against a much larger Iroquois force; none of the Canadians survived. In 1663 New France finally became more secure when Louis XIV made it a province of France. In 1665 he sent a French garrison, the Carignan-Salières regiment, to Québec. The government of the colony was reformed along the lines of the government of France, with the Governor General and Intendant subordinate to the Minister of the Marine in France. In 1665, Jean Talon was sent by Minister of the Marine Jean-Baptiste Colbert to New France as the first Intendant. These reforms limited the power of the Bishop of Québec, who had held the greatest amount of power after the death of Champlain.

Related Topics:
1650s - 1660 - Adam Dollard des Ormeaux - 1663 - Louis XIV - 1665 - Carignan-Salières regiment - Intendant - Jean Talon - Jean-Baptiste Colbert - Bishop of Québec

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The 1666 census of New France was conducted by France's intendant, Jean Talon in the winter of 1665-1666. It showed a population of 3215 habitants in New France, many more than there had been only a few decades earlier. But the census showed a great difference in the number of men (2034) and women (1181). As a result, and hoping to make the colony the centre of France's colonial empire, Louis XIV decided to dispatch more than 700 single women, aged between 15 and 30 (known as les filles du roi) to New France. At the same time, marriages with the natives were encouraged and indentured servants, known as engagés, were also sent to New France. One such engagé, Etienne Trudeau, was the ancestor of future Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

Related Topics:
1666 census of New France - France's colonial empire - Louis XIV - Les filles du roi - Indentured servants - Prime Minister of Canada - Pierre Elliott Trudeau

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Talon also tried to reform the seigneurial system, forcing the seigneurs to actually reside on their land, and limiting the size of the seigneuries, in an attempt to make more land available to new settlers. These schemes were ultimately unsuccessful. Very few settlers arrived, and the various industries established by Talon did not surpass the importance of the fur trade.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Since Henry Hudson claimed Hudson Bay, James Bay and surrounding territory for the English, they had began expanding their boundaries across what is now the Canadian north beyond the French-held territory of New France. In 1670, with the help of French coureurs des bois, Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers, the Hudson's Bay Company was established to control the fur trade in all the land that drained into Hudson Bay. This ended the French monopoly on the Canadian fur trade. To compensate, the French extended their territory to the south, and to the west of the American colonies. In 1682, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle explored the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, and claimed the entire territory for France as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. He named this territory Louisiana. Although there was virtually no colonization in this part of New France, there were many strategic forts built there, under the orders of Governor Louis de Buade de Frontenac. Forts were also built in the older portions of New France that had not yet been settled.

Related Topics:
Henry Hudson - Hudson Bay - James Bay - Canadian - 1670 - Coureurs des bois - Pierre-Esprit Radisson - Médard des Groseilliers - Hudson's Bay Company - American colonies - 1682 - René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle - Ohio - Gulf of Mexico - Louisiana - Louis de Buade de Frontenac

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1689 the English and Iroquois began an assault on New France, after many years of minor skirmishes throughout the English and French territories. This war, known as King William's War, ended in 1697, but a second war (Queen Anne's War) broke out in 1702. Québec survived the English invasions of both these wars, but Port Royal and Acadia fell in 1690. In 1713 peace came to New France with the Treaty of Utrecht. Although the treaty turned Newfoundland and part of Acadia (peninsular Nova Scotia) over to Britain, France remained in control of Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) and Fortress Louisbourg, as well as Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island) and part of what is today New Brunswick.

Related Topics:
1689 - King William's War - 1697 - Queen Anne's War - 1702 - 1690 - 1713 - Treaty of Utrecht - Newfoundland - Nova Scotia - Cape Breton Island - Fortress Louisbourg - Prince Edward Island - New Brunswick

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the treaty, New France began to prosper. Industries, such as fishing and farming, that had failed under Talon began to flourish. A "King’s Highway" was built between Montreal and Québec to encourage faster trade. The shipping industry also flourished as new ports were built and old ones were upgraded. The number of colonists greatly increased, and by 1720 Québec had become a self-sufficient colony with a population of 24,594 people. The Church, although now less powerful than it had originally been, had control over education and social welfare. These years of peace are often referred to by the French as New France's "Golden Age" but the aboriginal peoples regarded it as the continued decimation of their nations.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Peace lasted until 1744, when William Shirley, governor of Massachusetts, led an attack on Louisbourg. Both France and New France were unable to relieve the siege, and Louisbourg fell. France attempted to retake the fortress in 1746 but failed. It was returned under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, but this did not stop the warfare between the British and French in North America. In 1754 the French and Indian War began as the North American phase of the Seven Years' War (which did not technically begin in Europe until 1756), with the defeat of a small army led by Colonel George Washington by the French militia in the Ohio valley.

Related Topics:
1744 - William Shirley - Massachusetts - 1746 - Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle - 1754 - French and Indian War - Seven Years' War - 1756 - George Washington - Ohio valley

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~