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Life in the French Colonies
of
North America
by
Deirdre J. Hardy
AE 67 5
Winter 77
Prof. Phillip Wisely
University of Florida
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Life in the French Colonies of North America
Christopher Columbus' epic voyage to the West
E discovery of the New World in 1492 may not have
reached Cathay E the Spice Islands as hoped, but it
certainly gave the intrepid explorers who followed
him fresh fields to conquer.
England, France were relative Newcomers to the
New World after Spain E Portugal who had, with the
Pope's sanction, divided the territories of Africa
Aisa E the Americas between them in the Treaty of
Tordesillas in 1494. It was France who evolved, from
her position of weakness at the end obF the 100 years
War, the new colonizing theory that monopoly of trade
could only be maintained by permanent occupation
of that region.1
Practising this theory in 1534 the expedition led
by Jacques Cartier and financed by King Francis I
sailed West to explore the Gulf we know as St. Lawrence
8 hopefully find mineral wealth similar to that of
Mexico as well as the passage to Cathay. Instead,
he captured two of the Indians who tried to trade
him furs and sailed back to France having only ventured
as far as Stadacona, an Indian fortified village,
at the site of today's Quebec.2
The appearance of the Indians in France served
to enrich the imaginations of the Europeans who seem
to have mentally pictured the new world as a place
of friendly earth goddesses bidding them feast on the
bounty of the New World3 The Indians unwittingly
added spice to this mental picture by claiming that
gold, silver, spices and a society with a very
advanced civilization lived in the interior of their
homeland.
Consequenlty, Cartier was commissioned to return
and verify these rumors. H-e was of course'prevented
from travelling farther West than Montreal by the
unnavigable rapid at Lechine and because of the
lateness of the month (October) decided to winter at
Stadacona. The summer's heat E latitudinal position
(20 South of Paris) of course gave no hint of the
severity of the winter to come and most of the
explorers died even with the food E medicinal aid
given them by the Indians.4
As soon as the river ice melted Cartier set off
back to France, this time kidnapping the Indian chief
Donnacona who later perished in France.
Despite the fact that Cartier had brought nothing
more substantial home than tales of hardship E more
rumours of a mythical Kingdom, Francis I was con-
vinced another Peru waited there for this discovery,
but as was to happen many more times in the future -
War in Europe prevented any further implementation of
France's colonization theory. Six years later
Robeval was commissioned to establish a permanent
colony as far up the St. Lawrence as possible and claim
the river it drained for France. However, this colo-
nization attempt, manned to a large extent by convicts
from-French prisons, was alas doomed to failure &
the party had to be rescued partly because Cartier
E Robeval had earlier alienated the Indians by acts
which precipitated massacres and cannibalism against
later pioneers.5
Disappointed, the French reverted their efforts
to privateering in South American waters and fishing
the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland, and some
abortive attempts at colonizing Brazil E Florida.
The years of civil strife in France which began
with the slaughter of the Huguenot leaders in Paris
in 1572 ended 34 years later after Henri IV acceded
to the throne. But the years of turmoil had
changed the lifestyle of the people. The destructive
wars had wreaked havoc on the common man whose farms
the battles were fought on, for his family
suffered the effects of pillaging commandeering
and rape. These conditions were in marked contrast
to the splendid lifestyle of the great monarchies which
were sustained by heavy taxes on the already poverty
stricken poor.
It was from this ferment that the characteristics
of the median world emerged capitalism indivi-
dualism secularism and the birth of modern
science, thanks to the enlightened intellectual age
which created such greats as Spinoza, Descartes,
Rubens, Rembrandt, Moliere, Milton, Newton, E
Galileo.G
By 1603 events had calmed enough that Henri
IV could again turn his thoughts to colonization
and he commissioned Montmorency as Lieutenant Governor
of the Atlantic Coast from 40-460 latitude.
Montmorency was to settle in Arcadia but expand his
efforts on discovering mineral wealth 8 the elusive
passage to China in exchange for a 10 year monopoly
on the fur trade.
With Samuel de Champlain as his associate, de
Monts established Port Royal on the Bay of Fundy,
and found it a fertile region for the growth of cereal
grains E vegetables E proved it possible to live there
year around. Champlain made excellent maps of the
coastline and de Monts established good relations
with the Miamac and Abenaguis Indians which were to
stand the French in good stead in the years to come.7
Four years later when the merchants in the Northern
French parts succeeded in having de Monts fur mono-
polies rescinded the precarious financial position of
Port Royal which was not yet self-sufficient caused it
to be abandoned 6 all returned to France.
It was 1610 before de Mont's successor Poutrin-
court could outfit a ship to return to Port Royal.
His passenger list included a zealous priest who
baptised more than 80 Miamacs soon after their arrival
in Arcadia. It was hoped that Henri IV would be
impressed by this evangelical feat but his assassination
that year once more threw the home country into
turmoil. However, the Queen Mother had been impressed
and sought to establish the Society of Jesuits as the
missionary group responsible for the conversion of
the New World pagans.
Champlain had founded Quebec as a fur trading
post in 1608 for this strategically located spot
was (not only militarily defensible but alas) con-
veniently located for the middlemen of the fur
trade the Hurons.S
For the next 9 years uQuebec was nothing more
than a summer fur trading post and a military garrison
to deter other nations from seeking a foothold in
the region. Quebec's location was a geographic
bonus for the French. It gave them defensible access
to the Lake region's superior quality furs while the
Dutch were establishing fur trading posts in the Hudson
River. Meanwhile the English agricultural venture in
Virginia had blossomed with its first harvest of
Tobacco and settlers were flocking to that
area, numbering 10,000 by 1614.10
Understandably, Champlain was very concerned taht
his small band of soldiers could not defend their
position either physically or theoretically 6 so he
petitioned the French Chamber of Commerce to finance
a major colonizaing program of 400 families 6 300
soldiers. The Chamber was interested but considered
the venture should be financed by Louis XIII who lhad
just made his famour 1617 announcement "L'etat c'est
Moi" 6 taken oligarchial control. Rebellion among
his nobles, the Huguenots and the newly begun religious
was in Germany kept Louis too busy for colonial affairs
so Champlain turned to the only :other source he had -
the Church. Renewed religious interest during the
Regency had enabled the Church to revitalize its
economy 6 political influence and they welcomed the
chance to expand. The Society of Jesuits reentered
the North American Mission field in 1625 but they were
hampered as much as possible by the Huguenot shipping
merchants of La Rochelle who refused to transport
them or their goods. This religion-based stalemate
resulted in Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis' first
Minister, excluding the Huguenots forever from New
France. He did however form a company the Company of
New France of shareholders to finance a large
colonizing venture, 4000 French & Catholic settlers
within 15 years. In return the Compnay was granted
rights as Seigneur of all the claimed land 'and
a monopoly on all trade except fishing. Since 50% of the
hsareholders were members of the clergy 6 nobility E
no Huguenot participation was allowed it is not
surprising that religious factors were motivating
11
ones.
In May 1628, the Company sent 400 settlers with
the necessary supplies for a years sustenance but
England 6 France were at war by the time the expedi-
tion sailed and the convoy was besieged by an English
Privateer David Kirke in the St Lawrence. Kirke
combined his new resources with those of a Scot, Sir
William Alexander who had a grant from James I of the
land between St. Croix River 8 the St. Lawrence
named Nova Scotia. During teh winter the two
Anglo-Scots siezed Port Royal from the 20 Arcadian
inhabitants and in July of 1629 they sailed to
Quebec where Champlain, cut off from provisions and
their source, was forced to surrender. For the first
time French sovereignty was eliminated from North
America a result of poor management and half-hearted
endeavour and the profits of the fur trade were
in the hands of intrepid advantures.12
When England abandoned the Huguenot cause in
April 1629, peace between France 6 England was
followed by th Treaty of St.-Germain-en-Laye which
returned to France all the territory in North
America seized from her by the English. However,
the original Company of NJew France was financially
ruined and the Crown involved in the Thirty Years'
War certainly had no funds to invest, so individuals
were encouraged to lease commercial rights E finance
expeditions themselves to retake possession of
Arcadia and Canada. Thus private enterprise seeking
profits in the fur trade and the Church seeking souls
to convert to Christianity were again motivated
colonizers both completely dependent on the Indians.
Fortunately, Champlain had established good rapport
with the Indians during his previous residence, for
their aid was indispensable to the 40 settlers E 3
Jesuits who set out in 1632 to renew the French~
toehold in the New World.13 Most importantly
these settlers learned from the Indians the vital
techniques of how to survive E travel in the wilderness.
The Indians really eased the entry of the white man
into the New World by teaching him the use of snow
shoes, mocassins, toboggans E canoes and the art of
wilderness survival. Among the crops whose cultiva-
tion was learned from these indigenous peoples are
listed corn, peanuts, squash, etc. whose production
today makes up more than half the world's total food
supply.14
The fur trade propsered enough during the first
few years to encourage more private investment but
not enough for the Company to afford the investment of
1,000 livres per person it cost to establish settlers.
Thus the company, hard pressed to keep its contract
of 200-300 settlers per year adopted the seigneur
system of granting land tracts to individuals who were
required to transport their own settlers E use their
aid in clearing land in exchange for a subdivided
piece of that land for themselves for which the censi-
taires in possession paid a modest annual due or cens
to his seigneur. This system was actually feudal in
nature, but in practice the seigneur had to make
the concessions to his consitaires as attractive as
possible in order to encourage the necessary number of
migrants to fulfill his own contract with the company.1
The topography S location of the area deter-
mined the size of the seigneury for each concession
had to have river frontage since that was the only
route for communication 8 transportation.
By 1640 the population numbered 64 families
158 men, 116 women, 29 Jesuits 5 53 soldiers, a
total of 356 all of whom were settled on the eastern
side of Quebec 5 mostly north of the St. Lawrence
because the south side was subject to attack from the
Iroquois tribes. West of~i~ontreal the company
would grant no concessions on either the Ottowa or St.
Lawrence Rivers since .that would have permitted the
settlers to forestall the Indian bringing furs to trade
at Montreal. This confinement of the population
to the St. Lawrence Valley from the island of
Montreal to just below Quebec continued until the
Conquest of Quebec by Wolfe in 1763.16
The river frontage requirement resulted in the
subdivision of the land into rangs with each lot
at right angles to the river flow having one league
of water frontage at the high water line and indetermina
depth. This subdividing had two distinct advantages -
large tracts of land could still have a sense of
solidarity among neighbors and the physical layout pre-
cluded a sense of isolation. The disadvantages of this
system were that farming could be difficult on a long
narrow strip of land which might include several dif-
ferent types of terrain, and it inherently precluded
a village system. It was also difficult to protect
so the settlers had to become a citizen militia.
Through th practise acquired in self-defense they
became expert guerilla fighters and often worked
the fields in armed bands for ambush by the Iroquois
was a constant threat.17
The farms were largely self-sufficient due to
the whole family's labor combined with the resources
of land and sea. The inhabitants within each rang
bartered their excess goods and handicrafts among
themselves because currency was rare. Thsu the econo-
mic basis for a village was absent as too, was a
tax system. Consequently, the inhabitants never
sought representative government for themselves
but passively deferred to the ordinances of the
intendents or seigneurs for their municipal interests
of education and medical care were an integral part
of the parochial system. As the rangs become
settled the greatest ambition of each was to build
a church, for the physical entity of a stone church
endowed the legal status of parish and each habitants
self concept was encompassed by his name, rang, parish
title. That poverty was a "fact of life," is evidenced
by the realization that although each rang dreamed of
parish status only four stone churches (the required
building matieral) existed in 168518
The church exerted a great influence over the lives
of its parishoners E was in fact the common denomina-
tor of the fundamental views of life shared by all -
it regulated the outside influences on the habitants,
provided explorations for the toils of this world
and supported them emotionally by providing rituals
to carry one through life's crises from birth to death.
Tradition and position in the family largely determined
the activities of an individual whether it be marriage,
career or politics and the peer pressures of neighbours
whose entire social contact with each other was within
their own rang and church was very strong for they
depended on each other for survival. Thsu the deve-
10pment of the province custom of premier voisin or
"nearest neighbour" who became more important to
a family than their relatives. In such a tightly
knit community there was little disorganization or crime
and disputes were settled by the intendent or local
siegneur, but the administration of justice doesn't
seem to have been too onerous for blasphemy, drunkeness
E failure to attend Feast Day Masses comprise the bulk
of reported crimes.19
In contrast to the two settlements at Quebec E
Trois Rivieres which began as fortified commercial
outposts with settlement institutions, such as church,
school E hospital being built later, Montreal was unique
for it was really a small unit of Seventeenth Century
French society successfully transplanted across the
Atlantic a~nd set down in the wilderness 3 days travel
from the nearest French outpost. It was created by
an influential French secret society, the Compaignie
de Saint-Sorement which consisted of wealthy devout
layment 8 clergy devoted to puritanical religious
reform E the conversion of the heathen in foreign
parts. Six members of this society formed themselves
into t the Societe de Notre Dame de Montreal which
was granted charter to the greater part of the island
of Montreal by the Company of New France. The Societe
de Notre Dame believed a mission settlement com ~lete
with church, school E hospital would induce the
Indians to settle permanently on the isalnd where
they could benefit from the institutions and thus
be converted to Christianity. The site of Montreal
was chosen because of its remotemness from
Quebec and its geographic location at the confluence
of the two rivers, the St. Lawrence E the Ottawa,
where it would be easily accessible to a large number
of the Indian nations to the West.
The Society chose Paul de Chomedey sieur de
Maisonneuve, a devout 30 yr. old army officer who
regarded the entreprise as a Holy Crusade to be the
Governor of the new colony. He was accompanied by an
equally devout woman Jeanne Nance (who volunteered
to care for th sick) E 70 men skilled at various trades
who were reunited for a three year term.
The settlers in the Quaker area who were experiencing
a difficult time trying to protect themselves from the
Iroquois offenses tried desperately to convince the
newcomers of their certain death if they proceeded
to Montreal but their warnings were ignored 8 the
new settlement was established inside a log palisade
before the end of the summer of 1642. When the Iroquois
who were busy defending their territories elsewhere
failed to attack because they didn't anticipate such a
daring encroachment, the settlers attributed their
luck to Divine intervention!20
Because many of the settlers who had originally
come to Montreal were skilled tradesmen, a stratified
society ensued the clergy, nobles E commoners
were all represented with the latter group divided
into merchants, artisans E common labourers. There was
little egalitarianism but upward mobility was possible
S could occur quickly through both commercial
success E for a labourer, the clearing of land. As
soon as he had cleared 4 arpents of land he could
claim it his own E become a habitant. This normally
amounted to about 3 yrs labour for 1 man. If he then
chose to become a self-employed landholder the Societe
would grant him 30 arpents of land 8 enough livres
to build 8 furnish a house E live on for 1 year.
These conditions encouraged migration but many pros-
pective settlers found the Iroquois attacks disheartening
E returned to France. The Montreal settlement con-
tinued its good Christian work for 2 decades by which
time the excellent trading location of the city saw
commerce overtake religion as the main concern of its
residents .21
The Iroquois who were allied with the Dutch and
English in the fur trade were responsible not only for
keeping the French settlers confined but they also
caused hazardous financial times for the fun trade
particularly when they would attack 6 close trade
routes.
A feeling of enthusiasm for for colonization in
France and the periodicity of the fur trade due
to the Iroquois blockades brought the Company of New
France to the verge of bankruptcy in 1650. The
inhabitants of Quebec joined forces in an attempt to
become self governing and supportive but although the
seat of governemtn was now localized, rivalries
between religious orders and resultant power politics
brought the colonies to a desperate stop by 1662
so help was sent from the Crown. Louis XIV assumed
command and the colony was proclaimed a Royal Province
to be administered in the same manner as the Royal
Provinces of France in Europe. This takeover provided
a firm financial base for the trading and agricultural
framework to grow on 6 although the colony was not
self-sufficient at the time, it was soon possible. -
the basic rural E urban fabric was laid 8 a crushing
tax burden absent.22
While the settlements around Quebec, Montreal
E Trois Rivieres were slowly spreading along
the river banks, priests 6 explorers were gradually
moving West establishing Missions (which acted as fur
trading posts) throughout the Huron nation. True to
the promises in its Charter teh Company of New France
encouraged the Jesuits to advance West among the Hurons
who for their part tolerated the missionaries'
presence because it was necessary for them to trade
with the French. A settled agricultural tribe,
whose fur animal supply had been depleted the Hurons
traded western goods for furs with the Algonquins,
thus they did their best to prohibit the French
expanding Westward because they didn't want to lose
their middleman position. The Indians with a
philosophical religious concept of their own were not
quick to accept the dogma of Catholicism E the Jesuits
became convinced that only by their own martydom
could the Indians be convinced to accept Christianity -
perhaps because they knew the Indians schooled them-
selves from childhood to accept torture E pain stoically,
for such horrifying experiences befell any Indian
captured by another tribe. Possibly the Jesuits felt
that by showing stoicism in the face of martyrdom the
Indians would be more able to understand the benefits
of faith. Also at the time a religious revival was
sweeping France G priests seemed to crave martyrdom
for their own persons and were jealous of any of their
brethern who attained this high grace!23
Then again the Jesuits were hampered by the
examples of a different white man's life-style
revealed to the Indians by the Coureur de Bois, those
adventurous men who set off into the wilderness to
trap their own furs for trading. These coureur
de bois were popular with the Indians perhaps because
many of them adopted the Indian mores (and squaws!)
They also upset the church E administrative leaders
of the settled communities who did not want the
young people following the coureur's example. During
Talon's governorship he sought to exercise the
population of the settlements 8 bind the coureur
more tightly to the settlements by bringing shiploads
of women to Quebec. Fifteen days after the~ arrival
of such a ship any man remaining single was fined and
lost his hunting license! A small inducement was offered,
however, along with a wife each man received an ox,
cow, hog, sow, cock E hen, 2 barrels of salted meat
E 11 crowns. Seems the idea was to increase S
multiply!24
The Iroquois encouraged by the decimation of
the Hurons by disease and having exhausted the supply
of furs in their own hunting grounds determined to take
over the Huron "middleman role." Though they wished
to keep the Iroquois as a buffer between themselves
E the English G Dutch colonies the French were powerless
to provide military aid to the Hurons, so although
they temporarily lost their missions in the Huron
villages they counted as a victory for God the souls
they had saved while the Huron villages burned!
Loss of the Huron middlemen meant that the French
had to travel west to obtain furs E within a few
years the French frontiersmen had voyaged to the
Western end of Lake Superior F the Ottawa Nation had
succeeded the Hurons.2
This opening of the West occurred just a few years
before Louis declared New France to be a Royal Province
and for once money capable men E opportunity all coincide
for the colony. Jean-Baptiste Colbert rpoved to be
a very capable minister who endeavoured to increase
both France E the colony's strength by using New
France's goods in the same way England had those of
her colonies. The colony was almost self-sufficent
at this time anyway E with added financial resources
to provide professional military protection and expansion
of the fur trade conditions began to improve.26
A new administrative framework was established
for the province which was governed by a Governor
general usually a prof. soldier who represented the
king. Each of the 3 colonial settlements, Montreal,
Arcadia E Quebec/Trois Rivieres had a local
governor who supervised the judicial E military systems.
Royal government brought sophistication and strict
regulation to the judicial system expanding it to a
three count appeal process and regulating legal
activities and fees. All judicial and administrative
posts were appointive E held at the Crown's pleasure
ensuring both talented officeholders E ones who would
perform efficiently.
Colbert struggled to diversify the economy by
financing ship building F fishing schemes but neither
was successful dut to lack of skilled labour, salt E
the long winters. His efforts to consolidate the
settlements fared better E during each summer shiploads
of indentured servants settlers 8 marriageable girls
of many different nationalities, 8 domesticated
animals arrived.
The basic population was now 10,000 E increasing
by natural means stimulated by dowries given to young
couples at marriage E fines extracted from parents
of sons who were not married at 20 E daughters at 16!
Other techniques used by Colbert to bolster the
population included a secret edict allowing only those
colonists who had accumulated considerable wealth to
return to France E encouraging intermarriage with
Indians after they had been Christianized E
Frenchified. The latter failed the Indians showed
no desire to adopt other ways in fact the young
colonists tended to adopt Indian ways!27
By 1672 the French had 3 settlements, 8
fortified garrisons, 7 missions E 1 fort/mission
combination that stretched to the western end of the
Great Lakes from Quebec E these had opened the way
for Joliet E Marquette's famous expedition down
the Mississippi to the confluence of the Arkansas.28
Although they suspected from Indian reports that the
river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico near a Spanish
settlement the King did not encourage further
exploration because he felt consolidation of the settler
areas more important. Thus it was 4 years before
Robert Cavalier Sieur de la Salle E his associate
Tonty reached the month of teh Mississippi River and
claimed all the land drained by this mighty river E
its tributaries for France quite a prize! La Salle
was anxious to set up a string of forts along the
Mississippi to provide supply basis for the great
water transportation route he envisaged foining the
settlements on the St. Lawrence with another at the
mouth of teh Mississippi. The disastrous loss of
the 45 (or 60 by some experts) ton sailing vessel
the "Griffon" which he had built at Niagara to facilitat
his fur trading practices did not deter La Salle29
Instead, he returned to France 8 convinced the King
to finance a colonizing settlement for the Mississippi
Delta with himself as the commander of all the land
from the Illinois River south. This doomed voyage
did not even begin well the ship's captain was never
informed of their destination the mouth of the
Mississippi River. Miscalculating, the ships landed
400 miles west of their destination and after months
of fruitless exploration E many hardships La Salle
was murdered. Louis XIV did not even send out a
rescue ship after a courageous trek by some of the
survivors from Mataferda Bay to a French fort on the
Arkansas River informed him of their plight.30
In 1699 Oberville was sent out from France to
rediscover the mouth of the Mississippi River by way
of the Gulf of Mexico, to defend the French claim to
the southern Mississippi Valley and prevent other nations
from using the river. He was accompanied by skilled
masons, carpenters and a 'draftsman and constructed
a palisaded fort on Biloxi Bay. The next year a small
fort de la Boulaye was established in the Mississippi
delta and later, from 1701-17, forts were built on the
shores of Mobile Bay and its major source the Coosa
River as eastward expansion by the English in the
Carolinas casued the French to occupy as much of their
territory as possible.31
The settlements E forts of the delta area were
completely dependent on the Crown for financial support
but since Louis XIV was busily engaged in European
conflicts little money could be spared for the colony
E when settlers arrived in 1711 they found the 200
inhabitants living under such appalling conditions
that they fled to Pensacola or the Carolinas.32
Once again recourse was taken to encouraging
colonization by private enterprise and in 1712 Anthony
Crozat was granted 15 year monopoly on trade in return
for taking responsibility of settlement. Grozat
endeavoured to reap the utmost from his investment,
not only to the colonies detrement but his own, for
the colonly only had, deer skins, buffalo pelts E
poor quality pitch to offer as resources. In order
to produce the crops Louisiana was capable of growing -
tobacco, cotton, sugar slave labor was required
but these were beyond the means of the settlers. When
Crozat relinquished his contract in 1717 it was given
to John Law E his Compagnie des Indies which was required
to transport 6000 settlers 3000 Negro slaves.33
The old Roypl edict that only practising Roman
Catholics E the social undesirables could be transported
was conveniently disregarded E settlers were
recruited from Switzerland I Germans as well
as France's prisons E workhouses. Because many of
these perished on the voyage or soon after arrival,
Louisiana gained the reputation of a penal colony
E no free people could thereafter be encouraged
to migrate.
Settlement was moved to New Orleans and in 1719
the first group of 450 slaves arrived this group grew
to number 6000 during the ensuing decade + the colony
gradually became self sufficient but never produced
enough to stabilize the financial status of the
Compagnie des Indies 8 in 1731 Louisiana reverted to
the Crown.
Land grants in Louisiana were made by the Crown
E seigneurial rights not allowed. Since the officer
corps came from France along with the military and
the colony was always in need of, the officers readily
procured plantations E in fact spent more time on them
than in military duty. Status came to be measured
by teh size of one's plantation 8 number of slaves,
because it was not possible for colonists to gain
status within the military as it had been in Canada.
Class lines however, were blurred because of the lack
of a core of nobility E the small number of women.
Marriage was often thus either down in class or not
possible and concubinage with slaves E Indians
substituted. Official edict was however against
intermarriage E the old policy of assimilating E
converting the Indians abandoned. Thus the Church
in Louisiana found itself without much influence
especially since its economic dependence on the Crown
made it financially weak also.34
The mission ports of Cahokia E Kaskaskia on the
P.T.0. Illinois meanwhile had attracted a small
number of Canadian settlers who developed the rich
land into "the garden of New France" producing enough
wheat flour, wine E meat to ship down-river to the
Louisiana forts but they sent their furs to
Montreal. The remoteness of these establishments however
prevented rapid growth 8 in 1752 the population there
was 1,536 French & 890 Negroes E 147 Indians.35
While the Louisiana settlement was struggling
for survival the French E Indian War was taking
place in New France while simultaneously France was
engaged in a global war fighting for supremacy in
international trade E dominance of the sea. The Iroquod
nations were determined to retain thsir supremacy
in teh fur trade G were threatened by the expansion
of the French in Illinois. The key to the winning of
this war was the faster communication possible
between the Iroauois E their English allies along
the well travelled Indian pathways, but France was
forced to seek a treaty with the Iroquois when she
was unable to supply the necessary troops to New
France to protect the settlements that the Iroquois
were terrorizing.3
The war in Europe culminated with the Treaty of
Utrecht in 1713, and although this treaty did not
settle the fate of teh Arcadian colony it did provide
31 years of peace during which time New France saw
its first real blossoming. The population in 1714
was 19,000 people by 1740 this had increased to
43,000. As the same period the pop. in English
colonies was 275,000 of which 25,000 were negroes.37
The cultivated land area had also doubled with wheat
the main crop because bread was the dietary staple.
Iron foundrys E ship building were the only two
industries of other than local nature which gained a
toehold, but these were constantly in financial
trouble. The creativity of the artisans was good and
they transmitted their talents to others by way
of an apprenticeship program but the majority of the
upward social mobility took place in the military which
formed the largest cohesive group, E the booming
fur trade funded an improved lifestyle for all who
tended to use their financial success to purchase the
luxuries of life instead of returning the profits to
their business.
Good medical care was provided cheaply by the
well-endowed religious orders who operated the hospitals.
An education equal to that obtainable in France was
available at the Jesuit University in Quebec that had
been founded a year before Harvard, Mass. was begun.
Despite the relatively high educational standard E
the fact that many individuals owned private libraries
no literary tradition was established. No newspapers
were available in the settlements there wasn't
even a press for cut off from Europe by ice for
7 8 8 months of the year there was little news to
print. Paris was the cultural capital of all the
dispersed French possessions.
Accompanying the rise in the standard of living
and education was a refinement of manners E good taste,
but simultaneously the church experienced a decline
in its influence and the result was a rise in the crime
rate S numbers of illegitimate children38
Approaching by sea from the Atlantic the settle-
ments now resemlbed as long skinny village of whitewashed
shore farmhouses with thatched roof on each bank. This
175 mile long settlement symbolized what New France
had really become a "River Empire" for it
stretched from Arcadia to Louisiana with sporatic
settlements along the banks of the river E lakes
which joined the two outposts.39
Gradual expansion by the English West from the
Alleghenies into the Ohio Valley disturbed the French
- they knew the increased population E wealth gained
by the British this way would threaten their
watery arterial tie to Louisiana and with it their
precious fur trade. Thus the French determined to
garrison their fort E show their strength in the Ohio
VAlley. The Indians, impressed by the French show of
strength, promptly swered their trade connections with
the British. Soon these colonies were demanding
military aid from England, and William Pitt, the
Prime Minister, was delighted to be able to aid them -
he knew European peace was good for France E bad
for England.40
The French were able to mobilize their citizen
militia forces at no expense to the Crown 8 skilled
in guerrilla fighting tactics by their years of
experience against the Iroquois they decimated the
regimented British soldiers. Their determination was
further strengthened by the expulsion by the British
of all the French settlers from Arcadia they knew
the same fate may befall them if they were to lose
this battle for expansion.
Unfortunately for the French, Fate dealt a deadly
blow when the Marquis de Montcalm was appointed
Major-General in charge of the armed forces, for
he quickly developed a reciprocated detestation for
the Governor General, the Marquis de Vaudreuil.
Montcalm rejected Vandreuil's battle strategy E
insisted on deploying the troops according to the
European method of fighting, completely ignoring the
demonstrated ability of the citizen militia E their
Indian allies, whom he detested. Resident~ losses E
consequent personality clashes demoralized the troops,
but it was ultimately Montcalm's defeatist attitude
which lost New France. After General Wolfe had
conquered the fort at Quebeo, it was retaken by the
French. However, Montcalm's defeatist attitude
had so convinced the King and his ministers at Versaille
of teh probable loss of New France that they did not
send any reinforcements to Quebec the following spring
E the English simply retook the garrison 8 Canada was
theirs. 4
But the war in Europe raged on E the French
succeeded in getting the Spannish to join as allies.
However, they were not as sharp as supposed 6
France quickly realized she would have no such peace
with England before she herself was conquered.
Consequently, as the Treaty of Paris, while France's
territories in the West Indies were traded around the
table she secretly ceded L~ouisiana to Spain so
that Spain could trade Florida to England in exchange
for Cuba 6 France herself could cede the lands
East of the Mississippi 6 navigation on the river to
England in exchange for Martinique, Ste. Lucia E
Guadaloupe whose raw goods she desperately needed at
home.2
It was 1762 when France ceded Louisiana to Spain
but 2 years passed before Governor O'Reilly arrived
in New Orleans t administer that colony for Spain.
He met with strong resistance, which was put down
severely but then O'Reilly proceeded to govern with
a light hand E continued to paternalistic policies of
his predecessors allowing the French to administer
in the old French way thus preserving the social
structure.3
The city of St. Louis was founded in 1763 E to
it flocked the French who had settled in Illinois 6
Ohio. Both St. Louis F, New Orleans experienced an
added dimension to their cultured life when many of
the French Plantation owners fled to those two cities
after the slave uprising in Ste. Domingue in 1788.4
There remained one more chance for France to
regain some of her American colonies Napoleon
reclaimed the lands west of the Mississippi in 1800.
The population was now 50,000 of whom more than half
were slaves. But once again teh colonists were to be
treated as pawns in a game played by imperial
governments and for the third time, without being
conquered or consulted, the Louisianian found his
nationality changed, when Thomas Jefferson made the
bargain buy of all time by purchasing the Louisiana
Territory for $15,0a000,000.5 Within a few genera-
tions the French descendents had become wholly
Americanized 8 only vistiges of this French heritage
remained, unlike those in the Province of Quebec
where French is still the lingua francs 8 the
inhabitants still hope one day to be, if not a French
colony, then certainly self governing E independent.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Berger, Josef. ed. Discoverers of the New World. New York:
American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1960.
Carse, Robert. The Rivermen. New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons. 1969.
Cauthorn, Henry S. A History of the City of Vincennes, Ind~iana.
Terre Haute, Indiana: Maragaret Cauthorn. 1902.
Cumming, W.P. et al. The Exploration of North America 1630-1776.
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1974.
Eccles, W.J. France in America. New York: Harper 6 Row. 1972.
Eiffert, Virginia S. Of Men and Rivers. New York: Dodd, Mead
E Co., 1966.
Finley, John. The French in the Heart of America. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons. 1915.
Hofstadter, Richard. America at 1750 A Social Portrait.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1971.
Kagan, Hilde H., ed. Pictorial Atlas of U.S. History, New
York: American Heritage Publishing Co. Inc. 1966.
Ketchum, Richard ed. The American Heritage Book of the Pioneer
Spirit. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.
1959.
McDermott, John Francis. ed. The French in the Mississippi
Valley. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
1965.
Peterson, Eugene T. Franc e at Ma ck1inac 1'715-1 7 60. Mackinac
Island, Michigan: Mackinac Island State Park Commission
1968.
Rioux, Marcel and Yves, Martin. French-Canadian Society.
Toronto: McClelland 8 Stewart Ltd., 1968.
Wayman, Norbury L. Life on the River. New York: Crown
Publishers, Inc. 1971.
Weisberger, Bernard ed. The American Heritage History of the
American People. New York: American Heritage Publishing
Co., Inc. 1971.
FOOT NOTES
1. Eccles, W.J. ~Francein America, (Harper E Row, 1972)
pp 1-3.
2. Eiffert, Virginia S. Of Men And Rivers, (Dodd, Meade
8 Co., New York, 1966) p. 25.
3. Wheisberger, Bernard A., The American Heritage History of
the American People (American Heritage Publishing Co.,
Inc., New York, 1971) p. 24
4. Eiffert pp 30-32
5. Eccles, pp. 5-7 8 Eiffert pp. 25 E 33.
6. Weisberge pp 22-24.
7. Eccles pp 13-15.
8. p. 16.
9. p. 21-22
10. pp. 18-21
11. pp. 25-27
12. pp. 28-29
13. pp. 29-33
14. Weisberger p. 28.
15. Rioux, Marcel ed. French-Canadian Society McClelland 8
Stewart Ltd., Toronto, 1968. p. 4.
16. Eccles pp. 34 8 35.
17. pp. 36 8 37
18. Rioux pp. 6-28
19. Rioux pp. 58-60.
20. Eccles pp. 46-48.
21. pp. 49-51
22. pp. 52-57.
23. pp. 43-45.
24. Kagan, Hilde ed. Pictorial Atlas of U.S. History (American
Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.) N.Y. 1966 p. 55.
25. Eccles p. 46
26. p. 60
27. p. 73-88.
28. Cumming W.P. 8 Hillier S. et al The Exploration of North
America 1630-1776 (G.P. Putnam's Sons, N.Y. 1974) p. 36.
29. Cummings pp. 38 6 39
30. pp. 147-150
31. McDermott, John F., ed. The French in the _M_!issi;;_ssippi:
Valley (University of Illinois Press, Urbana 1965) pp 105-109
32. Eccles p. 158
33. "p. 164
34. p. 165
35. pp. 107
36. Kagan pp. 57-60.
37. p. 55
38. Eccles pp 114-136.
39. pp. 143-147
40. pp. 178-182
41. pp. 187-206
42. pp. 216-217
43. p. 245
44. McDermott pp. 8 E 51
45. Eccles pp. 246
SLIDE LIST
1. Cartier's Landing (1534) p. 114 Berger, Josef ed.
Discoverers of the Ne~w Wnorld, New York: American Heritage
Publishing Co., Inc. 1960.
2. European Vision of New World p. 24 Weisberger, Bernard.
ed. The American Herit~agSe History of the American People.
New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc. 1971.
3. Hochelaga Indian Village & Site of Montreal p. 116
Berger.
4. Allegory of Life by Pieter Brueghel. p. 26-27 Weisberger.
5. Indian Wilderness Survival Techniques, p. 31 Cumming,
W.P. et al. Exploration of North America 1630-1776. New
York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1974.
6. Beavers at work, Cover Plate, Cunning, W.P.
7. How Indians Trapped Beaver, p. 194. Cumming, W.P.
8. Montreal, 1642. p. 33. Cumming, W.P.
9. How Indians Treated Prisoners. p. 199 Cumming, W.P.
10. Torture of Jesuits (1665) p. 18 Cumming, W.P.
11. French Expansion and the Fur Trade. p. 56, Kagan,
Hilde. ed. Pictorial Atlas of U.S. History, New York:
American Heritage Publishing Co: Inc., 1966.
12. Map of New France p. 36. Kagan, Hilde ed.
13. Joliet 6 Marquette (1673) p. 7. Waybury, Norbury L.
Life on the River. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc.
1971.
14. Joliet's Map. p. 17 Cumming, W.P.
15. Quebec: Where Champlain died, Berger, p. 115.
16. Quebec (1683) facing p. 116. McDermott, J.F. ed.
The French in the Mississippi Valley. Urbana: University
of Illinois Press. 1965.
17. Building LaSalle's "Griffon" p. 39. Cumming, W.P.
18. Dalta of Mississippi River, p. 37. Waybury, N.L.
19. Biloxi Settlement (1720) p. 157. Cumming, W.P.
20. Food Preparation 8 Growth at Fort Mackinac p. 24
Petersen, Eugene T. France at Mackinac 1715-1760.
Michigan: Mackinac Island State Commission, 1968.
22. Church at Fort Mackinac built by Ainse, 1743. Petersen
p 9
23. Men's Clothing, Fort Mackinac p. 28-29. Petersen
24. Voyageur on Snowshoes, p. 179 Cumming, W.P.
25. Broad Brimmed Beaver Hats p. 32 Petersen
26. Female Clothing, Fort Mackinac p. 34 Petersen
27. Weapons at Fort Mackinac pp. 36 6 37 Petersen.
28. Fort Creve Coeur, (1680) p. 137 Waybury N.L.
29. Ste. Genevieve p. 92 Waybury N.L.
30. Map of French 6 Indian Wars p. 72 Kagan, H.
31. St. Louis, Missouri (1767 6 1794) p. 89 Waybury N.L.
32. Royal Coat of Arms, France. Frontispiece, Berger, Josef.
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