During the period 1585-1763, the French established colonies in North America stretching from the Maritime Provinces of present-day Canada, up the St. Lawrence River, through the Great Lakes region, and down the Mississippi to its mouth in Louisiana. Although the French settlers were never as populous as their British counterparts, they made up for their limited numbers by establishing alliances with many Indian nations. They realized that through trade and diplomacy they could maintain their influence among Native Americans who lived in the interior of the country. In addition to establishing strong trading relations and military alliances, the French also relied on missionaries, notably the Jesuits, to convert Indians to the Catholic faith. In this way, the French government maintained good relations with Indian people, but at the expense of the missionary societies rather than the French Crown. This three-part strategy of trade, alliance, and conversion allowed the French to maintain their position in North America until the early 1760s, when the British defeated the French and their Indian allies in the Seven Years’ War. By 1763 the French gave up their claims to North America in the Treaty of Paris.
Fish, F-ur, and Exploration
The French initially arrived in North America in the 16th century when French and Basque fishermen began to fish off the Grand Banks, an area rich in cod southeast of Newfoundland. Some vessels landed on the shore to dry their fish, and Europeans interacted with Indians in the region for the first time. These meetings were characterized by brief trading sessions in which Europeans exchanged copper or iron tools for furs. In the 1530s and 1540s Jacques Cartier made three voyages between Europe and Canada, hoping to find a lucrative gold or silver mine in the woods of Canada. After a series of conflicts with the Indians (often referred to as the St. Lawrence Iroquoian), who lived on the St. Lawrence River, Cartier ceased exploring the river, and French attempts to inhabit the region ground to a halt.
Tadoussac and the First Settlements
For the next 60 years there were no serious French attempts to occupy North America. This hiatus ended in 1598, when Mesgouez de la Roche, a nobleman from Breton, received a renewed commission from King Henry IV as lieutenant general in New France. The title allowed La Roche to build EORTs, grant lands, and make laws. In addition, his position gave him monopoly power over the lucrative EUR trade. The following year, partly due to some resentment of La Roche’s monopoly by French merchants, other traders were granted licenses as well. Pierre Chauvin was given a 10-year license to build a fur trading post at Tadoussac, a traditional Algonquin and Montagnais trading area at the confluence of the Saguenay and St. Lawrence Rivers. The post represented one of the first attempts at permanent French settlement in the New World, but it would not last long as a year-round post. The harsh weather on the exposed point compelled the would-be settlers to return to France after the first winter. In the ensuing years the French returned to the region seasonally to trade with Native Americans in the area rather than inhabiting the area all year. In 1603 Pierre de Gua, sieur de Monts, received the title of vice-admiral in Acadia, consisting of most of the Canadian Maritimes and the coast of Maine. He established Port Royal in Nova Scotia, although it, too, was an early failure, abandoned by 1607.
Era of Champlain
One of the first French officials to realize the importance of fostering good relations with Native Americans was Samuel de Champlain. Although he initially believed that settlement on the islands was superior to colonizing the interior of Canada, he began to envision the development of the interior as the most promising prospect for the French. Champlain allied himself in 1608 with the Montagnais and Algonquin inhabitants of the St. Lawrence area and thereby gained better access to the mainland fur trade. An experienced cartographer and explorer, Champlain knew the region as well as any European, and he chose a strategically located point where the St. Lawrence River narrows to establish a fort. From this site French cannons and firearms could intercept either Iroquois or European competitors in the lucrative beaver fur trade. Here, Champlain established Quebec, which would become the center of French political, economic, and religious life. With two strategic positions, at Tadoussac and Quebec, and with the promise of good trading relations with local Indians, the French seemed poised to maintain a successful colony.
Cementing his alliance with the Montagnais, Huron, and Algonquin, Champlain joined them on a raid against the Iroquois, their long-time enemy who inhabited most of what is now New York State. On July 30, 1609, Champlain and his allies defeated a group of Iroquois on the shores of the lake that bears Champlain’s name. The move helped solidify the French relationship with the Indians living north of Iroquois territory, but it caused much resentment among the Iroquois themselves. Furthermore, the northern tribes were receiving French firearms, metal for arrow points, copper kettles, and other trade goods. As the Iroquois became excluded from trading in European goods (especially firearms and arrows), their animosity toward the French grew. Although Iroquois-French relations would vacillate throughout the colonial period, the Iroquois often adopted an anti-French position, caused in part by their exclusion from French trade.
Although there were very few French settlers along the St. Lawrence River, France had established a trade network and military alliances with the northern Indians in addition to securing Tadoussac and Quebec, crucial economic and military positions. Despite these alliances, the French colonies were precarious through the 1630s. King Louis XIII lacked the capital and interest to fund adequately the remote colonies, so the Crown attempted to use private corporations to support the migration of
French Catholic settlers to the New World. The most prominent of these was the Company of One Hundred Associates, which was given large land grants in exchange for agreeing to move 4,000 French settlers to the New World. Although these land grants were designed to attract farmers to New France, the difficulty of farming, the lack of a cash crop, and the harsh winters tended to stifle immigration from France.
The company struggled from the outset. In 1629 the English captured Quebec but eventually returned it to the French in 1632 in the Treaty of St-Germain-en-Laye. Upon its return, Champlain was appointed governor of New France. At the time the population numbered only about 100 permanent settlers, the vast majority of whom lived in or around Quebec. By 1640 the population had grown only slightly, with approximately 300 settlers in addition to 29 Jesuit priests and 53 soldiers. In the same year the Isle of Montreal was granted to the Compagnie du Saint Sacrament, a mission settlement greatly influenced by the Jesuits, which was designed to be a more religiously oriented village than commercial Quebec. One conflict that divided Montreal and Quebec was their perception of the alcohol trade with the Indians. Traders often used alcohol to get Indian trading partners drunk and thereby negotiate favorable trading terms, yet the more religiously minded settlers, and especially the Catholic missionaries, vehemently opposed trading alcohol to Indians. This issue helped hasten the founding of Montreal. Part of their intention in making the village a beacon of Catholic piety was to attract western Indians. For its part, Montreal (or Ville-Marie, as it was originally called) maintained its religious orientation, and its population grew to more than 600 by the 1660s.
Missionaries
One of the most important aspects of the French settlement of North America was the use of missionary societies both to maintain relations with Native Americans and to fund the colonies. The most influential of the missionaries were the Jesuits, a relatively wealthy and well-organized society that had the financial resources and abilities to spread Christianity among the Indians. The French Crown lacked the capital to support expensive travel into the interior and the giving of gifts to Indians, according to the norms of woodland diplomacy. In exchange for land grants to build colleges, schools, and hospitals and the right to convert Indians to Christianity, the Jesuits acted on behalf of the Crown among Indian peoples, tying the tribes to France by means of religious alliances. Although this was effective, often the Jesuits’ perspective on the best interests of their Indian converts overshadowed the demands of French governmental officials, causing conflict between the secular leaders of the colony and the priests.
Of all the French, the Jesuits had some of the most profound effects on Indian peoples. In the 1630s Father Paul Le Jeune formulated the idea to establish permanent, sedentary missions. Because the Algonquin and Monta-gnais led a seminomadic lifestyle, they were often hunting, fishing, or moving between villages, making it difficult for the Jesuits to instruct them in the Catholic faith. Before the 1630s missionaries traveled with Indian peoples and attempted to win converts while following Indian subsistence patterns. Le Jeune believed that if the Indians adopted European-style housing and an agricultural economy, they would be more accepting of Catholicism as well. Although most Montagnais initially resisted Le Jeune’s efforts, the increasing threat of Iroquois raids, which grew more frequent in the late 1630s and 1640s, convinced some Indians that living near the French would be a wise economic and military move.
The sedentary mission of Sillery became the model for other mission villages throughout Canada. The migration to the missions precipitated numerous conflicts within the Montagnais and Algonquin communities. Those who accepted Christianity were favored by the Jesuits and French officials, while traditional Indians were often excluded from positions of power in the missionary governments established by the priests. Not surprisingly, this led to numerous conflicts between the two factions. This pattern of Christian and traditional factions was mirrored in many of the other mission villages as well. The Sillery mission, like many traditional Indian villages, was decimated by epidemics of European diseases. The Indian population of Sillery gradually gave way to French settlers, and by 1663 the village was no longer an active mission. Similar Jesuit missions emerged at Odanak, Kahnawake, St. Franyois de Sales, and other locations that lasted into the 18th century, and some continue to exist as Native villages today. Missions not only altered subsistence patterns by increasing Indian dependence on European trade goods, but they also undermined Native religions, which were directly attacked in the mission villages.
Colbert and New France
Political changes in Europe greatly affected the colonial effort in the Americas. By the 1660s young King Louis XIV accepted his full regal duties and began a reign characterized by a consolidation of power in the Crown and increased control over his kingdom. His agent of centralization in the colonies was Minister of the Marine Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who fulfilled the mercantilist goals of the king. Colbert sought to open markets in Boston to French trade, make peace with the Iroquois, who had been a constant threat to French habitants, and rein in the Jesuits and make them subservient to the Crown. Although good relations with the English were never developed, Colbert succeeded in making a temporary peace with the Iroquois between 1665 and 1685, and he limited the power of the Jesuits in the New World. Moreover, the number of French colonists in Canada increased to 10,000 by 1670.
Exploration and Expansion: La Salle and Tonti
Another example of Louis XIV’s expansionist policies was the successful enlargement of French influence past Montreal into the Great Lakes region and down the Mississippi River. Supported by Intendant Jean Talon and Governor Frontenac, westward expansion would not only provide the French with further influence among the western tribes but also provide new sources of furs. During Colbert’s tenure the French established Michilimackinac, an important fort and trading post located between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. This strategic center gave the French a centralized location in the western fur trade. Contrary to Colbert’s wishes, the Crown granted 25 licenses to individual fur traders, who became known as coureurs de hois, or “runners of the woods.” These French frontiersmen did a tremendous business with the western Indians and often married into the tribes. Such economic and social ties to tribes further aided the relationship of France with western Native Americans.
French influence in the American interior took an important turn in April 1682, when Rene-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle and Henri Tonti completed their journey down the Mississippi and arrived at its mouth, which they named Louisiana. In 1700 the French established New Orleans and formed relations with the tribes near the Mississippi Delta. As in the north, the French allied themselves with neighboring tribes like the Choctaw but angered the more distant tribes like the Chickasaw, who were excluded from the trade, leading to the Chickasaw War of 1736. Also as in the North, French alliances with many tribes solidified their position along the St. Lawrence, Great Lakes, and Mississippi waterways. With the British in control of the East Coast and the French with a tenuous but extensive grasp on the interior, the stage was set for a battle for the continent. Conflict erupted when the French attempted to extend up the Ohio River into lands claimed by the British.
Seven Years’ War
The river valleys that had opened the west to the French became the center of conflict with the British in the middle of the 18th century. When the governor general at Quebec, Roland-Michel Barrin, comte La Galissoniere, suggested that the French build forts in the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys, the British settlers in Virginia became alarmed. Between the Illinois country and New Orleans, only 2,000 French troops staffed the posts, although the posts were buttressed by alliances with neighboring tribes. The British thus were fearful of even minor threats to their
A map made about 1681 by Abbot Claude Bernou shows the results of the expeditions of Marquette and Jolliet and by the La Salle expedition in the Mississippi Valley. (Library of Congress)
Territory. When the French established Fort Duquesne at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela Rivers in Pennsylvania, the British retaliated.
A young George Washington, at the head of Virginia militiamen, rode west to inform the French that they were encroaching on English soil. After a few skirmishes, Washington was defeated at Great Meadows and sent back to Virginia with embarrassing terms of surrender. Following this, the English sent General Edward Braddock to the west, who was defeated as well. The French settlers in Acadia, who had been living under English rule for a few decades, bore the initial brunt of this conflict. Forced to move from their farms in the Maritimes, many sought refuge in Louisiana, where they became known as Cajuns. Although war was not officially declared in Europe until 1756, the American theater had been the scene of conflict for two years. In 1759, on the Plains of Abraham near Quebec, the young British major general James Wolfe defeated Louis-Joseph Montcalm in a battle that lasted less than half an hour. Although the rest of French Canada fell in 1760, the French did not officially give up their claims to Canada until 1763. In the Treaty of Paris the British received control over Canada, and the French presence in the New World was relegated to the CARIBBEAN.
Further reading: William J. Eccles, The French in North America, 1500-1783 (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1998); Bruce Trigger, Natives and Newcomers: Canada's “Heroic Age” Reconsidered (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1985).
—Thomas J. Lappas
World History
