The eventual capital and port city of New France, Quebec was established on the St. Lawrence River by Samuel de Champlain in 1608 as a fur trading and military post. The city was administered by the Company of New France until 1663; subsequently, Quebec City became part of the royal colony of Quebec.
Under the Company of New France, the city and colony remained small due to an economic focus on the fur trade rather than on European settlement. To increase the population, the French Crown encouraged the immigration of families and women of marriageable age. The Roman Catholic Church also supported the settlement by providing for a college, convents, and hospitals. Quebec City was further augmented by the presence of the French military, government structure, and religious organizations. The population grew from about 500 people in 1660 to approximately 5,000 residents by 1760.
A hill separated (and still divides) Quebec City into an upper town on the shore of the St. Lawrence River and a lower town located on the plains above the river. The former consisted of docks, warehouses, and homes of middling and poorer people, and the latter contained houses of the wealthy as well as official buildings.
The fortifications of Quebec City protected New France from attack from the sea and provided the colony’s communications link to France. In 1759 the city surrendered to the British after an extensive siege that virtually destroyed the town. The French Crown officially surrendered Quebec and the rest of Canada to Britain in 1763.
Further reading: W. J. Eccles, The French in North America, 1500-1763, 2nd ed. (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1998).
—Patrick Callaway
World History
