Hum: New France

Beringian Land Bridge

theory for how people came to Americas
connected Asia & Alaska

Jacques Cartier

French explorer
1520s-30s(NOTE-CHECK THIS): made 3 voyages to NA - St. Lawrence River & Gulf
1st European to explore St. Lawrence

what did Jacques Cartier believe?

St. Lawrence River was a gateway to Asia
tried to get to Asia, stopped by rapids ("le chine rapids")
thought he found gold in NA, sent to France & found it was Fool's Gold (iron pyrite)

Samuel de Champlain

"Father of New France"
sent to NA 70 yrs after Cartier
established royal colony (France was convinced to do so by idea of resources, eg. salted cod, fur, timber)

colony

process of taking land, inhabiting it, exploiting resources for the profit of the mother country

mercantilism

- economic system used during Colonial Times/Age of Empires
- 1600s-early 1800s ??

how does mercantilism work?

**refer to diagram quizlet go die**
1st: resource extract [colony, ie. NF] -> [mother country, ie. France]
2nd, 3rd: sold to -> -> [colony, ie. NF] [colony, ie. Haiti]

- monopoly + not free trade
- guarantees markets - jobs/money for mother country selling tertiary goods
>> colony has to buy from mother country

levels of industry in mercantilism

primary: resource extraction
- eg. logging
secondary: industry
- eg. wood -> lumber
tertiary: industry
- finished goods, eg. homebuilding, cabinetry, piano

examples of primary/secondary/tertiary goods?

fossil fuel -> extract, refine, sold as gas

meat -> farm, butchered, restaurant

clothes -> cotton, fabric, garments

terra nullius

"nothing land"
- worldview of europeans
- colonial idea that land was uninhabited & could be claimed
- Euro-supremacist (assumed people living there would convert to european religion & govt

Indigenous Nations in NA at time of European contact

Algonqian
Wendat (Huron)
Haudenosaunee
Montagnais

which indigenous nations were aligned with Champlain/the French?

Algonquian
Wendat

which indigenous group was aligned with the British?

Haudenosaunee

which indigenous nations were enemies / competed for resources?

Wendat & Haudenosaunee

Algonquian

- Cartier met first
- located north side of St. Lawrence River, between Wendat & Montagnais

Wendat (Huron)

-Wendake (Huronia) area
- southern ontario, shore of ontario lake
- enemies with Haudenosaunee

Haudenosaunee

- 6 nations
- Iroquois is one of the nations
- south side of St. Lawrence River
- aligned w/ British

Montagnais

- northeastern Quebec, north of St. Lawrence River

Catholic Church

- major element of colonialism
- missions / missionaries try to convert ppl to Catholicism
- Jesuits "Black Robes"
- serve the colonists

what did the Catholic Church do in NF?

- set up the first hospitals -> free healthcare
- recorded important data (eg. births, deaths, marriages, baptisms)
- set up first schools -> free education (taught religion, reading/writing, etc)

why was access to St. Lawrence River important?

food
irrigation
transportation

seigneural system

- like feudalism
- land distribution

manor = seigneury
manor lord = seigneur
serfs = habitants

how was the seigneural system different in NF (from france)?

- less hierarchical (not all nobles, eg. some retired soldiers)
- less taxation
- women could be seigneurs (seigneur could pass seigneury to wife when he died)
- habitants could earn a wage & buy property

Company of 100 Associates

- had economic control of NF pre-1663
- had a monopoly on fur trade
- backed by Cardinal Richelieu (most powerful person in france)
- lost its monopoly in 1660 & soon went bankrupt

what was the Company of 100 Associates required to do?

- required by its charter (document w/ terms of existence) to bring settlers to NF & establish seigneuries
>> France was interested in land but not enough to fully establish a colony, so let company run it

when was New France made a royal colony?

1663, by Louis XIV
>> military
>> trade
>> religious mission
- now directly under control of Louis XIV, but much of control left to his reps in NF

who was New France peopled by?

- retired soldiers given parcels of land (~1/3 of pop.)
- govt grants for families w/ 10+ children
- filles du roi
- young couples given royal wedding gift - dowry of land

filles du roi

"king's daughters"
- 1000+ women from france
- girls w/ no future in france
- downtrodden, farm girls, prostitutes, poor, orphans
- sent by boatload to NF & married

Louis XIV

the Sun King (1638-1715)
- absolute monarch in 1660s
- complete control/power

why did the king have complete power?

bc of the divine right of kings
- majority rule (ie democracy) didn't exist, but king had appointed advisors

Divine Right of Kings

- right to rule came from God himself
- put king at top of hierarchy on earth

Minister of Marine

- manages colonies
- Jean-Baptiste Colbert

mercantilism sent...

fur, timber, minerals -> France
- NF -> {fish, wheat, peas, barrel staves} -> FR & French West Indies
- FR -> {textiles, manufactured (tertiary) goods} -> NF
- Fr West Indies -> {rum, molasses, sugar} -> NF & Fr

main government positions in New France? (3)

Governor General
Intendant
Bishop

Governor General

King's rep in NF
- Louis de Buade de Frontenac (from 1672-82) ??
- chosen from military (appointed)
- ROLE: maintain military relations w/ Wendat + later Algonquian, & treaties w/ Haudenosaunee

Intendant

oversaw day-to-day operations in NF
- Jean Talon
- appointed from nobility
- master of NF
- advised by sovereign council

Bishop

representative of Catholic Church
- François de Laval
- appointed from nobility or clergy
- ruled over parishes
- ROLE: education, churches, hospitals, mission work w/ Wendat

what did Colbert & Talon do to the seigneural system in NF?

reformed system by stripping seigneurs who hadn't improved their land, gave it to more energetic seigneurs

ownership of seigneuries?

soil belonged to seigneur

minerals rights & oak trees belonged to king

what did seigneurs do? (6)

- subdivided their land & grant to habitants
- build a house (& reside) & flour mill
- provide $ to build church
- keep intendant in the loop
- build irrigation & transportation on land
- some had to maintain a court for minor disputes

what did habitants do? (6)

- pay taxes (cens et rentes), about 1/10 of income
- built own house
- perform unpaid labour (corvée) a few days per year for seigneur
- give % of produce to seigneur
- compulsory military service (roads, bridges)
- could sell/buy land but had to pay out seigneur

censitaires

the peasant settlers
aka. habitants

religion of people in NF & why?

- nearly all people in NF were nominally Roman Catholic
- Louis XIV + French Cardinal Richelieu decreed only catholics could go to NF
- however, "popular religions" of the Canadiens remained strong

engagés

immigrants to NF who offered their services to employers in the colony
- aka. trente-six mois bc they were usually under a 3-yr contract
- generally young (in their 20s) & single

missionary

one who travels to another region to communicate a religious message

coureurs de bois

runners of the woods
- French fur traders