Goverment of New France

It contains information on the government, role of women and many more in this flashcard.

Who is Champlain?

• found Quebec in 1608.

• established a base and applied colonial power in North America.

• under Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, 40 colonists from Quebec helped missionaries form the colony of Ville-Marie where Hochelaga once stood.

• this settlement soon becomes Montreal.

The history of the company of 100 associates

• NF was first a company. (Not a colony yet).

• Champlain needed foreign investors to make the new colony a success.

  • Branded as a business (the reason why its called the company of 100 associates.

• Champlain convinced  Cardinal Richelieu to establish 100 investors.

• Purpose: was to establish a French Empire in NA for the purpose of trade, settlement & the conversion of FN peoples to Catholicism.

• Company given administrative control over the territory France claimed.(No royalty).

• Trade did not develop well.

•  Company took more than it gave

What did Louis XIV do with NF?

• noticed new france had a key factor in growing the french empire.

• Wasn’t willing to give up the colony instead

• Dismissed Company of 100 Associates in 1663 and made NF a royal colony.

• Every aspect of life would come under the control of the monarch and his council.

What was the goal of New France? (Establishment of NF)

The goal was to make France the most powerful country in Europe and NF its strongest colony

What is the role of the Bishop in NF?

• head of the Catholic Church. 

• oversaw the churches, missions, hospitals and schools.

What is an role of an Intendant in NF?

• second most powerful official

• In charge of the day-to-day running of the colony

• in charge of the economy, building of roads, running of courts, welfare of colonists in New France

What is the role of an Governor in NF?

• King's personal representative in New France.

• Most powerful member of the council.

• took charge of the defence of the colony and its relationships with allies and enemies.

Who is the role of the sovereign council in NF?

• acted on the kings behalf.

• Made laws for the colony.

Fur trade in NF

• Main industry in NF.

• Hats made of beaver in high demand.

The people in New France in the beginning

• Lots of men as traders/priests but not a lot of women.

• Women needed to populate New France.

• Also to “tame” men and settle them down instead of becoming wild fur traders.

What was the roles of women in NF?

• The filles du roi - were young women sent from France to marry men in the colony and increase the population through natural production.

• The fille du roi were mainly poor/orphans.

  • If they married, each couple was given a purse of gold animals to start a farm plan. 

• increased population by almost 7000 people in 14 years. 

• Other roles of women in New France:

  • religious orders, teaching or providing health care. 

  • while husbands were away in the army or trading furs, wives could manage family, farm or run shop or tavern.  

  • Others could operate small factory or mill.

What is the seigneurial System in NF?

• Habitants = residents/settlers who lived in France and worked as a farmer in NF.

• system developed in france and brought to NF.

• the seigneur would own the land, he wouldn’t work on the land but would live there.

• Rent out strips of the land for the habitants to farm on.

• Habitants - would be able to live on the land rent free with paying small amounts of taxes to the seigneur.

• The seigneurial system created a distinctive settlement pattern in the St. Lawrence area.

What happened to the territory of new france after 17th century?

• near the end of the 17th century NF claimed a bunch of the interior of the continent.

• expansion came from missionary activity and from the fur trade.

Who are the Coureur du bois?

French fur traders named “coureur du bois” traded in the great lakes basin.

What happened with France’s expansion that started the conflict with First nations?

• Britain made an alliance between the Haudenosaunee due to France’s expansion.

• soldiers needed to keep the colonists safe and to conduct raids against the enemies of the French.

• War and unsuccessful treaties with the Haudenosaunee and the French went on for over 6 decades.

How did the great peace of Montreal happen?

- A meeting was held in the summer of 1701 in Montreal.

- There were over 1300 delegates from 40 different First Nations.

- The Wyandot’s (a nation that was part of the Wendat Confederacy) chief, Kondiaronk, is credited with getting so many representatives to the meeting.

- The treaty that was signed is known as “le Grande Paix” (the Great Peace)

What are the main terms of the great peace of Montreal?

• all sides would lay down their weapons.

• all sides would stop attacking each other’s villages.

• fur traders would be able to travel without fear of attack.

Acadia & New france in the late 16th century

• Due to english occupation the French Royal government wasn’t introduced until the late 16th century.

• Many Acadians carved out farms behind dykes along the tidal marshes around the Bay of Fundy and the Minas Basin.

• They also engaged in fishing.

what’s the history of the Hudson’s Bay company?

• A company. (Oldest company).

• Was chartered in 1670 with rights to trade in Rupert’s land which consisted of all lands draining into the hudson bay.

• Tension between the HBC and the french fur traders working for merchants in the St. Lawrence settlements.

  • Continued until the 19th century.

What was the economy of NF?

• Fish and furs were the main business in New France. 

• The Grand Banks of NFLD were a source of cod, & the fur trade extended over much of the interior of the continent.

How did they use the system of Mercantilism in the beginning?

• an economic/political policy.

• european nations saw their colonies as a source of wealth for the mother country.

• Monarchs established colonies with the purpose of supplying gold, silver, and raw materials to the mother country. 

• The populations of these colonies would be dependent on manufactured goods from the home country.

• Creating a ready market for those products.  

• Restrictions were put on the colonies requiring that they trade only with the mother country.  

• The end result was the net transfer of wealth to the mother country.

• The system of trade got to be quite complex.

• Where the goods were traded for slaves who were sent to the West Indies to work on sugar plantations 

How was working Mercantilism near the end of NF?

• Mercantilism afforded protection and much-needed manufactured goods to New France.

• It also slowed their own industrialization and economic development. 

• A weak local economy and overexpansion would mean the end of New France in future wars with Britain.