Transcript New France

Grade 7 History
• For thousands of years, First Nations peoples lived on the North
American continent
• In the 1530s, France began to send explorers to find new lands
• They settled in what we now call the St. Lawrence and set up
colonies
• 1534, Jacques Cartier was ordered by the King of France to
find a shipping route to the Orient to allow French traders to
import silk and other fine products to Europe and to find gems
and metals to make France rich
• He landed in Newfoundland and set up a large cross at PointePenouille on the Gaspe Peninsula to show France’s claim to the
‘New World”.
• He developed a good relationship with the First Nations people
and continued to explore down the St. Lawrence river
• Founded a settlement at Quebec City, the first permanent
settlement for Europeans
• Established military alliance with the Huron people
• Called the “Father of New France”
• Stayed even though their military service
was over
• 1665 Carignan Salieres regiment defended
The colony from the Iroquois who were attacking
it
• Soldiers built 3 forts along the Richelieu River
• After a series of battles, in 1667 they signed a peace treaty
with the Iroquois people
• Were given money to stay and “populate” the new colony
•The Jesuit Priests
• The Catholic Church was the only one the French brought to
New France
• Arrived in New France in 1611 with the goals to spread the
Roman Catholic religion to the First Nations people and to
establish a school for boys
• 1639 they build Sainte-Marie Among the Huron's mission
• Since the Iroquois and the Huron's didn’t get along, the Iroquois
attacked and killed some of the Jesuits
• They abandoned the church and built a new one on Christian
Island but the Iroquois attacked and destroyed this too
• Marie Martin became widowed so she decided
to enter a convent (home for nuns)
• She had visions that she was to go to Quebec to convert the
First Nations people to Christianity
• 1639 she and 2 other Ursuline Sisters arrived in Quebec and
established a convent
• She opened schools for girls of First Nations as well as the
Settlers (as only schools for boys existed)
• The order still exists today and they do religious and charity
work throughout Canada
• Canada was rich in fur-bearing animals and these
pelts were in high demand in Europe
• Only licensed agents could legally trade with the
First Nations people
• Furs were exchanged for hatchets, metal pots and other
supplies
• The Coureurs des Bois were illegal traders until 1663 when King
Louis XIV made it legal for anyone to trade furs
• The majority of new settlers were
farmers
• Seigneurs were men who won the King’s favour because they
were either soldiers or supporters of the King of France
• They were given large plots of land and had to get habitants
(farm families) to work it
• Worked hard to clear the land, grow crops and
raise animals to support themselves
• They had to give a portion of their production to the Seigneur
as rent
• Worked without pay for 10 days a year
• Provided free labour to build and maintain a church and
roadways on the seigneurie
• Paid taxes to the church and the government
• There was a shortage of single women in New France
so the King decided to import young women and gave
them free transportation, settlement expenses and a
dowry
• The Filles du Roi created families and helped develop
the colony
• Initially tried to assimilate with the First Nations and convert
them to Christianity and French ways
• Worked at first then tensions rose
• In 1609 the Hurons convinced Champlain to attack the Iroquois
• The French did not respect the First Nations legends and
teachings
• Intermarriages happened between the French and the First
Nations people
• This new group of people were called the Metis (meaning
mixed)
• Smallpox was brought over from Europe by the French and the
First Nations people had no immunity to them causing many
deaths
• Alcohol was also introduced by the French
• First Nation’s way of life changed and they became less selfsufficient and more dependent on manufactured items like iron
cooking pots, knives, axes, blankets, clothes and rifles
King
King
Viceroy
Viceroy
Minister ofMinister
the Navy
(these 3
didn’t live in New France)
of the
Navy
Governor of New
France (of noble birth)
Sovereign Council
(acted like a King and
followed the King’s orders)
Governors of
Montreal,
Quebec, and Trois
Rivieres
Intendant (commoner
birth)
(did the day to day work of the
government)
Intendent’s
representatives in
Montreal, Quebec,
and Trois-Rivieres
Captain of the Militia
Citizens
Pope
(head of worldwide Roman Catholic Church-competed with the King for power over
religious matters)
Bishop
(1659 Francois de Laval was assigned by the Pope to organize the Catholic faith in New
France-he was the first Bishop of Quebec-set up the first Seminary to train priests)
Diocese
(area under control of the Bishop)
The Clergy
(people trained to lead religious organizations-at first all clergy came from France)
Lay Organizations
(groups that run by people who are not clergy)
•
•
•
•
More important for boys to get an education than girls
Only boys went on to secondary education
Teachers were strict and gave beatings for bad behaviour
Schools had little equipment, books were shared, little
interaction amongst students
• 2 most common jobs were soldiers and carpenters
• Bottom of the hierarchy were….
• Indentured Servants (homeless people sent over from France to
work for little money)
• Criminals (sent over from France to serve their time in NF)
• Slaves (imported from Caribbean to work for the rich)
• First Nations (once they used them for knowledge and fur, they
then considered them unworthy of being part of the French
colonies)
• Mercantilisms- Colony would supply parent
country (France) with inexpensive raw materials
and buy manufactured products in return (could
not trade with any other country)
• New France was mainly fish and furs
• Did not make it’s parent country of France rich
• In the 1700s, the British had a strong position in North America
• The French felt very insecure and worried about competing with
the British
• In order to compete and later resist the British, the French
dropped their animosity and became friends with the First
Nations people
• The French learned hunting and survival skills and created a
system to transport furs for trade
•
• Fighting between the British and French was happening all over
the world
• 1759, General James Wolfe wanted to capture Quebec
• He left Britain with 22 gunships, 27 frigates, 80 transport ships,
55 smaller ships, 9000 soldiers, 18 000 sailors, 2000 cannons,
and 40 000 cannonballs
• Difficult to attack Quebec City as up on a hill so he attacked
easier targets of the Beauport Shore where 440 of his soldiers
were killed or wounded
• He pretended to attack there again but instead sneak attacked
The Anse-au-Foulon
• September 13, 1759 Wolfe and the British soldiers created the
“Thin Red Line” (3 lines of soldiers shoulder to shoulder)
• Montcalm (the leader of the French army) advanced on the
British but they were too tired and their shots were not effective
• Wolfe and Montcalm were both killed and Quebec came under
British control
• The Seven Years War ended in 1763 when the French and the
English signed a peace treaty in Paris
• Both sides returned some of the places they captured to the
original owner
• New France was NOT returned and remained a British colony
• The French Empire in North America was no more!
• Although defeated and captured by the British, New France
established a French-speaking and Roman Catholic population
in North America forever
• Today, Quebec’s population is still French-speaking and mostly
Catholic
• Civil law (property and family law) is still based on French laws
whereas the rest of Canada has civil law based on English laws
• Although New France has been gone for 250years, its effects
are still with us