Transcript File

French Expansion of North
America
New France
Staying in the Race
• The King of France instructed the Company of
One Hundred to bring more colonists to Canada
which was now being called “New France”
- the company tried to avoid this responsibility as
it wanted to focus in furs and not farming
The Jesuits
• Catholic missionaries
were attempting to
convert First Nation
peoples to
Catholicism
• The Society of Jesus
• Main goal was to
spread religion
The Jesuits Efforts Could strengthen
New France
• Could build closer
ties between First
Nations and the
French
• Allies connected by
religion
- France was Catholic
- Britain was
Protestant
More Successful Than Previous
Missionaries
• Jesuits made an effort
to adapt to First
Nations traditions,
customs, and to learn
the language
• Determined to go
anywhere to spread
their beliefs
Unintended Harm: Disease
• The Jesuits and
French traders
brought disease to
North America
• Aboriginal peoples
had no immunities to
European disease, so
many died from
contact
Unintended Harm: Division
• Divided the Wendat Nation between those who
converted to Catholicism and those who did not
- Made them weak and vulnerable
• 1645 and 1650 the Haudenosaunee attacked
repeatedly
- Jesuits fled/some captured
• Wendat Nation virtually disappeared
- Some fled to Quebec
- Lost all traditional territories
New France Government
• 1663, the king turned New France into a
Royal Province
- A designation that gave the colony in New
France apolitical structure similar to that
of France
- Beforehand, New France governed by private
companies
- The new government would be responsible to
the King
France Society
• France was an absolute monarchy
- The King or Queen has total power
•
-
France had Strong feudal traditions
Monarch grants land to nobles
nobles bring in peasants to farm the land
Peasants pay fees to nobles
- The King wanted New France to copy
New France Government
• Consisted of 3 parts
1. The governor
- Looked after military affairs, especially against
the Haudenosaunee
2. The Intendant was the chief administrator
- Looked after the colony and developed the
economy
3. The Bishop
- Responsible for religious affairs
New France Government
• Together the Intendant, Bishop, and Governor
made up the Sovereign Council
- A governing council modeled on the
governments of the provinces of France
Seigniorial System of New France
• A social and economic structure similar to
Feudalism
- Land granted to aristocrats (wealthy men) who
would control the land with something like
feudal rights
• The colony would be populated by French
farmers
- No more First Nations wives
Women coming to New France
• Young women living in
poverty would be
enticed to come to New
France
- No more First Nation wives
- Called filles du roi because
the king paid their dowries
- Often married the king’s
soldiers
King’s Desire for New France
• The King wanted the colony to be a part of the
French Empire
• Motivated by mercantilism
- Economic policy in which colonies exist to serve
the interests of a home country
- Wanted New France to supply raw materials
which would be used to manufacture goods and
make France rich
Mercantilism