Life in New France

What was New France?

New France was the area colonized by France in North America. It started in 1534, with Jaques Cartier’s exploration of the St. Lawrence River, and ended in 1763 when France had to split up New France and give it to Spain and Britain.

On the line along the top of your page, create a timeline. Put 1534 at the left of the page, and 1763 at the right. Explain what happened in each year underneath the date.

At it’s peak, New France extended

from Newfoundland

to the Rocky Mountains, and

from Hudson Bay to the Gulf

of Mexico.

On the map on your worksheet, colour in New France.

The BeginningsWhen Cartier first explored the St. Lawrence River, he saw the potential. It was very difficult to build settlements however, and the first few attempts met with failure. Though, with the rise in popularity of beaver pelts in Europe, France decided it needed to colonize a permanent territory in the New World.

Map of New France made by Samuel de Champlain in 1612.

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec with 28 men. It was incredibly difficult to maintain, and many settlers died from the harsh weather and disease. In 1630 there were only 103 colonists, but by 1640 the population had reached 355.

Continuing Struggles

• From 1603 to 1663, New France was under the control of private fur-trading companies.

• By 1663, it was clear this wasn’t working…

We need two actors for a skit…

How did Louis XIV make New France work?

• He sent troops to New France to defend it against the Iroquois – this led to a peace agreement with the Aboriginal Nation

• He sent 850 brides-to-be to New France, called the filles du roi (Girls of the King). Before them, there was 1 women to 6 men in New France! With their arrival, many children were born, and the population was replenished.

• He also had men represent him in New France – one for military concerns, called the GOUVERNEUR, and one for everything else to do with the colony, called the INTENDANT – they listened to the King and through the SOVEREIGN COUNCIL (a group of powerful men in New France) they passed on his rulings.

The Seigneurial System(beginning in 1627 – add that to your timeline)

In New France, all land was owned by the King. He had landlords that took care of sections of the land. These men were called seigneurs. The seigneurs divided the land even further, and rented it out to habitants. Habitants cleared the land, built houses, and farmed the land. The habitants paid taxes called cens. They also had to work for the seigneur three days each year.

Jean Talon

• Jean Talon was one of Louis XIV’s first Intendants. He did many important things for New France. He tried to create new industries in New France, but many of them didn’t work.

• One interesting thing he did was develop a census of New France in 1666. A census is a survey of the people that live in a place.

The Census

• This was the first census ever done in North America!

• Let’s look at all the jobs that were around in New France at the time of Talon’s census…

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/kits-trousses/jt4-eng.htm

Let’s take a look at the table you have on your desk.

…and there were other famous people in New France

In your groups, read about the three other famous people in their biographies.

- Marguerite Bourgeoys- Comte de Frontenac- Samuel de Champlain

Take turns explaining the lives of these people to the other people in your group.

The Beginning of the End

• Take a look at this map and think about why it was hard for France to succeed.

The Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1763)

This was the decisive battle between French and British forces. General Wolfe defeated France’s General Montcalm. Quebec fell to Britain. Later in the year, Montreal – and New

France – fell as well.

New France was small (70 000 colonists!) compared to the 2 million British colonists in 1748. In 1756, the first world-wide conflict began – The Seven Years War. In this war, France was an enemy of Britain.