New France
Where it ALL began!
What questions will we answer?

1) Why did France decide to settle along the St.
Lawrence River?

2) What kind of society did New France have?

3) What were the relationships between the First
Nations and the French fur traders like? How was
this different than the English fur traders?

4)Who won the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, and
why was this important?
Question #1:
Why did France decide to
settle along the St.
Lawrence River?
There were a couple of reasons...
Reason #1: GOLD AND RICHES
Jacques Cartier: explorer

In 1534, Jacques Cartier was sent by the King of
France to find two things: a shipping route to China,
and gems and gold to make France rich.

He explored the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, but
in the winter of 1535, his ship was trapped in ice and
almost all of the 110 crewmen became sick with
scurvy!

1541: Cartier returned to France with what he
thought were diamonds, but they were actually just
quartz.

Cartier’s Travel Routes
Samuel de Champlain: Explorer

Samuel de Champlain explored North
America between 1603 and 1635. He
was a CARTOGRAPHER, meaning he
was trained in map drawing, which helped
others to follow his voyages.

Samuel de Champlain founded (created) a
settlement at Quebec City. It took him 20
years to build enough buildings and bring
enough settlers to make it work.
◦ Many of the settlers were soldiers who came
to protect the settlement, and decided to stay
Reason #1: Gold and riches?

Neither Cartier nor Champlain actually
found gold and riches, but they DID
encourage settlement in the areas along
the St. Lawrence River.
Reason #2: Religion

France was mainly a Catholic empire. If
you were not Catholic, you were not
welcomed.

Many people in France wanted to make
sure that New France would be Catholic
too, so they came and settled in the
colony.
Jesuit Priests
Some of the men who left France in 1611,
were known as Jesuit Priests.
 They had two goals:

◦ 1) spread religion to the First Nations
◦ 2) establish schools for boys in New France

1634: they built Sainte-Marie Among
the Hurons, as a place where they
could teach and worship in peace.
1648: it was attacked by Iroquoian
warriors and 6 priests were killed.
 1649: The priests abandoned the site,
because it was unsafe.

Ursuline Nuns

A group of devoted women who taught
reading, writing, arithmetic and homemaking
in New France.

They worked to prepare young women for
either motherhood or for joining the
church.

This group still exists and they do many
religious and charitable work throughout
Canada.
Reason #2: Religion?

Jesuit Priests and Ursuline Nuns settled
along the shores of the St. Lawrence River
so that they could share their religion
with the First Nations, and help to
educate the people of New France.
Reason #3: Fur
In the 1600s, fur was greatly valued ($$).
 As settlers in New France began to trade
with First Nations, they began to collect
more and more, top quality furs.


The fur trade was very regulated, until
1663 when king Louis XIV of France
declared anyone could trade or trap for
fur.

Traders would exchange hatches, metal
pots, and other supplies for furs with the
First Nations.
Enter… the COUREURS de BOIS
Coureur de bois left the colony of New
France to trade with trappers in the
‘back-country’.
 These men operated ILLEGALLY, and had
to be very careful.

1670s, there were between 300-400 of
them.
 Unfortunately, they collected more fur
than was needed.


1696, King Louis XIV put an end to the
free-trade, and ended the success of the
Coureur de bois.
Reason #3: Fur?

There was a great demand for fur in
France, and because there was an
abundance of fur in New France, people
wanted to settle there to begin trading.
Reason #4: FARMS

Most newcomers to New France were
farmers.

There were two groups:
1) Seigneurs
2) Habitants
1) Seigneurs

These were men who had won the king’s
favour and were in charge of a large area of
land, called a seigneurie.

Seigneuries were long areas of land, along
the main waterways. These were divided up
into smaller pieces and farms.

A seigneur could keep a portion for himself,
but he had to get farm families
(HABITANTS) to settle on the rest of it
2) Habitants

These were farming families who worked
hard to maintain the land.

They would grow crops and raise animals,
but they had to share a portion of their crop
with the seigneur.

They also worked for 10 days a year without
pay for the seigneur, and they had to pay
taxes to the church and government.
Filles du Roi
There was one major problem in New
France: there were not enough SINGLE
WOMEN!!
 The King imported young women to New
France, many of whom were orphans with
no family.

◦ They were given free transport, settlement
expenses and a dowry ($$).
◦ Filles du Roi helped develop New France by
providing stable families.
Reason #4: FARMS?

There was good farm land in New France
along the St. Lawrence, so many seigneurs
and habitants decided to settle there.

Filles du Roi helped to farm the land and
to settle the colony itself.
Why did France decide to settle
along the St. Lawrence River?
4 Reasons
There could be riches and gold
 To make sure New France would be a
Catholic community.
 There were lots of good furs
 There was very good farmland

Question #2:
What kind of society
did New France have?
New France was a HIERARCHIAL
society

Society: community

Hierarchy: a society in which there are
distinct levels that are all fairly separate
Like the School System!
Teachers
Students
Principals
Minister of Education
School Board
Superintendents
New France had two Hierarchies

A) Civil Hierarchy: everyday people

B) Religious Hierarchy: the Church
a) Civil Hierarchy
–everyday people
A hierarchy of general citizens
 This structure was the same in both
France and New France


KEY POINT: There were NO elections!
◦ Everyone was selected for their role.
Viceroy: person who
runs colony on behalf of
king/queen
Sovereign Council:
made rules and laws
about day-to-day things
in colony
Governor: appointed
members to council
Intendant: made sure
rules and laws were
obeyed
The Government

-
Key person in the government was the
GOVERNOR
He was a symbol of the King and was
expected to act a bit like one
- He had big parties and dances for the top
people in New France and he travelled
around the colony each summer.
- The governor was also responsible for
relationships between New France and other
European countries.
Louis de Buade.
COUNT FRONTENAC
He was one of the most famous
governors
 King Louis XIV sent him to make sure
New France stayed close to trade routes
with France

 He was supposed to develop the seigneuries; NOT
the fur trade because it would upset the British and
Dutch to the south
But He Ignored His Orders!
Count Frontenac saw the fur industry as
an opportunity to make himself rich
 He sent out military parties to explore
the region for more fur, and to build forts
to defend the colony


Frontenac’s push for fur caused First
Nations to fight amongst themselves
◦ The Iroquois had supplied the Dutch, and
soon began to fight with the Huron, Illinois
and Abenaki peoples

King Louis XIV was angry that Frontenac had
ignored him, and so called him back to France in
1682.

However, Frontenac was able to persuade Louis
XIV to send him back to New France.

Frontenac continued to profit from the fur
trade, and by the late 1690s had out-lived his
favour with the King.

He was recalled to France, but died suddenly in
1698.
B) Religious Hierarchy: The Church

In the beginning, all of the CLERGY came
from France
◦ Clergy: people trained to lead religious groups

Once New France was really established,
the Church began to build its own local
organization
Bishop
The Clergy
Lay Organizations
The Bishop: a high ranking Church
official usually in charge of a district

Francois de Laval: arrived in New France
in 1659

He was given the job of organizing all aspects of
the Church’s work in the colony

In 1674, he was appointed first bishop of New
France

In 1663, de Laval set up the Seminary school of
Quebec, which was to train men for priesthood
The Clergy: group of people
involved with the Church

Once Laval was appointed as bishop of Quebec,
he could divide the area into parishes
◦ Parish: area served by a local church

Priests were able to expand the influence of the
Church as the population of the colony increased

This is how the Roman Catholic Church became
a key influence throughout New France
Lay Organizations: religious
organizations run by people who are
not clergy

These groups helped extend the influence
of the Church, by providing opportunities
for working, learning and participation in
the life of New France.

They brought the church into everyday
life!
The Citizens of New France

Read pages H34- H37

Answer the questions on the handout IN
FULL SENTENCES

Submit when done.
The Economy Of New France

Let’s Work Together!
◦ Read pgs H38-H 41 as a class
◦ Using the organizer provided, pick out the key
points and words from each section
QUESTION:
Why did New France not really make France as
rich as Champlain hoped it might?
2) What kind of society did New
France have?

Hierarchial society
◦ Civil and Religious
◦ Governor and Bishop were very important
◦ Citizens all had specific roles
The Economy was fairly strong
- based around MERCHANTILISM
- set up as TRIANGULAR TRADE
- ‘Fish and Furs’ economy
Assignment: A Letter from a New
France Citizen

Imagine you are a settler in New France
around 1700.
◦ Write a letter to relatives in France, telling
them what your life is like and what it is like
to live in New France.
◦ Include:




Your trade or role in the colony
Age, male/female
Some everyday things you may do
At least 3 key terms/ people we have learned about
Category
Guiding Questions
Knowledge/Understanding
- key terms, events, names, used correctly
-
Did I look up the names key terms from my
notes? How do I know they are right?
Did I follow a proper letter structure?
Thinking
- letter is original
- makes connections between character’s
position in the society and how he/she
would experience everyday life
What connections have I made between
what I know about New France and what I
think it would be like to live there?
Have I written from the perspective of
someone living in New France in the 1700s?
Application
- follows instructions to finish
- includes all MUST HAVEs from list
- final product is visually pleasing
Did I follow all the instructions from start to
finish?
So I have all the MUST HAVEs from the
list?
Did I get creative with my final product? Is
it ‘pretty’?
Communication
- little or NO spelling or grammatical
errors
Did I, a peer, or an adult, edit my work for
spelling or grammatical errors?
Do I understand what I have written?
Level/ Comments
4
3
2
1
Question #3
What were the relationships
between the First Nations and
the French fur traders like?
How was this different than
the English fur traders?
Working in Groups

Read “The French and the First Nations
Peoples”, pgs H46-H 49.

Gathering key points and information, come
up with an answer for the key question:
◦ What were the relationships between the First
Nations and the French fur traders like? How
was this different than the English fur traders?

Write points on the paper provided to be
displayed in the classroom!
Question #4
Who won the Battle of the
Plains of Abraham, and why
was this important?

SHOW VIDEO with QUESTIONS
REVIEW DAY! Whoop Whoop!
YOUR jobs for today, include:

1) Finish any OUTSTANDING
assignments or Tasks!!

2) Start making study notes USING the
LOVERLY review sheet I gave you before
the break.
◦ You can work QUIETLY with a partner, if
need be!