The French are coming, the
French are coming!
Otherwise known as Chapter 2
Imperialism
When Europeans first came to North
America, they created new settlements
called colonies. A colony is a territory of
land that is controlled by another
country. Up until the mid-1900s, many
countries in Europe, Asia, and the
Middle East claimed colonies around the
globe. The earliest colonists in Canada
came from France. They are the
ancestors of most Francophone
Canadians today.
Empires are networks of colonies controlled
by a single country, sometimes called the
home country. Colonies had no
independence, meaning that the people
living in a colony did not have control of
their political or economic affairs. Decisions
about their future were usually made by the
home country. This system of countries
extending their control over other nations is
called imperialism. For centuries, much of
the world was ruled by imperial powers. It
was within this framework that Canada
became a country.
Can you think of any countries that would
have had an empire around the 1700’s?
Expanding Across the Ocean
Why did the imperial countries of Europe want to
expand their empires?
• Economics. Europeans set up colonies so
they could claim the resources of the land for
themselves. In the country we now call Canada,
the resource the Europeans valued most was fur. In
Europe, there was a fashion craze for beaver hats
and fur coats. Since the beaver had been hunted to
extinction in Europe, the Europeans looked to
North America for more.
Q-Can you think of resources that would be sought
after in other colonies (example Mexico or India?)
Competition. The countries of
Europe were often at war with one
another as they competed for land
and resources. The more colonies a
country controlled, the more power
and prestige it had. Colonies
supplied their home countries with
resources such as timber and iron
ore. These were used to build up
European armies and navies.
Religion.MostEuropeanswereChristians
. Like the followers of many religions,
they believed that theirs was the one
true faith. There was competition
within the Christian faith, however,
between the Catholics and the
Protestants. Most people in France were
Catholic. Most people in England were
Protestant. Both groups wanted to send
missionaries around the world to spread
their version of Christianity.
Map from the 1490’s
What areas are missing on this
map?
Curiosity. The Europeans were also
curious about what lay beyond the
horizon. This played an important
part in their expansion around the
world. New technologies and
improvements in navigation helped
them to travel farther than they had
ever been before.
Europeans began arriving in the land we
call Canada 1000 years ago. They were the
Norse, who sailed from Scandinavia. In
the 1400s, long after the Norse had left
North America, sailors from Spain,
Portugal, and possibly England crossed the
Atlantic to catch fish off the shores of
present-day Newfoundland and Labrador.
These fishermen were followed by many other
Europeans, who came across the ocean as explorers
and colonists.
Looking for a New Silk Road
For centuries, the countries of Europe and Asia traded
with one another. France, England, Spain, Portugal,
and the Netherlands looked to India, China, Japan,
and Indonesia to obtain spices, tea, silk, porcelain, and
precious gems.
To bring these goods home, the Europeans travelled a
route known as the Silk Road. This long overland
route crossed through Asia and Eastern Europe. The
route was dangerous because ambush parties would
often attack the traders. They would either steal the
traders’ cargo or charge them a large payment, or “tax,”
to pass through the territory. By the 1400s, the
Europeans were eager to find another route to Asia,
preferably a water route.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfe-eNq-Qyg
France entered the race to find an
ocean passage to Asia in the mid-1500s.
The king, François I, was determined
that his people should find a route
before the other countries of Europe.
The French decided to start their search
by exploring North America.
This section looks at some of the
reasons the French continued to come
back to North America and eventually
built colonies here.
Cartier Crosses the Atlantic
The king of France sent a French sea
captain named Jacques Cartier to
find a passage through North
America to Asia.
In 1534, Cartier set out across the
Atlantic with two ships. After 20
days at sea, he arrived off the coast
of Newfoundland.
Cartier entered a broad inland sea—the
Gulf of St. Lawrence.
One day, Cartier and his men were
exploring along the shore. They came across
a group of Mi’kmaq [MIG-mah] paddling in
their canoes.
Discuss with your table group how you
think the Mi’kmaq reacted upon
encountering Cartier and his crew?
Can you imagine how the Mi’kmaq
reacted upon encountering Cartier
and his crew? The boat would have
been larger than any they had seen
before. The style of clothing and the
language of the men on board would
have been unfamiliar to them as
well. In his journal, Cartier wrote
about what happened next from his
point of view:
The Challenges of Settlement
In July 1534, Cartier landed at a
place he called Gaspé. There, he met
a First Nations people called the
Haudenosaunee and their leader, a
man named Donnacona. They had
travelled from their home farther up
the St. Lawrence River to fish in the
region we know as the Gaspé
Peninsula.
Cartier and his crew decided to stay the
winter. They built a small log fort near
Stadacona. However, they did not have
enough fresh fruit and vegetables. Many of
the crew became ill and died from scurvy,
a disease brought on by a lack of vitamin
C. But the Haudenosaunee had a cure for
scurvy. They taught the French how to
make the tea
cure by boiling pieces of white cedar.
Without their help, Cartier and the rest of
his men may not have survived the winter.
So then Cartier leaves, and comes back
again…
After another terrible winter, the French
colonists decided to return to Europe.
Cartier took samples of what he believed
were gold and diamonds with him. But it
turned out they were worthless pyrite
(fool’s gold) and quartz. Although he was
not able to establish a permanent colony
in North America, Cartier did succeed in
gathering a great deal of important
information about the land across the
ocean.
The French Return
By the early 1600s, the demand
for furs in Europe was growing.
The French king, Louis XIII,
decided that France should build
a colony in North America.
Then they would have access to
the abundant supply of furs.
Another reason the French returned to North America
was that Louis XIII wanted to be the most powerful
ruler in Europe. To reach his goal, he needed to
expand France’s colonial empire. Resources from the
colonies would give France a military advantage over its
imperial rivals.
The king knew that a colony so far from home would
be expensive for him to build and support. So he
decided to let someone else pay for it. The king granted
a trade monopoly to a group of merchants. This meant
that only the merchants within the group would be
allowed to trade for furs in the colony. In return, the
merchants agreed to build settlements in North
America and find French citizens to live
in them.
The French in Acadia
In 1604, a French noble named Pierre de
Monts received a monopoly. He sailed to
North America to set up a colony. He took a
map-maker and explorer named Samuel de
Champlain with him. In the spring of 1605, de
Monts established a settlement at Port Royal
on the Bay of Fundy. The French called the
area Acadia. It was from the Greek word
Arcadia, meaning “an earthly paradise.”
In time, more and more French people
came to Acadia. Although life was hard,
it was no harder than it had been back in
France. Acadia offered poor farmers from
France an opportunity to make a new
start.
The colonists spread out along the shores of
the Bay of Fundy. They survived through
farming, fishing, and hunting. These French
pioneers formed a unique community and
culture. They were the first Acadians.
The Founding of Québec
Port Royal was a long way from the
centre of the fur trade, so de Monts and
Champlain decided to move to the St.
Lawrence River. They chose a site near
Stadacona, where Jacques Cartier had
built a fort many years earlier.
The French colonists called their
settlement Québec. The name came from
an Algonquin [al- GONG-kwin] word
meaning “the place where the river
narrows.”
Exploring Deeper into the
Continent
Aside from the official explorers, the first
people to leave the settlements of New
France and begin roaming the
countryside were the coureurs de bois (in
English, “runners of the woods.”
The Coureurs de Bois
The coureurs de bois were a unique group of
adventurers. They lived for long periods among
the First Nations. In fact, many coureurs de bois
married First Nations women, and these couples
became parents to the first Métis [may-TEE]. The
coureurs de bois learned to speak the First
Nations’ languages and how to build birchbark
canoes. They also learned many of the other skills
they needed to survive in the woods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_YsuqkkBa8
Many of the young French men who became
coureurs de bois were lured into the fur trade
by the promise of adventure, freedom, and
money. Their main interest was fur trapping,
but they also acted as guides and interpreters
for the French traders. In this way, they were
responsible for much of the early European
exploration of the continent.
Expanding West
Two of the most adventurous coureurs de
bois were Pierre Radisson and his
brother-in- law, the Sieur des Groseilliers.
Radisson came to New France in 1650 as
a boy. When he was a teenager, a group
of Mohawk took him to their home and
adopted him into their family. For two
years, Radisson lived among the Mohawk
before deciding to return to Québec.
During the time he lived with the Mohawk, Radisson
learned to speak their language and survive in the woods.
It seemed only natural that he would become a coureur
de bois. In 1659, he joined des Groseilliers on a trading
trip. It took them deep inland to the far end of Lake
Superior. No Europeans had ever been there before.
Everywhere they went, the First Nations people welcomed
them. Their knowledge of the fur country grew. As they
travelled, they gave French names to some of the
settlements, lakes, rivers, mountains, and other
landforms they encountered. In this way, they claimed
these lands for France.
In 1670, Radisson and des Groseilliers
travelled to Hudson Bay because First
Nations people had told them the land
was rich in fur-bearing animals. Later the
same year, a fur-trading business called the
Hudson’s Bay Company was founded as a
result of the accomplishments of Radisson
and Groseilliers.
Different Perspectives about Land
Like people from the other imperial countries of Europe, the
French claimed “ownership” of the territories they explored. They
did not discuss land ownership with the First Nations or Inuit.
They did not understand that the First Nations had a different idea
about land. Although a First Nation granted certain bands or
families the right to hunt and fish in a territory, no one owned land
privately. First Nations believed land was to be shared by everyone.
While France claimed a vast territory, most colonists remained
clustered along the St. Lawrence River. First Nations people lived in
other parts of the colony. To gain control of the territory, France
needed more colonists. It wasn’t easy to persuade people to come to
New France, though. The climate was much colder than it was in
France. Also, it was hard to start a farm in the wilderness. As a
result, the population in the colony grew slowly.
Economy and Government in
New France
The Royal Takeover []
As a colony, New France depended on France for its
survival. It relied on the home country for colonists,
supplies, and military protection. In return, New
France supplied resources such as furs and fish. The
colony made France richer and more powerful,
which were the aims of imperialism.
In the early days of New France, however, this system
was not working well. To the merchants who ran it,
New France was simply a place to trade for furs.
They had little interest in building settlements. As a
result, few people wanted to move there, and the
colony failed to prosper.
In 1663, King Louis XIV took control of the
colony from the merchants. He set up a
Sovereign Council to govern the colony. This
council was made up of appointed councillors
and three key officials.
• Governor. The most powerful member of
the Sovereign Council was the governor. The
governor, who was the King’s personal
representative, was usually an army officer and
a noble. He took charge of the defence of the
colony and of its relations with allies and
enemies.
Intendant. The second-most important official was the
intendant. The intendant was in charge of the day-today affairs of the colony. For example, he supervised
the courts, saw that roads were built and that settlers
were looked after, and managed the economy. The first
intendant in New France was Jean Talon. On the
king’s orders, Talon brought newcomers from France
to live in the colony. He talked with colonists to find
out what they needed to improve their lives. He started
shipbuilding and fishing industries, and built factories
and roads.
• Bishop. The head of the church in the colony was
the bishop. As a member of the Sovereign Council, he
played a leading role in politics as well. The first
bishop, François de Laval, opened a seminary in
Québec to train priests; it later became Laval
University.
The royal government paid the colony’s
expenses, so taxes were lower than they
were in France. The government of New
France was all-powerful, and the colonists
had to follow the rules and laws
established by the Sovereign Council.
However, the courts heard complaints
filed by the colonists. Overall, the people
enjoyed greater freedom in New France
than they had back in France.
The Catholic Church in New France
Religion had an important place in the lives
of the Europeans. In France, most people
were Catholic. Therefore, almost all the
colonists in New France were Catholic, too.
Priests, nuns, and missionaries who went to
New France helped build the colony. They
held religious services, taught school, ran
hospitals, and cared for the poor. The
colonists supported the Church and its
activities by donating a portion of their
income, called a tithe.
Populating the Colony
Aside from nuns, few French women were interested in
living in New France. It was far from home, and life there
was very harsh. But the colony needed women to marry
the male colonists and raise families. Without them, New
France would fail to grow and prosper.
The king had a solution. Between 1665 and 1673, he sent
about 900 single young women and girls to New France to
become wives. Some of the women were orphans. Others
were poor. If they married, the king gave each couple an
ox, a cow, two pigs, two chickens, some salt beef, and a
purse of money. The women were known as the filles du
roi—the “king’s daughters.”