New France: French colony in North America from 1534 to 1760
New France was founded during the age of the great European discoveries in the 16th century. On a voyage of exploration, Frenchman Jacques Cartier landed in North America and “discovered” the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The territory was already populated by indigenous peoples, who called the land “Canada.” In 1534 Cartier erected a cross at Gaspé and claimed Canada in the name of the king of France. The French presence in the North Atlantic grew quickly through the activities of whalers, cod fishermen, and fur traders.
In the early 17th century, the first permanent settlements in New France were established. In 1608 Samuel de Champlain, considered the founder of New France, built a habitation in what would later become Québec City, making it his base for trade and other economic ventures. French colonists began to settle in the St. Lawrence Valley and Acadia.
These early settlers played a major role in New France’s development by introducing newcomers from France to the land, climate, and the aboriginal nations who made North America their home. The writings of missionaries living among the First Nations were another source of information.
As European explorers ventured further and further afield, trade thrived and new towns and trading posts sprang up. Although they attracted colonists and their descendents, the colony’s numbers remained too small to make much headway.
In the late 17th century, faced with the inability of private interests to properly administer the colony, New France’s future was placed in the hands of the king. Louis XIV put a new administrative structure in place and the colony thrived anew as exploration, commercial undertakings, and settlement initiatives resumed.
In the growing colony, tradesmen and small farmers made up the bulk of the French population, along with merchants, soldiers, laborers, members of the middle class, several nobles and clergymen, the Filles du Roy, coureurs des bois, and a few slaves.
French North America reached its peak in the 18th century. By this time, its boundaries had expanded considerably to encompass over half of the continent, extending all the way from Hudson Bay to Louisiana, and including a goodly portion of the present-day Maritime provinces, the entire St. Lawrence Valley, the Great Lakes Basin, and the Mississippi Valley. Like the other European powers of the time, France hoped to find a route across the continent to the Western Sea, and on to Asia.
However, the British colonies, already a threat, became too populous and encircled New France. In 1713, France ceded Newfoundland, Acadia, and Hudson Bay to England under the Treaty of Utrecht. In the time of peace that followed, New France’s economy took off once more, allowing France to prepare for war.
And it was not long before war came. New France was conquered in 1760 and handed over to England once and for all three years later under the Treaty of Paris. Only Louisiana remained in French hands, but it too was ultimately ceded to the United States in 1803.
