The French are coming, the French are coming!

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 teacure by boiling pieces of white cedar.Without their help, Cartier and the rest ofhis 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 livein 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-to-day 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.”

The French are coming, the French are coming!