Unit 2 - The French Regime (1608 – 1760)

Unit 2 - The French Regime
(1608 – 1760)
Chp. 1 – Population
and Settlement
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
- Take out a piece of loose-leaf
French Regime
Review Quiz!
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
1. Who was the first French explorer to discover
Canada? In what year?
2. Where did he explore first?
3. What was the first thing he did when he arrived?
4. Name a famous King of France during the French
Regime.
5. Who were Les Filles du Roi?
6. What name do we give to the French system of
Agriculture?
7. What were the three main cities in New France
during the French Regime?
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
1. Who was the first French explorer to
discover Canada?
- Jacques Cartier
(places in Montréal?)
• In what year?
 1534
2. Where did he explore first?
Newfoundland, Gaspésie
3. What was the first thing he did
when he got here?
 Install the cross for the church and France
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
4. Name a famous King of France during the French
Regime.
 King Louis XIV
5. Who were Les Filles du Roi?
 Orphans from France sent to populate New
France
6. What name do we give to the French system of
Agriculture?
 Seigniorial System
7. What were the three main cities in New France
during the French Regime?
 Montreal, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec
Population and Settlement
The First Occupants – The French Regime
1534
Cartier - Gaspé
~ 30 000
North America
The First Occupants
~ 12 000
St-L
Valley
~ 1300
Inuit's in
Quebec
1492
Columbus
1665
Les Filles du Roi
The French Regime
1608
Quebec City
Founded
1642
Montréal
Founded
1663
Royal
Government
1760
Capitulation
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Jacques Cartier
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Jacques Cartier – Newfoundland
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Jacques Cartier – Newfoundland
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Jacques Cartier – Newfoundland
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Newfoundland
Population and Settlement
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Jacques Cartier
The French Regime
Exploration and Colonization
“I claim this
land for
France and
the Catholic
Church!”
Jacques Cartier
of France
(1534)
... but I
thought this
land
‘belonged’ to
all of us?
Trading Posts in New France
Ville-Marie (Montreal) in 1642
16
Trading Posts in New France
Fur trading with the First Nations
17
Population of the First Nations
in New France
18
Population and Settlement
The territory of New France ~ 1663
Power and Countervailing Powers
French Regime
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Occupying the Territory
• The first Settlements
1. Built in areas where economic return was more likely.
2. The abundance or
proximity to natural
resources justified
the placement of
most sites.
3. The distribution of
land was based on
access to a
waterway.
 Why?
Why did they establish settlements in Québec,
Trois-Rivières and Montréal?
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Occupying the Territory
Name the 3 administrative
regions in New France.
• Canada
• Acadia
• Louisiana
In which cities where most
government offices located?
• Québec
• Trois-Rivières
• Montréal
New France at the peak of its territory expansion
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
• Slow demographic growth in New France:
– Population growth in the colony under the French was
slow and difficult
– Between 1608-1760,
only 65 000 people
arrived in all of
New France
– Population was
composed mainly
of male French
colonists and
First Nations.
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
– Most jobs in the colony were for men only.
• Soldiers, fur traders, labourers,
– Most immigrants and soldiers would leave
after a few years due to difficult conditions.
– More women were needed to grow the population.
Population of New France in the 1660s
The Seigneurial System
Sewing and clearing the land by hand (no machines)
25
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Natural population growth
• Why is it so important for a territory to have a population
that is growing?
 Jobs (services), police,
military, defence, etc.
 The 13 Colonies had
a much larger
population
• A steady increase in the
natural birth rate
would ensure a healthy
population for France’s
colony in North America
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Population in New France
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
 How could France encourage population
growth in New France?
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
• Royal Government (1663)
– The King of France takes control over French
colonies around the world
– Names Jean Talon the
Intendant of New France
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
– Task: to populate and improve the New France
– Sends over more women:
 Les Filles du Roi
– Encourages the
birth rate by:
• Give $$ to couples
who had many children
• Give free land to
soldiers (Carignan-Salières) and engagés
(temporary workers) to stay in New France
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
 Les Filles du Roi:
– From 1663-1673, about
770 women (orphans, beggars,
prostitutes) were sent by the
King of France to populate
the colony.
– Unmarried men had 15 days
to marry or be denied of
hunting, fishing and trading (or worse).
– In 1665 there were about 850 inhabitants.
– By 1673 (8 yrs later) there were about 7 400
inhabitants (increase of 900%!).
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
- Result: the population doubles in 6 years,
mainly due to natural growth (high birth rate).
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Population growth in New France
• The birth rate in New France
became higher than the
birth rate in France.
• Settlers in New France had a
higher survival rate than back
in France
What reasons could explain
this phenomenon?
A family in 1623
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Identity and composition of the population
• The pop. of New France was relatively homogenous
under the French Regime.
– The vast majority of immigrants
originated from France.
• Authorities in New
France stipulated that
immigrants be Catholic.
– Why?
• They wanted to build a
society in the image of
France.
Ethnic origin of the inhabitants of
Canada (1608-1760)
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
• Effects of Europeans on the Native Pop.
– The Church would establish missions and
forts on native land in an attempt to convert
them to Catholicism.
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
– Native populations were permanently altered
by the European presence:
•
•
•
•
introduction of disease,
alcohol,
guns,
sedentarization
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
• The Seigneurial System
– French system of agriculture (rectangles) in
New France.
– Developed the land in an orderly way.
– Attracted people to move to New France.
– Made up of:
•
•
•
•
Censitaires (peasant farmers)
Seigneurs (land owners)
Church
Windmill
The Seigneurial System
• Objectives:
- To promote the
distribution of
the land
- To encourage
settlement
in New France
 More food
= Can feed more people
= Happy and Healthy
population
= More people!
38
Developing the territory in New France
The Seigneurial System
Population and Settlement
The territory of New France ~ 1663
Population and Settlement
The Inter-Colonial Wars
• Treaty of Utrecht
(1713):
– 13 Colonies take over
parts of New France
– France gives up parts
of Newfoundland,
Acadia, Hudson Bay.
– New France is left
surrounded by the
British.
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Occupying the Territory
• The first Settlements
1. Built in areas where economic return was more likely.
2. The abundance or
proximity to natural
resources justified
the placement of
most sites.
3. The distribution of
land was based on
access to a
waterway.
 Why?
Why did they establish settlements in Québec,
Trois-Rivières and Montréal?
Population and Settlement
The French Regime
Summary Question
What factors can explain the low population
growth rate in the colony under the
French Regime?
• Companies were not fulfilling their obligations;
• France did not want to depopulated the Mother
Country (France);
• France was already preoccupied in financing its
ongoing wars against European rivals ;
• The harsh Canadian climate;
• The Iroquois threat;
• Difficulties in getting to New France;
• Etc.