Editing New France (section)

==History==
===Early exploration (1523–1650s)===
Around 1523, the [[Republic of Florence|Florentine]] navigator [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]] convinced King [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] to commission an expedition to find a western route to [[Cathay]] (China).<ref>{{cite book |first=Raymonde |last=Litalien |title=Champlain: The Birth of French America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZnE0tjj9MbgC&pg=PA115 |year=2004 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=978-0-7735-7256-0 |page=115}}</ref> Late that year, Verrazzano set sail in [[Dieppe, Seine-Maritime|Dieppe]], crossing the Atlantic on a small [[caravel]] with 50 men.<ref name="CoxAlbala2009">{{cite book |first1=Caroline |last1=Cox |first2=Ken |last2=Albala |title=Opening Up North America, 1497–1800 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75WxGsZD2DIC&pg=PA27 |year=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-60413-196-3 |page=27}}</ref> After exploring the coast of the present-day [[The Carolinas|Carolinas]] early the following year, he headed north along the coast, eventually anchoring in the [[The Narrows|Narrows]] of [[New York Bay]].<ref name="CoxAlbala2009"/>

The first European to visit the site of present-day New York, Verrazzano named it [[New Angoulême|Nouvelle-Angoulême]] in honour of the [[king]], the former count of [[Angoulême]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Evan T. |last=Pritchard |title=Native New Yorkers: The Legacy of the Algonquin People of New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5hky9f5PgoC&pg=PA21 |year=2002 |publisher=Council Oak Books |isbn=978-1-57178-107-9 |page=21}}</ref> Verrazzano's voyage convinced the king to seek to establish a colony in the newly discovered land. Verrazzano gave the names ''Francesca'' and ''Nova Gallia'' to that land between [[New Spain]] (Mexico) and English Newfoundland.<ref>{{cite book |first=Alan |last=Axelrod |title=A Savage Empire: Trappers, Traders, Tribes, and the Wars That Made America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cdu0uWIe9rMC&pg=PA50 |year=2011 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-1-4299-9070-7 |page=50}}</ref>

[[File:Samuel de Champlain Carte geographique de la Nouvelle France.jpg|thumb|A map of New France made by [[Samuel de Champlain]] in 1612]]
In 1534, [[Jacques Cartier]] planted a cross in the [[Gaspé Peninsula]] and claimed the land in the name of [[King Francis I]].<ref name=Riendeau>{{cite book |first=Roger E. |last=Riendeau |title=A Brief History of Canada |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFWy0EfzlX0C&pg=PA36 |year=2007 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-0822-3 |page=36}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=May 2025|reason=The cited page does not mention 1534 or the Gaspé. Perhaps pages 26 and 27 should have been cited: "Proceeding north to the Bay of Gaspé, [...] he [Cartier] raised a cross to claim possession of the land for France on July 24".}} It was the first province of New France. The first settlement of 400 people, Fort [[Charlesbourg-Royal]] (present-day [[Quebec City]]), was attempted in 1541 but lasted only two years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fort Charlesbourg Royal National Historic Site of Canada |url=https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=16661 |website=[[Canada's Historic Places]] |publisher=[[Parks Canada]] |access-date=31 July 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731062118/https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=16661 |archive-date=2018-07-31 |lang=en |date=2010-04-20}}</ref>

French fishing fleets continued to sail to the Atlantic coast and into the St. Lawrence River, making alliances with Canadian [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] that became important once France began to occupy the land. French merchants soon realized the St. Lawrence region was full of valuable [[fur]]-bearing animals, especially the [[American Beaver|beaver]], which were becoming rare in [[Europe]]. Eventually, the French crown decided to colonize the territory to secure and expand its influence in America.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

[[Acadia]] and [[Canada (New France)]] were inhabited by [[indigenous peoples of North America|indigenous]] nomadic [[Algonquian peoples]] and sedentary [[Iroquoian]] peoples. These lands were full of unexploited and valuable natural resources, which attracted all of Europe. By the 1580s, French trading companies had been set up, and ships were contracted to bring back furs. Much of what transpired between the indigenous population and their European visitors around that time is not known, for lack of historical records.<ref name=Riendeau/>

Other attempts at establishing permanent settlements were also failures. In 1598, a French trading post was established on [[Sable Island]], off the coast of Acadia, but was unsuccessful. In 1600, a trading post was established at [[Tadoussac, Quebec|Tadoussac]], but only five settlers survived the winter.<ref name=Riendeau/>

In 1604, a settlement was founded at [[Saint Croix Island, Maine|Île-Saint-Croix]] on Baie François ([[Bay of Fundy]]), which was moved to [[Habitation at Port-Royal|Port-Royal]] in 1605.<ref name=Riendeau/> It was abandoned in 1607, re-established in 1610, and destroyed in 1613, after which settlers moved to other nearby locations, creating settlements that were collectively known as [[Acadia]], and the settlers as [[Acadians]].<ref name=Riendeau/>

====Foundation of Quebec City (1608)====
[[File:Champlain Habitation de Quebec.jpg|thumb|left|Champlain's Habitation {{circa|1608}}]]
In 1608, King [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]] sponsored [[Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons]] and [[Samuel de Champlain]] as founders of [[Quebec City|the city of Quebec]] with 28 men. This was the second permanent French settlement in the colony of [[Canada, New France|Canada]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grenon |first1=Jean-Yves |title=Pierre Dugua De Mons: Founder of Acadie (1604–05), Co-Founder of Quebec (1608) |translator-first=Phil |translator-last=Roberts |location=Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia |publisher=Peninsular Press |date=2000 |isbn=978-0-9682-0162-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Liebel |first=Jean |title=Pierre Dugua, sieur de Mons, fondateur de Québec |location=Paris |publisher=Le Croît vif |date=1999 |isbn=978-2-9079-6748-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Binot |first=Guy |title=Pierre Dugua de Mons: gentilhomme royannais, premier colonisateur du Canada, lieutenant général de la Nouvelle-France de 1603 à 1612 |location=[Vaux-sur-Mer] |publisher=Bonne anse |date=2004 |isbn=978-2-9144-6313-3}}</ref> Colonization was slow and difficult. Many settlers died early because of harsh weather and diseases. In 1630, there were only 103 colonists living in the settlement, but by 1640, the population had reached 355.<ref>{{cite web |title=Estimated population of Canada, 1605 to present |url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/98-187-x/4151287-eng.htm |publisher=Statistics Canada |year=2009 |access-date=26 August 2010}}</ref>

Champlain allied himself with the [[Algonquin people|Algonquin]] and [[Innu|Montagnais]] peoples in the area, who were at war with the [[Iroquois]], as soon as possible. In 1609, Champlain and two French companions accompanied his Algonquin, Montagnais, and [[Wyandot people|Huron]] allies south from the St. Lawrence Valley to [[Lake Champlain]]. He participated decisively in a battle against the Iroquois there, killing two Iroquois chiefs with the first shot of his [[arquebus]]. This military engagement against the Iroquois solidified Champlain's status with New France's Huron and Algonquin allies, enabling him to maintain bonds essential to New France's interests in the fur trade.<ref name="Douglas Hunter 2000, pp. 240+">{{cite book |first=Douglas |last=Hunter |title=God's Mercies: Rivalry, Betrayal and the Dream of Discovery |publisher=Random House of Canada |date=2007 |pages=240–242 |isbn=978-0-3856-6058-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzoSiqV--t8C&pg=PA240}}</ref>
[[File:Western New France, 1688.jpg|thumb|A map of western New France, including the [[Illinois Country]], by [[Vincenzo Coronelli]], 1688]]
[[File:1592 4 Nova Doetecum mr.jpg|thumb|1592 map of New France by [[Petrus Plancius]].]] 
Champlain also arranged to have young French men live with local indigenous people, to learn their language and customs and help the French adapt to life in North America. These ''[[coureurs des bois]]'' ("runners of the woods"), including [[Étienne Brûlé]], extended French influence south and west to the [[Great Lakes]] and among the Huron tribes who lived there. Ultimately, for the better part of a century, the Iroquois and French clashed in a series of attacks and reprisals.<ref name="Douglas Hunter 2000, pp. 240+"/>

During the first decades of the colony's existence, only a few hundred French people lived there, while the [[English colonial empire|English colonies]] to the south were much more populous and wealthy. [[Cardinal Richelieu]], adviser to [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]], wished to make New France as significant as the English colonies. In 1627, Richelieu founded the [[Company of One Hundred Associates]] to invest in New France, promising land parcels to hundreds of new settlers and to turn Canada into an important mercantile and farming colony.<ref name="Knecht 1991 165">{{cite book |last=Knecht |first=R.J. |title=Richelieu |year=1991 |publisher=Pearson Education Limited |location=Essex, England |isbn=978-0-582-43757-9 |page=165}}</ref> He named Champlain as the [[Governor of New France]] and forbade non-[[Catholic Church|Catholics]] to live there. Consequently, any [[Protestant]] emigrants to New France were forced to convert to Catholicism, prompting many of them to relocate to the English colonies instead.<ref name="Knecht 1991 165"/>

The Catholic Church, and missionaries such as the [[Recollets]] and the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]], became firmly established in the territory. Richelieu also introduced the [[Seigneurial system of New France|seigneurial system]], a semi-feudal system of farming based on [[ribbon farm]]s that remained a characteristic feature of the St. Lawrence valley until the 19th century. While Richelieu's efforts did little to increase the French presence in New France, they did pave the way for the success of later efforts.<ref name="Knecht 1991 165"/>

Simultaneously, the English colonies to the south began raiding the St. Lawrence Valley, also capturing and holding Quebec until 1632.<ref name=Michael>{{cite book |last=Fry |first=Michael |title=The Scottish Empire |publisher=Tuckwell Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-84158-259-7 |page=21}}</ref> Champlain returned to Canada that year and requested that Sieur de Laviolette found another trading post at [[Trois-Rivières, Quebec|Trois-Rivières]], which Laviolette did in 1634. Champlain died in 1635.

On 23 September 1646, under the command of [[Pierre Legardeur de Repentigny (admiral)|Pierre LeGardeur]], Le Cardinal arrived to Quebec with Jules (Gilles) [[Trottier#The first Trottiers in Québec|Trottier II]] and his family. Le Cardinal, commissioned by the [[Company of Habitants|Communauté des Habitants]], had arrived from [[La Rochelle|La Rochelle, France]]. Communauté des Habitants at the time of Trottier traded fur primarily. On 4 July 1646, by Pierre Teuleron, sieur de Repentigny, granted Trottier land in La Rochelle to build and develop New France, under the authorization [[Jacques Leneuf de La Poterie|Jacques Le Neuf de la Poterie]].

===Royal takeover and attempts to settle===
[[File:Naval Flag of the Kingdom of France (Civil Ensign).svg|thumb|The Merchant Flag of France {{nowrap|(1689 design)}}, inspiration for the [[flag of Quebec]] ]]
In 1650, New France had seven hundred colonists and Montreal had only a few dozen settlers. Because the First Nations people did most of the work of beaver hunting, the company needed few French employees. The sparsely populated New France almost fell to hostile Iroquois forces completely as well. In 1660, settler [[Adam Dollard des Ormeaux]] led a Canadian and Huron [[militia]] against a much larger Iroquois force; none of the Canadians survived, although they did turn back the Iroquois invasion.

In 1627, Quebec had only eighty-five French colonists and was easily overwhelmed two years later when three English privateers plundered the settlement. In 1663, New France finally became more secure when [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] made it a royal province, taking control away from the [[Company of One Hundred Associates]]. In the same year the [[Société Notre-Dame de Montréal]] ceded its possessions to the [[Society of Saint-Sulpice|Seminaire de Saint-Sulpice]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Young |first=Brian |title=In Its Corporate Capacity: the Seminary of Montreal as a Business Institution, 1816–76 |location=Montreal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |year=1986 |chapter=Chapter 1, Holy Housekeeping: The Company and Business Management |pages=[https://archive.org/details/initscorporateca0000youn/page/n26 3]–37 |isbn=978-0-7735-0554-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lEF2PSj_S-QC |url=https://archive.org/details/initscorporateca0000youn |url-access=registration }}</ref>

The Crown paid for transatlantic passages and offered other incentives to those willing to move to New France as well, after which the population of New France grew to three thousand.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Alan |title=American Colonies: The Settling of North America |date=2001 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-14-200210-0 |pages=365–366 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPoAQRgkrOcC&pg=PA365}}</ref>

In 1665, Louis XIV sent a French garrison, the [[Carignan-Salières Regiment]], to Quebec. The colonial government was reformed along the lines of the government of France, with the Governor General and [[Intendant of New France|Intendant]] subordinate to the French Minister of the Marine. In 1665, [[Jean Talon]] Minister of the Marine accepted an appointment from [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]] as the first Intendant of New France. These reforms limited the power of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec|Bishop of Quebec]], who had held the greatest amount of power after the death of Champlain.

Talon tried reforming the seigneurial system by forcing the ''seigneurs'' to reside on their land and limiting the size of the ''seigneuries,'' intending to make more land available to new settlers. Talon's attempts failed since very few settlers arrived and the various industries he established failed to surpass the importance of the fur trade.

====Settlers and their families====
[[File:The Arrival of the French Girls at Quebec, 1667 - C.W. Jefferys.jpg|thumb|One group of [[King's Daughters]] arrives at Quebec, 1667]]

The first settler, brought to Quebec by Champlain, was the apothecary [[Louis Hébert]] and his family of Paris. They expressly came to settle and remain in New France so as to make the settlement viable. Waves of recruits came in response to the requests for men with specific skills, ''e''.''g''., farmers, architects, and blacksmiths. At the same time, the government encouraged intermarriages with the indigenous peoples and welcomed [[Indentured servitude|indentured servants]], or ''engagés'' sent to New France. As couples married, cash incentives to have large families were put in place and proved effective.

To further strengthen the nascent [[French colonial empire|France's colonial empire]], [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] sponsored single women, virtuous, physically fit, and aged between 15 and 30 years, known as the [[King's Daughters]], or, in French, ''les filles du roi'', to move to New France. The King paid for their passage and granted goods or money as their dowries upon their marriage to single settlers. Approximately 800 women, primarily from the impoverished Parisian, Norman, and West-Central families, relocated during 1663–1673. By 1672, the population of New France had risen to 6,700 people, a marked increase from the population of 3,200 people in 1663.<ref name=peupl>{{cite web |title=Le peuplement d'un pays |url=http://www.mcq.org/histoire/filles_du_roi/peuplem.html |publisher=Musée de la civilisation |year=1998 |access-date=3 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101021441/http://www.mcq.org/histoire/filles_du_roi/peuplem.html |archive-date=1 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:1664AmeriqueNord.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|Political map of the northeastern part of North America in 1664]]
This rapid demographic growth was predicated both on the high demand for children and on the ready supply of natural resources to support them. According to Landry, "Canadians had an exceptional diet for their time. This was due to the natural abundance of meat, fish, and pure water; the good food conservation conditions during the winter; and an adequate wheat supply in most years."<ref name=Landry>{{cite journal |first=Yves |last=Landry |title=Fertility in France and New France: The Distinguishing Characteristics of Canadian Behavior in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries |journal=Social Science History |date=Winter 1993 |volume=17 |issue=4 |page=586 |jstor=1171305 |doi=10.2307/1171305}}</ref> Consequently, colonial women bore about 30% more children than comparable women in France. 

Besides household duties, some women participated in the fur trade, the major source of money in New France. They worked at home alongside their husbands or fathers as merchants, clerks, and provisioners. Some were widows who took over their husbands' roles. Some even became independent and active entrepreneurs.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Jan |last=Noel |title=N'être plus la déléguée de personne: une réévaluation du rôle des femmes dans le commerce en Nouvelle-France |journal=Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française |year=2009 |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=209–241 |doi=10.7202/044453ar|url=http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/haf/2009-v63-n2-3-haf3904/044453ar.pdf |doi-access=free }}</ref>

====Settlements in Louisiana====
{{Main|Louisiana (New France)}}
[[File:New orleans plan 1728.jpg|left|thumb|Map of New Orleans in 1728]]
The French extended their territorial claim to the south and to the west of the [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]] late in the 17th century, naming it for King Louis XIV, as [[Louisiana (New France)|La Louisiane]]. In 1682, [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle]] explored the [[Ohio River]] Valley and the [[Mississippi embayment|Mississippi River Valley]], and he claimed the entire territory for [[Early modern France|France]] as far south as the [[Gulf of Mexico]].<ref name="Magocsi1999w">{{cite book |first=Paul R. |last=Magocsi |title=Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dbUuX0mnvQMC&pg=PA539 |year=1999 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-2938-6 |pages=539–540}}</ref>

La Salle attempted to establish the first southern colony in the new territory in 1685, but inaccurate maps and navigational issues led him to instead establish his [[French colonization of Texas|Fort Saint Louis]] in what is now [[Texas]]. The colony was devastated by disease, and the surviving settlers were killed in 1688, in an attack by the area's [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous population]].<ref>{{cite book |first=René |last=Chartrand |title=The Forts of New France: The Great Lakes, the Plains and the Gulf Coast, 1600–1763 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r24OvgAACAAJ |year=2010 |publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=9781846035043 |page=51}}</ref> Other parts of Louisiana were settled and developed with success, such as [[New Orleans]] and [[Illinois Country|southern Illinois]], leaving a strong [[History of Louisiana#French exploration and colonization (1682–1763)|French influence]] in these areas long after the [[Louisiana Purchase]].

Many strategic [[fort]]s were built there, under the orders of Governor [[Louis de Buade de Frontenac]]. Forts were also built in the older portions of New France that had not yet been settled.<ref>{{cite book |first=René |last=Chartrand |title=The Forts of New France in Northeast America 1600–1763 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r24OvgAACAAJ |date=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781472803184 |pages=6–8}}</ref> Many of these forts were garrisoned by the [[Troupes de la Marine]], the only regular soldiers in New France between 1683 and 1755.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Evan |last1=Haefeli |first2=Kevin |last2=Sweeney |title=Captive Histories: English, French, and Native Narratives of the 1704 Deerfield Raid |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJnL7eqZvTQC&pg=PA207 |year=2006 |publisher=University of Massachusetts Press |isbn=978-1-55849-543-2 |page=207}}</ref>

===Conquest of New France===
{{Excerpt|Conquest of New France}}