Editing New France (section)

===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]].