Editing Samuel de Champlain (section)

==Improving administration in New France==
[[File:OUR FIRST FOOTING IN CANADA. CHAMPLAIN SURRENDERING QUEBEC TO ADMIRAL KIRKE. JULY 20 1629.jpg|thumb|Champlain surrendering Quebec to [[David Kirke]] on 20 July 1629]]

Champlain returned to New France in 1620 and was to spend the rest of his life focusing on administration of the territory rather than exploration. Champlain spent the winter building Fort Saint-Louis on top of Cape Diamond. By mid-May, he learned that the fur trading monopoly had been handed over to another company led by the Caen brothers. After some tense negotiations, it was decided to merge the two companies under the direction of the Caens. Champlain continued to work on relations with the natives and managed to impose on them a chief of his choice. He also negotiated a peace treaty with the Iroquois.

Champlain continued to work on the fortifications of what became Quebec City, laying the first stone on 6 May 1624. On 15 August he once again returned to France where he was encouraged to continue his work as well as to continue looking for a passage to China, something widely believed to exist at the time. By July 5 he was back at Quebec and continued expanding the city.

In 1627 the Caen brothers' company lost its monopoly on the fur trade, and [[Cardinal Richelieu]] (who had joined the Royal Council in 1624 and rose rapidly to a position of dominance in French politics that he would hold until his death in 1642) formed the [[Compagnie des Cent-Associés]] (the Hundred Associates) to manage the fur trade. Champlain was one of the 100 investors, and its first fleet, loaded with colonists and supplies, set sail in April 1628.<ref>[[#Fischer|Fischer (2008)]], pp. 404–410</ref>

Champlain had overwintered in Quebec. Supplies were low, and English merchants sacked [[Cap Tourmente]] in early July 1628.<ref>[[#Fischer|Fischer (2008)]], pp. 410–412</ref> [[Anglo-French War (1627–1629)|A war]] had broken out between France and England, and [[Charles I of England]] had issued [[letters of marque]] that authorized the capture of French shipping and its colonies in North America.<ref>[[#Fischer|Fischer (2008)]], p. 409</ref> Champlain received a summons to surrender on July 10 from English privateer [[David Kirke]]. Champlain refused to deal with Kirke, misleading him to believe that Quebec's defenses were better than they actually were (Champlain had only 50 pounds of gunpowder to defend the community). Successfully bluffed, they withdrew, but encountered and captured the French supply fleet, cutting off that year's supplies to the colony.<ref>[[#Fischer|Fischer (2008)]], pp. 412–415</ref> By the spring of 1629 supplies were dangerously low and Champlain was forced to send people to [[Gaspé Peninsula|Gaspé]] and into Indian communities to conserve rations.<ref>[[#Fischer|Fischer (2008)]], pp. 418–420</ref> On July 19, Kirke arrived before Quebec after intercepting Champlain's plea for help, and Champlain was forced to surrender the colony to him on the next day.<ref>[[#Fischer|Fischer (2008)]], p. 421</ref> Many colonists were transported first to England and then to France by Kirke, but Champlain remained in London to begin the process of regaining the colony. A [[Treaty of Susa|peace treaty had been signed]] in April 1629, three months before the surrender, and, under the terms of that treaty, Quebec and other prizes that were taken by Kirke after the treaty were to be returned.<ref>[[#Fischer|Fischer (2008)]], p. 428</ref> It was not until the [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1632)|1632 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], however, that Quebec was formally given back to France. (Kirke was rewarded when Charles I knighted him and gave him a charter for [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]].) Champlain reclaimed his role as commander of New France on behalf of Richelieu on 1 March 1633, having served in the intervening years as commander in New France "in the absence of my Lord the [[Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu|Cardinal de Richelieu]]" from 1629 to 1635.<ref name="Trudel">[[#Trudel|Trudel (1979)]]</ref> In 1632 Champlain published ''Voyages de la Nouvelle-France'', which was dedicated to Cardinal Richelieu, and ''Traitté de la marine et du devoir d'un bon marinier'', a treatise on leadership, seamanship, and navigation. (Champlain made more than 25 round-trip crossings of the Atlantic in his lifetime, without losing a single ship.)<ref>[[#Fischer|Fischer (2008)]], p. 447</ref>