The French Empire Ch 2.2

Objectives Explain how the fur trade affected the French and the Indians in North America. Explain how and why Quebec was founded. Describe the French expansion into Louisiana.

Read sect. 2 Take fifteen min to read section two. While reading be compare and contrast the Spanish America and French America. Create a Venn Diagram with your partner as shown on pg. 40

French Establish a Fur Trade During the early 1500s explorers such as Giovanni da Verrazano and Jacques Cartier were not interested in establishing colonies; they were interested in finding a “Northwest Passage.” They searched along the eastern coastline of North America from North Carolina to Newfoundland (present day), in the 1530-40s Cartier explored and investigated the St. Lawrence River.

France Establishes New France The area that Cartier explored was claimed by the King of France as New France. This opened up trade, hunting and fishing for the French. The mariners fished for cod and hunted for whales and seals. Then met with Indian hunters and began trading.

Trade cont. The Indians would trade furs to the French for metal arrowheads, hoes, axes, knives, and hatchets. This trade caused a major problem within the Indian community. Why?

Impacts of Trade The Indians who traded with the French now had metal weapons. They could more successfully kill animals needed for survival. (they killed them faster than they could reproduce) So the Indians would move to other territories to take their animals. (This anger other tribes) The Indians that traded with the French who had the metal weapons defeated the Indians that did not.

French Indian Relations Samuel de Champlain, Quebec’s founder traded with the Montagnais, Algonquin, and Huron Indians. They kept him supplied with furs, and in return he was supposed to help them against their foes the Iroquois. In 1609 Champlain and nine French soldiers helped their allies attack an Iroquois camp.

Relations cont. The French attacked the camp near what is today lake Champlain. The Iroquois massed together behind their wooden shields and were amazed when the French shot their weapons and the bullets when right through the shields and killed their warriors and chiefs. The rest of the Iroquois ran in bewilderment.

Cont. This caused a problem for the French. Now the Iroquois were angered and changed their tactics. They began raiding the French in hit and run techniques. Hiding behind trees and attacking in small numbers. They also began to acquire guns and became better armed than the rest of the Indians.

Jesuit Missionaries Like the Spanish the French also had Catholic missionaries called Jesuits. The Jesuits had great success with the Huron Indians. This alerted the Iroquois warriors and they came and destroyed the Jesuits and Huron’s villages killing hundreds and capturing thousands. The only surviving Jesuits continued to live in the St. Lawrence Valley.

Life in New France New Frances’s government closely resembled New Spain. New France had a King back in the homeland controlling everything and a civil administrator to govern New France. This position was called a military governor-general.

Life cont. By 1700, New France only had 15,000 colonists. The land was hard to clear due to thick vegetation and the winters were long and harsh. This slowed the progression of development. The French learned they had to adopt some of the Indian ways to survive.

Cont. Eventually the French men began taking Indian wives and having children who they labeled as metis. This became an asset to the French because they were able to ally with the Great Lakes Indians and were able to defeat the Iroquois during the 1680s-90s.

Louisiana and New Orleans In 1682 Robert de LaSalle was searching for a Northwest Passage, but was not successful. He was guided by Native Americans to the Mississippi River and went south toward what he was hoping was the pacific ocean. However, he found the Gulf of Mexico, he claimed this area around the opening of the river for France. This is where Louisiana and New Orleans was founded and became the colonies larges town and leading seaport.

Cont. Like Canada, Louisiana struggled to attract colonist to stay. This was due to the fact that the swampy weather attracted diseases and did not offer much more than fur trade and poor tobacco growth. Thus, France used New Orleans primarily as a fort to keep the English from taking the immense watershed.