1. Chapter 6
French Colonialism

2. Exploring the Mississippi
French wanted to expand their trading area by finding passage to China or the Indies – “Northwest Passage”
In 1673, Joliet and Marquette left Quebec and made it to the Mississippi. They floated down to Arkansas river and turned around when they found natives with Spanish guns

3. Map of US in 1700

4. LaSalle
Came to Canada from France and established a fur trading post near Montreal
In 1682, inspired by Marquette and Joliet, he ventured down Mississippi
Reached the Mouth of the River and claimed all the land for France in a formal ceremony.
Returned to France and then returned to US to found a French colony. Missed the river, wound up in Texas, killed by his own men

5. LaSalle

6. Henri de Tonti Assistant to LaSalle
Ridiculous character known for bravery and courage
Previously lost a hand in battle
Called “Iron Hand” by natives

7. Tonti

8. The Letter
Tonti, hearing at Fort St. Louis vague news of La Salle`s Texas difficulties, goes to the Gulf with 25 Frenchmen and 18 Indians, in an unsuccessful search east and west of the Mississippi
He leaves a letter for La Salle with the Indians near present Venice, Louisiana
In 1699 this letter will help convince Iberville that he has found the mouth of the Mississippi by ship

9. Text of the Letter Monsieur,
Having found the post upon which you had hung the arms of the King knocked down by driftwood, I had another erected on this side of it, about seven leagues from the sea, and I have left a letter in the hole of a tree nearby bearing an inscription on it.
The Quinipissas having danced the calumet with me, I leave this letter with them to assure you of my most humble respect and to let you know the news I have had of you at the fort, that you had lost a boat, and that the savages having plundered your supplies, you were fighting with them.
Upon this news, I have come down with twenty Frenchmen, five Chaouans and five Illenois.  All the nations have danced the calumet with me.
These people have a great dread of us since you captured this village.
I close by assuring you that it is the greatest disappointment to me to return without having the fortune to find you, after two canoes have coasted along the shore thirty leagues towards Mexico and twenty-five leagues towards Florida, they being forced to return for lack of fresh water.
Though we have gotten no information of you nor found any trace of you, I do not despair that God will grant a full success to your business and your enterprise.  I hope this with all my heart, for you have not a more faithful follower than I, who sacrifices everything to seek you.
HENRY de TONTI

10. French Colony
LaSalle was unsuccessful , but his claim set off a chain of events that led to the first French Colony
Once France claimed the Mississippi the other European nations responded quickly.
Spain built a fort at Pensacola
France responded by sending Iberville to build a fort at the base of the Mississippi

11. War Games

12. Fort Maurepas
The settlement of Fort Maurepas in colonial French Louisiana (New France), began in April 1699 along the Gulf of Mexico
Fort Maurepas was the capital of Louisiana (in New France) in 1719, when the capital was being moved from Mobile , while government buildings at New Orleans were still under construction.
The fort had been completed on May 1, 1699 under direction of French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville,
He appointed his teenage brother Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville as second in command

13. Layout

14. Images

15. Louisiana as a Proprietorship
War in Europe was costly
France could no longer afford to fund the operations in Louisiana
However, they needed to maintain the colony as a buffer against the British
King Louis XIV decided to allow businessmen to run the colony and established the “Proprietorship” = contract to run colony as a business

16. Antoine Crozat
In 1712, French Royal Government gave the proprietorship of Louisiana to Antoine Crozat
He was a businessman who loaned money to the king
He was only interested in finding gold and silver, not settlers or agriculture
He selected Cadillac as Governor

17. Images
Crozat
New France

18. Cadillac Cadillac set up a trading post that eventually became Detroit
Refused to smoke the calumet and angered natives – was taken as an act of war
Established the Superior Council to govern the colony
Known for some absurd ideas, like taming buffalo to clip wool, but also made the wise decision to grow indigo and tobacco.
Tried to convince people to come to colony

19. Images

20. St. Denis
His parents were able to send St. Denis to France to further his education. In late 1699, St. Denis sailed with the second expedition of Iberville (a relative by marriage), arriving in Louisiana.
St. Denis commanded a fort on the Mississippi River and another at Biloxi Bay. He also explored to the west of the bay and upstream, where he journeyed to the lower Red River. These expeditions brought St. Denis into contact with the Karankawa and Caddo tribes and taught him invaluable wilderness skills specific to the area.
Cadillac, sent St. Denis and a company of men from Mobile in September 1713 to travel up the Red River and establish a French outpost. St. Denis arrived in Natchitoches later that year and built a fort. He traded with the Indians and freely sold them guns. The French learned many hunting and trapping skills from the Indians.

21. Images

22. Company of the West
Group of investors who took charter after Crozat failed.
Head was John Law, a banker known for taking risks.
Promised huge financial gains and essentially created New Orleans at the bend (crescent) of river.
Tricked people into coming to N.O. because they needed to increase population. Took thieves, murderers, and prostitutes off streets

23. Mississippi Bubble – John Law
Law would become the architect of what would later be known as "The Mississippi Bubble“; an event that would begin with the consolidation of the trading companies of Louisiana into a single monopoly (The Mississippi Company), and ended with the collapse of the Banque Generale and subsequent devaluing of The Mississippi Company's shares.
The company's shares were ultimately rendered worthless, and initially inflated speculation about their worth led to widespread financial stress, which saw Law dismissed from his post as Chief Director of the Banque Generale. Law ultimately fled the country disguised as a woman for his own safety.

24. Images

25. John Law

26. Code Noir
Louis XIV wanted to increase his power in the colonies. The Code Noir was one of the many laws inspired by Jean-Baptiste Colbert. At that time in the Caribbean, Jews were mostly active in the Dutch colonies, so their presence was seen as a Dutch influence. Also at that time, the majority of the population of the French Caribbean were slaves and slave revolts were frequent
The Code noir (Black Code) was a decree passed by France's King Louis XIV in The Code Noir defined the conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire, restricted the activities of free Negroes, forbade the exercise of any religion other than Roman Catholicism, and ordered all Jews out of France's colonies. The code has been described by Tyler Stovall as "one of the most extensive official documents on race, slavery, and freedom ever drawn up in Europe."

27. Documents

28. Bienville
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville (February 23, 1680 – March 7, 1767) was a colonizer, born in Montreal, Quebec and an early, repeated governor of French Louisiana, appointed 4 separate times during
He was a younger brother of explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. He is also known as Sieur de Bienville.

29. Bienville

30. Perier

31. Bienville returns

32. Stuff to figure out: Ch 6 – Sec. 1
Technical definition of a colony – how is a colony connected to the land it’s people came from?
Why did early colonies struggle? (p. 182)
What was Bienville’s bluff? Why is that area named “English Turn?”
Why was there confusion in early government of Louisiana (p.184)

33. Ch. 6 – Sec. 2 What was the position of “commissary commissioner?”
Why was the Superior Council a good idea?
What was a land grant?