1. New France

2. Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Minister of the Marine:
Colbert was to be in charge of France’s colonies:
His idea was to use France’s colonies around the world to make France more rich & powerful.
He was interested in mercantilism

3. Mercantilism
Countries accumulated wealth by developing colonies as a source of RAW MATERIALS and as MARKETS for finished goods
Send raw materials to home country and they make a finished product to sell back to the colony.
Colonies could only trade with home country.

4. Company of 100 Associates
1627 – The Company of One Hundred Associates was created.
100 people gave 3000 livres to finance company, including Champlain
The Company obtained charter from King to hold and control trading monopoly in fur trade.
In return, companies promised to bring settlers to the colony.
Champlain did not bring many people because he thought it would affect the fur trade
More competition
More Europeans settlers might worry the native traders
The company also governed the colony.
Champlain was the de facto governor of New France for several years
Company lost its monopoly when they failed to bring enough people to New France  (1663) Made it a Royal Colony

5. New Government of New France
1663 Louis XIV declares New France a Royal Colony and set up new government. (Before it was run by the fur trading companies and a governor)  Low population meant the colony was almost wiped out by Iroquois; wanted to make it more secure with more people.

6. “First” Governor of New France: Louis de Buade de Frontenac
Role In New France:
Represented the King.
Highest ranking official in New France
Responsible for military planning, relations with native people, and ensuring other officials did their job.

7. “First” Governor of New France: Louis de Buade de Frontenac
Ignored the King’s wishes and expanded the territory of the colony by sending out Coureur de Bois (Made colony more vulnerable)
(Light Orange); population of Whole territory was around 15,000

8. First Bishop of Quebec: Francois de Laval
Role in New France:
Represented the Roman Catholic Church in New France
In charge of missionaries, churches, hospitals and schools
Reported to the king on colonial activities and ensured harmony among his parishes.

9. First Intendant of New France: Jean Talon
Role in New France:
Acted as master of New France in the king’s name
Informed the king of colonial activities and ensured harmony among the people.
Appointed the nobility (Seigneurs)
Supervised day-to-day running of the colony, law and order and finance matters.

10. Growth of New France Talon wanted to increase the population
Security against Natives & English
Had some success (Still Small!)
Jean Talon created Les Filles du Roi (The Daughters of the King)
Orphans, or poor women whom the King would sponsor and send to New France to marry men there (ages 12-25)
King paid transport and dowry for the Filles du Roi
Several Hundred were sent to New France
Population table only shows for immigration; not any natural growth from having 10 kids per family!

11. New France Grows
Talon did succeed in making the colony bigger  Doubled in size in 3 years ( )
Now 6,000 people!
Still small compared to English Colonies
Other methods of producing population growth:
Paid each woman who married 50 livres
Baby Bonuses for people with more than 10 kids
300 livres/year for having 10 or more kids (yearly salary of unskilled labourer)  Approx. $10-15,000 today

12. Seigneural system The King of France owned the land of New France
Land was granted to Lords (Seigneurs) who divided their seigneuries, into smaller parcels for Habitants to work on (Feudal System)
Divided into long, thin strips of land with access to water (river) for transport and farm use
You can still see the strips from the Seigneuries in Modern Day Ile d’Orleans, Quebec

13. Seigneurial System
Once the farms were set up, the men would often leave to enter the military or fur trade to earn extra money
Egages (hired hands) and the women and children ran the farms. 67

14. Seigneurial System Seigneur Duties included:
Subdivide the seigneury into 32 hectare parcels and grant land to the Habitants.
Build a Manor House & Flour Mill
Contribute to the construction of a church.
Report to Intendant information on population, land used and cultivated and dues paid.
Pay Taxes.

15. Seigneurial System Duties of the Habitants:
Pay taxes or dues to the seigneur (cens et rentes)
Clear the trees to help build a house and farm the land
Perform unpaid labour for the seigneur a few days each year (corvee)
Give a percentage of his produce (fish, crops, animals) to the seigneur annually.

16. Seigneurial Life: Habitants
The habitants houses were also of stone or timber. There were narrow structures, heavily built, and low.
The houses stood very near the roadway, with scarcely ever a grass plot or single shade tree before them.

17. What was the diet of the average habitant?
Meat: deer, rabbit, moose, beaver, waterfowl (duck, chicken, turkey, partridge, goose), pig, cow
Fish: cod, shrimp, trout,
Vegetables: onions, carrots, beets, potatoes, corn, squash , wheat, herbs, peas and corn (most popular)
Fruit: berries
Others: Bread (staple food 70% of daily intake), Milk, Cheese, eggs from chickens,

18. Roles of the Family FATHER MOTHER YOUNG BOY YOUNG GIRL
- Cutting down trees
- Farming
- Carpentry
Building Furniture
Hunting and Fishing
Salt Dry of Meat and Fish
- Cutting and hauling firewood
- Taking care of house and children
- Gardening
- Canning of Winter storage of food
Helping in the harvest
Cooking
Over 14: were old enough to help father on farming chores and building
Under 14: picking veg from garden, fishing, feeding the livestock,
Over 14: same chores as mother
Under 14: helping mother with cooking and cleaning, the garden, storage of food, feeding some small livestock

19. Women’s Jobs
Women were more literate then the men, so they handled all the business side of things,
They did the housework, sewing, cooking, and washing
They were responsible for the education of their children.
They worked in the fields and gardens beside their homes alongside their husbands as well.

20. Towns of New France
People that were not farmers moved to the towns of Montreal and Quebec which became busy trading centres
Only a small part of the population lived in the towns.
Beginning of Eighteenth century:
3000/16,417 people in New France lived in the main towns: Québec, Trois-Rivières, and Montréal
Québec  Capital & Largest Town (5,000 people by 1750)
Montréal  2nd Largest Town; Important Fur Trade Post
Lumber was an important industry, so many sawmills were created to help the shipbuilding industry (build ships for the French Navy)
Iron-ore was also an important resource

21. Merchants located their business places near the waterfront in the Lower Town While the rich and the church were located in the Upper Town.
Most of the houses were made of stone because of many house fires involving wood ones
Most of the buildings were lodgings, because most of the population was renting rather than owning homes because of high cost
Top: Quebec City
Bottom: 2nd Oldest Building in Montreal – Saint-Sulpice Seminary built 1684!
By Jean Gagnon - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

22. Towns of New France
Garbage was thrown into the streets; the dirt streets were narrow and bustling with people and animals.
In the heat, they turned incredibly dusty & after a heavy rain they turned into mud bowls.
There was considerable violence, fire, and theft.
Bottom Left: Old Montreal
Bottom Right: Old Quebec City

23. Old France vs. New France
Women’s Rights:
Women did things that they never did before, like running businesses, which never happened in Old France
Women could own things that never would’ve been possible before
Lifestyle:
In New France the Habitants had more free time than the poor of Old France, and the rich could even have ice cream!
In New France their obligations were fewer in number, and weren't as much of a burden, unlike in Old France
New France had better roads than Old France!
Towns were smaller in New France than in Old France

24. Assignment
Describe the role & importance of the following people, to New France:
Jean Talon
Louis de Buade de Frontenac
Francois de Laval
Describe the ways New France tried to grow its population. Why were they so concerned with trying to grow their population?
Imagine you are a habitant. Write a letter responding to your friends back in Old France about what your life is like in New France.
Compare and Contrast New France with Old France, which would you rather have lived in and why?