THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FRENCH COLONIES (1500-1700)
THE FRENCH BACKGROUND
Mediaeval France and the Italian wars.--The history of Mediaeval France is
largely the story of the struggle of the French kings to overthrow the
feudal nobility and to perfect the governmental machinery of absolutism.
The process which began with the accession of Hugh Capet in 987 was
practically completed by the end of the reign of Louis XI, in 1483.
During the reigns of Charles VIII, Louis XII, and Francis I, the great
ambition of the French monarchs was to get control of Italy, a policy
which brought them into conflict with Spain. The wars were barren of
results as far as conquests in Italy were concerned, but the dangers to
which France was exposed united the French people into a great nation,
which was destined to be the leading continental power.
The religious wars.--The Reformation spread into France, Calvinism being
the form of Protestantism which there took root. Calvin's religious
system had three distinguishing features: (1) the church was to be
independent of any temporal power, (2) laymen and ministers were to join
in the government of the church, and (3) a strict moral discipline was
to be enforced. This program was distinctly democratic, and was certain
to come into conflict with the absolutism of the crown. France became
divided into two great parties. The Huguenots, as the French Protestants
were called, were found mainly among the rich burghers of the towns and
the nobles of the country districts, their chief power being in
southwestern France. They were also strong in Dauphine and Normandy.
Their great leaders were Coligny and the Bourbon princes, the most
distinguished of whom was Henry of Navarre. The Catholic party was
headed by the Guises and Catherine de Medici. The kings during this
period were mere puppets, who were used by the leaders to further their
political ends.
War broke out in 1562 and continued with occasional intermissions until
1596. The most important events were the assassination of Francis of
Guise in 1563, the ascendency of Coligny, during which he tried to unite
the nation in a war against Spain, the massacre of St. Bartholomew's in
1572, the organization of the Catholic League headed by Henry of Guise,
his assassination in 1588, and the murder of Henry III the following
year, which made the way clear for Henry of Navarre to ascend the
throne. In 1593 he accepted Catholicism. The last resistance in France
was overcome in 1596, but war with Philip II continued two years longer.
In 1598 Henry issued the Edict of Nantes, which secured toleration to
the Huguenots.
Reforms of Henry IV.--During the religious wars, the nobles had regained
some of their former power, and the ravages of war had almost ruined the
industries of the country. Henry set to work to repair these conditions.
The lesser nobles were forced to submit and the privileges of the more
powerful were purchased. The king's great minister, Sully, carried out
many of the economic reforms. The land tax called the _taille_, which
rested most heavily upon the peasants, was more equitably distributed,
and the hunting privileges of the nobles were decreased. New lines of
agriculture were introduced, marshes were reclaimed, and restrictions on
the marketing of grain were removed. The king encouraged manufactures,
especially of the more expensive fabrics, glass, and metal work.
Commerce was stimulated by securing safe transportation along the post
roads, by a system of canals connecting the Seine and the Loire, and by
commercial treaties with foreign states. Attempts were also made to
stimulate commerce and colonization by the formation of mercantile
companies, and from this period date the first successful French
colonies in America.
Richelieu.--Henry IV was assassinated in 1610, and his son, who ascended
the throne as Louis XIII, was a child of nine years. During the regency
of his mother, Mary de Medici, the nobles again became turbulent, the
Huguenots revolted, and the policy of hostility toward Spain was
reversed. The regent was under the influence of favorites who looted the
treasury. Under such conditions a strong leader was greatly needed; the
man of the hour was Richelieu. In 1624 he was placed in control of
public affairs, and for the next twenty years practically ruled France.
His policy aimed to make France the first power in Europe. To accomplish
this he worked at home to strengthen the power of the crown. Abroad he
aimed to weaken the power of the Hapsburgs, to extend the boundaries of
France, and to build up a colonial empire.
The chief steps by which his policy was carried out were as follows: La
Rochelle, the great Huguenot stronghold, was captured and the power of
the Protestants was curbed effectually; the intrigues of Mary de Medici
were thwarted; an alliance was made with Sweden, and to weaken the
Hapsburgs the power of France was used to assist the Protestants in
Germany in the Thirty Years' War; a navy was built and important ports
were fortified; to extend commerce and colonies, colonial enterprises
were entrusted to exclusive corporations. During the administration of
Richelieu the French hold upon eastern Canada was strengthened,
settlements were made in Guiana and the West Indies, and an attempt was
made to occupy Madagascar.
The Council of State.--The work of strengthening the crown at the
expense of the nobility was continued. The power of the nobles was
maintained by their fortified castles and by their position as governors
of provinces. An edict was issued for the destruction of all but the
frontier fortifications. Most of the work of administration was centered
in the _conseil d'etat_, or council of state, which was the highest
judicial tribunal. It also issued edicts, made peace or war, determined
the amount and method of taxation, and acted as a high court of justice.
In appearance this body was supreme, but in reality the power centered
in the king and the chief minister, the other ministers being merely
advisers. Local administration was taken from the nobles and was placed
almost wholly in the hands of _intendants_, who were officers of
justice, police, and finance.
Mazarin.--Richelieu died in November, 1642, and Louis XIII a few months
later. Louis XIV was a child of five years and his mother, Anne of
Austria, became regent. Mazarin, who was probably secretly married to
her, was to rule France during the troubled minority of the king. It was
a period of civil and foreign war, in which the minister found no time
to devote to the development of colonies. The importance of the period
lies in the fact that the great nobles were effectually quelled, that
the absolutism of the crown was completely established, and that France
proved herself superior to the power of Spain and the Hapsburgs. When
Louis XIV took the reins of power in 1661 he was the most absolute and
most powerful monarch in Europe.
Colbert.--Colonial development during the reign of Louis XIV was due
mainly to Colbert, who was given charge of the finances, of the navy,
and of the colonies. The finances had become deranged under Mazarin, and
Colbert attacked the abuses. To stimulate commerce and manufactures, he
established a protective system, furnished governmental aid to
companies, and granted monopolies. The royal navy and mercantile marine
were greatly increased. To develop foreign trade, corporations were
granted monopolies of the commerce of the West Indies, the East Indies,
Senegal, and Madagascar. Colonies were fostered by paternalistic
regulations. The system of Colbert, as time proved, was founded on
mistaken principles, for monopoly and overregulation stifled the growth
of trade and of the colonies. Although a vast area was brought under
control, the colonies never attracted a large population, or were
allowed a free growth of institutions.
EARLY EXPLORATIONS AND COLONIZING EFFORTS
First French voyages.--The first Frenchmen who visited America appear to
have been Norman and Breton fishermen, who engaged in fishing off the
Newfoundland coast perhaps as early as 1500. Sailors from Dieppe also
visited the coasts of North and South America. Vague accounts have come
down to us of attempts to explore the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1506 and
1508, and of an unsuccessful colony on Sable Island in 1518. The first
expedition under the government sanction was that of the Florentine,
Verrazano, sent out by Francis I in 1524. The details of the voyage are
somewhat obscure. He probably explored the coast from Cape Fear to
Newfoundland.
Cartier and Roberval.--The wars between Francis I and Charles V
prevented the French king from giving further attention to exploration
until 1534, when Cartier was sent out with two ships from St. Malo. He
sighted land on the Labrador coast, passed through the straits of Belle
Isle, and explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence, locating the Bay of
Chaleurs, Cape Gaspe, and Anticosti Island, thence returning to France.
In 1535 he again visited America in search of a passage to China. He
sailed along the northern shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and entered
the mouth of the river, soon becoming convinced that the passage did not
lead to the Far East. He stopped at the site of Quebec and later
proceeded to the La Chine rapids, and to a hill which he named Montreal.
He wintered at Quebec where twenty-five persons died of scurvy. The
return to France was made the following summer.
Exploration was again interrupted by the wars, and it was not until 1541
that Cartier's third expedition sailed. Francis I had granted a
commission to Roberval, a Picardy nobleman, as viceroy and
lieutenant-general in Canada, Newfoundland, Labrador, and neighboring
lands, this being the first time that the name Canada was officially
used. In the king's proclamation Canada was mentioned as the extremity
of Asia. The objects of the expedition were discovery, settlement, and
conversion of the Indians. Cartier was appointed captain-general. He
sailed in 1541, but Roberval remained in France to collect supplies and
materials for defence. Cartier wasted six weeks in Newfoundland and then
proceeded to Quebec, where the winter was spent in great hardship.
The colonists started to return to France, but at St. Johns,
Newfoundland, they met Roberval, who ordered them to return to Quebec.
Cartier, however, disobeyed, and returned to France. Roberval proceeded
to Quebec, where habitations were erected and the forts of Cartier
repaired. Supplies, however, ran short, and during the following winter
a third of the settlers died. A mutiny threatened and Roberval checked
it with great harshness. After lingering a little longer, the
unfortunate remnant returned to France. In 1543 Francis I declared the
Western Sea to be open to his subjects, but advantage of it was not
taken, and it was over a half century before another attempt was made to
colonize in the St. Lawrence Valley.
[Illustration: Cartier's Explorations, 1534-1542.]
Ribaut and Laudonniere.--The next colonizing efforts were of Huguenot
origin, and were made at the suggestion of Coligny. In 1555 an attempt
was made to found a colony in Brazil, but it was destroyed by the
Portuguese. When Coligny developed his plan for an attack upon Spain, he
determined to found a colony in the region then known as Florida. A
Huguenot from Dieppe named Jean Ribaut was placed in command of the
expedition, which set sail from Havre in 1562. Land was seen not far
from the site of St. Augustine; they sailed northward and planted a
settlement on Port Royal Sound, where thirty men were left. Ribaut
explored the coast as far as the fortieth degree and returned to France.
Misfortune beset the colonists, and after great suffering they built a
rude vessel and succeeded in getting back to Europe.
In 1564 a large expedition was sent out under Laudonniere, which erected
Fort Caroline on St. John's River. Dissensions and starvation played
havoc with the colony, and when the English Captain John Hawkins offered
to sell them a ship and provisions, they eagerly embraced the
opportunity. When they were about to depart, Ribaut with seven vessels
and six hundred soldiers hove in sight, and the idea of returning to
France was abandoned.
Philip II learned of the French colony, probably from Catherine de
Medici, and in 1565 sent an expedition of nineteen vessels and fifteen
hundred men under Menendez to destroy it. Ribaut's fleet was found near
the mouth of the river but the larger craft escaped and Menendez,
finding the rest in a secure position, proceeded southward about fifty
miles and founded St. Augustine.
Ribaut followed but failed to attack, and shortly afterwards a hurricane
dispersed the fleet. Taking advantage of the misfortune, Menendez
marched overland and surprised and captured Fort Caroline, putting most
of the prisoners to the sword. A little later Ribaut and his followers
fell into the hands of Menendez, and most of them were put to death. To
avenge the butchery, the Chevalier de Gourgues, at his own expense,
fitted out three small ships in 1567 and attacked the Spanish forts on
the St. John's. They were captured and the garrisons slain. His force
being too small to risk an attack on St. Augustine, De Gourgues returned
to France, and Florida ceased to be a scene of French activity.
ACADIA
Colonization renewed.--The scene of the next colonization by the French
was the region about the Bay of Fundy. After the religious wars, in
1598, the Marquis de la Roche landed two shiploads of colonists on Sable
Island. Going in search of a site on the mainland, he encountered severe
storms and returned to France. Five years later the survivors were
rescued.
The fur monopoly.--In 1600 a partnership was formed between Pontgrave, a
St. Malo mariner, and two Huguenot friends of Henry IV, Chauvin, a
merchant of Harfleur, and Sieur de Monts, the associates being granted a
fur-trading monopoly. A settlement was made at Tadoussac, on the lower
St. Lawrence, but it did not prosper; two trading voyages, however,
proved profitable. Shortly afterward the company was reorganized, the
king making De Chastes, the governor of Dieppe, his representative. An
expedition commanded by Pontgrave was sent out in 1603. Associated with
him was Samuel de Champlain, who had already gained fame by a voyage to
Spanish America and by his writings. A profitable trade in furs was
carried on, and the St. Lawrence was explored as far as the La Chine
rapids. Champlain also examined the Acadian coast as far as the Bay of
Chaleurs.
Port Royal.--Upon the return of the traders, De Chastes having died, the
king issued a patent to De Monts granting him viceregal powers and a
trade monopoly between the fortieth and forty-sixth degrees. Settlements
were to be founded and the savages were to be instructed in
Christianity. In 1604 De Monts and Champlain sailed for Acadia. An
unsuccessful attempt at settlement was made at St. Croix Island and
later the survivors moved to Port Royal. De Monts then returned to
France to defend his rights against those who objected to his patent,
and Champlain busied himself with the exploration of the New England
coast, on one expedition rounding Cape Cod. In 1607 it became known that
De Monts's patent had been revoked, and Champlain returned to France.
Acadia, 1610-1632.--In 1610 Poutrincourt reestablished Port Royal and
soon afterward his son, Biencourt, was placed in command. The coast was
surveyed as far as the Kennebec. Pontgrave had a trading post at St.
John, and this Biencourt captured. In 1613 Port Royal was taken and
burned by a Virginia expedition under Argall, but was soon rebuilt. In
1623 or 1624 Biencourt died and his lieutenant, Charles de la Tour,
succeeded him. Before his powers could be confirmed, Acadia, in 1628,
fell into English hands, but was restored in 1632.
Charnisay and La Tour.--Isaac de Rezilly was sent to receive the
submission of the English, being shortly afterward succeeded by
Charnisay. La Tour soon afterward received from the company of New
France a grant at the mouth of the St. John's River, where he built Fort
St. Jean. A civil war broke out in which La Tour finally secured aid
from Boston. For a time he was successful, but Charnisay obtained help
from France and La Tour was defeated. From 1645 to 1650 Charnisay was
supreme in Acadia. Upon his death La Tour was made governor and
lieutenant-general, and the animosities of the past were dissipated by
his marriage to Charnisay's widow.
English Rivalry.--In 1654 an English fleet captured the French forts,
and Acadia remained under English rule until 1667, when it was restored
to France by the treaty of Breda.
THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY
The founding of Quebec.--In 1608 De Monts obtained a renewal of his
patent for one year, and, after consulting Champlain, he decided to
found a settlement at Quebec. Champlain was appointed his lieutenant
with full powers, and with two vessels he arrived at Quebec on July 3. A
storehouse and dwelling were built surrounded by a palisade and ditch.
Of the twenty-eight men who began the settlement, only eight survived
the first winter, but considerable reinforcements arrived in the spring.
In the summer of 1609 Champlain accompanied a war party of Algonquins
and Hurons up the Richelieu River to the lake which bears his name,
where a successful attack was made upon the Iroquois. The consequences
of this act were far reaching, for from that time the Iroquois
confederation was hostile to the French, crippling the colony for many
years.
A new company formed.--De Monts's exclusive privileges were not renewed,
but he was allowed to retain his position of king's representative.
Seeing no chance for profit, he withdrew from further activities in the
New World. Another company was at once formed, composed of traders of
Rouen and St. Malo. Champlain was retained by the new company.
Champlain's explorations.--In 1613 Champlain explored the Ottawa River
to a point about one hundred miles above the modern capital of Canada.
In 1615 four Recollet friars were induced to come to Quebec, this being
the beginning of missionary activities in New France. The same year
Champlain joined a Huron war party, passed up the Ottawa to Lake
Nipissing, thence by the French River to Georgian Bay, being the first
white man to find the way which eventually became the regular fur
trader's route to the interior. Lake Ontario was also seen and crossed
for the first time on this expedition. Fur trading was actively carried
on, but because of dishonest dealings the company gradually lost
influence with the Indians, a condition which also hampered the
missionaries. As the Recollets met with little success, in 1625 the
Jesuits were induced to send out five representatives, thus beginning
the activities of that order in New France.
The Company of the Hundred Associates.--In spite of all the efforts
which had been made, the financial results were trifling. So badly were
affairs going that Richelieu determined to change the organization; in
1627 he established the Company of the Hundred Associates, who were to
send out annually from two to three hundred settlers and a sufficient
number of clergy to meet the needs. The company was to possess all lands
between Florida and the Arctic Circle, and from Newfoundland as far west
as it was able to take possession. With the exception of the cod and
whale fisheries, the company was granted a complete monopoly of trade.
The English occupation.--Before the company could land colonists,
difficulties arose between France and England, and a fleet of privateers
under Captain David Kirke raided the French possessions off Gaspe,
capturing eighteen vessels which were carrying colonists and supplies to
Quebec; after destroying the settlements in Acadia, Kirke sailed for
England. The following year he landed at Tadoussac and sent three
vessels to Quebec to demand its surrender. The place capitulated and
over a hundred of the inhabitants were sent to England. Upon their
arrival, it was found that peace had been made. Negotiations were
terminated in 1632, Canada and Acadia being restored to France.
Last years of Champlain. Nicolet.--Upon his return Champlain immediately
repaired the buildings at Quebec, and established a fort at Three Rivers
to protect the Hurons against the Iroquois. From time to time Champlain
had heard of a great waterway in the west. Believing that it might be a
route to China, in 1634 he sent Nicolet on an exploring expedition.
Nicolet passed up the Ottawa, traversed Georgian Bay, and reached Sault
Ste. Marie. He then explored the south shore of the upper peninsula of
Michigan, and reached the southern extremity of Green Bay. From the
Winnebagoes he learned of a "great water" three days' journey toward the
south. After visiting the Illinois country, he returned without having
reached the Mississippi. In 1635 Champlain died; there was no master
mind to direct operations, and the colony languished.
The Jesuits.--The first Jesuit superior was Father Le Jeune, who in 1632
was stationed at Quebec in the residence of Notre Dame des Anges, the
parent establishment of the missions of New France. Le Jeune ministered
to the Algonquins of the neighborhood. In 1633 Breboeuf headed a group
of missionaries to the Huron villages at the southern end of Georgian
Bay, and in 1641 a mission was founded at Sault Ste. Marie, but it was
not permanent. Pestilence and the war parties of the Iroquois gradually
destroyed the Hurons; the Jesuits toiled amid scenes of famine, disease,
and death, several succumbing to the hardships, others suffering
martyrdom. So constant were the attacks of the Iroquois, that in 1649 it
was determined to establish a more sheltered mission on the Island of
St. Joseph in Georgian Bay. The missions on the mainland being destroyed
by the Iroquois, and the Hurons having been greatly reduced in numbers,
in 1650 the Jesuits abandoned that region. Attempts to establish
missions among the Iroquois also failed completely at this time. In the
settlements the Jesuits were the most important social factor, until
1665 practically controlling the life of the people. At Quebec they
established schools for Huron and French boys, and at their suggestion
the Ursulines opened a convent. Private endowments made possible a
school for girls near Quebec and a hospital at Montreal.
[Illustration: The French in Canada, 17th Century.]
The founding of Montreal.--For the purpose of founding an evangelical
colony, a group of religious persons at Paris formed an association
called the Association of Montreal. The island on which the city now
stands was purchased, and in 1641 De Maisonneuve, with a Jesuit priest
and thirty-seven laymen, sailed from La Rochelle. After taking formal
possession of the island, the party wintered at Quebec, and the
following spring founded the town of Montreal.
The New Company.--The Hundred Associates not having fulfilled their
agreement regarding settlers, and the colony having proved a financial
failure, an arrangement was made in 1645 between the company and the
inhabitants acting as a corporation, henceforth known as the New
Company. The old company retained its governmental rights, but the fur
trade was thrown open to the New Company on condition that it would
assume the expenses of civil administration, defence, and religion, that
it would bring in twenty settlers annually, and would pay to the old
company a thousand pounds of beaver skins every year.
Coureurs de bois.--Up to this time the fur trade had been carried on
mainly at the settlements, but after the New Company was formed a larger
number of men began to frequent the forests, giving rise to the type
known as _coureurs de bois_. These were of two classes, those who merely
traded with the Indians for peltries, and those who attached themselves
to native tribes. This latter class lapsed into barbarism and became a
lawless element which gave great annoyance to the officials. Later a
third class of traders appeared when the governors were allowed to grant
licenses to frequent the forests. Great abuses crept into the fur trade,
large quantities of spirits being sold to the Indians, who were roundly
cheated when intoxicated. It was the intention of the French government
to restrict the trade to the settlements, but the officials usually
winked at violations of the law, and some of them shared in the illicit
trading. The most famous of the fur traders of this period were Radisson
and Groseilliers, who, in 1658-1659 and possibly earlier, traded and
explored in the country at the western end of Lake Superior.
REORGANIZATION AND THE IROQUOIS WARS
A centralist system established.--As complaints arose regarding the last
governmental arrangements, the king changed the form of control,
creating a council to consist of the governor, any ex-governor who might
be in the country, and the superior of the Jesuits, who was later to
give way to a bishop when one was appointed; these were to select for
membership two inhabitants, or three if no ex-governor was in the
colony. Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers were each to select a syndic,
who could hold office for three years and could deliberate with but
could not vote in the council. The centralist system, which Mazarin was
perfecting in France, was thus established in Canada.
Laval.--New France had been attached to the archbishopric of Rouen, and
De Queylus, a Sulpician priest at Montreal, had acted as vicar-general
for the whole colony. His followers hoped that he would be created
bishop, but instead, in 1659 a Jesuit, the Abbe Laval, was appointed
vicar-apostolic and Bishop of Petraea _in partibus_. After a spirited
contest with De Queylus, Laval was successful in establishing his
supremacy, the power of the Jesuits thus being assured.
War with the Iroquois.--The following year witnessed a serious Iroquois
outbreak. News arrived that twelve hundred warriors had gathered to wipe
out the settlements. A young nobleman, popularly known as Dollard,
conceived the quixotic scheme of intercepting a large force of Iroquois
who had wintered on the Ottawa. With sixteen enlisted men and a few
Hurons and Algonquins he proceeded to a palisade at the great rapids of
the Ottawa, and there met the Indians. Dollard and his followers were
slain to a man, but so stubborn had been their resistance that the
Iroquois retired to the forests and New France was saved. A regiment was
sent out to protect the colony, forts were established along the
Richelieu, and two expeditions were sent into the Iroquois country, the
result being that a peace was made with the Indians which lasted for
several years. Later an expedition was sent to the outlet of Lake
Ontario to impress the savages with the power of France.
The West India Company.--In 1663 the company of New France surrendered
its rights to the king, who created a council to consist of the
governor, bishop, and five councillors chosen by them jointly. The
following year, at the suggestion of Colbert, he chartered a new
corporation known as the West India Company, to which was given a
monopoly of all the trade of New France and the west coast of Africa,
with the privilege of nominating the governor of Canada. The office of
intendant was also created to act as a check upon the governor. This
official was to act as a legal and financial officer who was to report
directly to the crown. The first intendant was Talon, who was a
prominent figure for several years. The governor who was the military,
political, and administrative agent of the king, the intendant, and the
bishop were the real rulers of New France. Their divided authority and
jealousies later led to frequent disputes, which greatly retarded the
development of the colonies.
Talon.--It was Talon who first realized the possibilities of New France.
To promote commerce he built a vessel which he despatched to the West
Indies with a cargo of fish, staves, and lumber. He planned an overland
road to Acadia and urged the occupation of the Hudson River Valley,
projects, however, which were not realized. At Quebec he erected a
brewery and tannery. Young women were brought from France as wives for
the colonists and soldiers, and bounties were offered for the birth of
children. In 1666 the total population was 3418; five years later it had
increased to 6000.
Seignorial grants.--To aid in colonization and protection Talon
established a type of feudalism. Along the Richelieu River as high up as
Chambly and along the St. Lawrence from the neighborhood of Montreal to
a point several miles below Quebec, most of the lands were portioned
out. The majority of these seignorial grants were made to officers of
the regiment of Carrigan, which had been stationed in Canada. Discharged
soldiers were settled on the grants as tenant farmers. The seignorial
holdings varied in size from half a league to six leagues on the river
and extended back from half a league to two leagues. The buildings of
the seigniory were the "mansion," which was usually a log house, a fort,
chapel, and mill. The poverty of the proprietor, however, frequently
prevented the erection of some of the buildings, the mill sometimes
being lacking or serving the double duty of fort and mill; on other
grants chapel, mill, and fort were never built. In the more exposed
localities the houses of the tenants were built together in palisaded
villages. On other grants the dwellings lined the shore, forming what
were called _cotes_. Near Quebec Talon laid out a model seigniory and
three model villages, each village being provided with a carpenter,
mason, blacksmith, and shoemaker. But the settlers did not profit by the
example and continued to build near the rivers. With the exception of
Talon's villages, one could have seen nearly every house in Canada by
paddling a canoe up the St. Lawrence and the Richelieu. One of the most
famous seigniories in Canada was that of the Le Moyne family.
THE WEST INDIES
The Company of St. Christopher.--In 1625 a small brigantine commanded by
Pierre d'Esnambuc and Urbain de Roissey, "the pirate of Dieppe," sailed
to the West Indies. After escaping from a Spanish galleon near Jamaica,
they proceeded to St. Christopher, where a settlement was begun. The
following year the Company of St. Christopher was formed, and three
vessels with over five hundred men set sail from France in 1627, but
only half of them survived the voyage. Two settlements were formed, one
at each end of the island, the English having already occupied the
middle. In 1628 and 1629 about five hundred more were sent out, and in
the latter year ten vessels were despatched to defend the colonists. In
spite of this a Spanish fleet broke up the settlements; the fugitives
fled to St. Martin, and after a vain attempt to settle Antigua and
Montserrat, most of them returned to St. Christopher, which had been
abandoned by the Spanish. Only three hundred and fifty survived.
Santo Domingo.--A few of them went to the northern coast of Santo
Domingo, whence they carried on buccaneering enterprises against the
Spaniards. After the Spanish attack the company did little to assist,
and the colony was left to its own devices. Trade with the Dutch
immediately sprang up and the settlers began to make a profit from
tobacco.
Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Tortuga.--In 1634 the Company of St.
Christopher was bankrupt, and the following year it was reorganized as
the Company of the Isles of America. Guadeloupe and Martinique were
immediately occupied. In 1640 the English were expelled from Tortuga,
and the island was occupied by Levasseur, who soon broke loose from the
control of the company and conducted a pirate haven. Several of the
smaller islands were also occupied. The French West Indies soon
attracted a considerable immigration, in 1642 the population being
estimated at more than seven thousand. The tobacco business not
continuing profitable, sugar began to take its place as the staple
product. Due mainly to the clash of authority among officials, a
condition which led to anarchy, by 1648 the company was bankrupt.
Other Islands occupied.--Between 1649 and 1651 the various islands were
sold to proprietors who ruled them until 1664. Between 1648 and 1656
settlements were made on St. Martin, St. Bartholomew, St. Croix, The
Saints, Marie Galante, St. Lucia, and Granada, and by 1664 the French
flag floated over fourteen of the Antilles. The sugar business proved to
be exceedingly profitable and cultivation of the cane made slave-labor
desirable. Population increased rapidly, in 1655 the whites numbering
about fifteen thousand and slaves being almost as numerous. During the
period of the proprietors there was little restriction on commerce, most
of the carrying trade passing into the hands of the Dutch.
The Crown assumes control.--Colbert became controller-general of the
finances in 1662, one of his functions being the control of the
colonies. He determined to send a representative to assert the king's
authority; in 1663 De Tracy was made lieutenant-general in all the
French colonies and was given supreme executive and judicial powers. The
following year he sailed with De La Barre who was about to establish a
colony at Cayenne. De Tracy soon established the king's authority and
corrected abuses in the West Indies, and then proceeded to Quebec, where
he remained until 1667.
[Illustration: The Caribbean Area in the Seventeenth Century.]
The West India Company.--In 1664 Louis chartered the great company which
was granted the mainland of South America from the Orinoco to the
Amazon, the island of Cayenne, the French West Indies, Newfoundland,
Acadia, Canada, the rest of the mainland of North America as far south
as Florida, and the African coast from Cape Verde to the Cape of Good
Hope. Former proprietors were to be compensated, and with the
exception of the fisheries of Newfoundland, the company was to have a
monopoly of trade and colonization for forty years. After considerable
opposition the company succeeded in establishing its authority in the
islands, but the war which broke out in 1666 between France, and England
and Holland proved disastrous, a French fleet which was sent to protect
the Antilles being destroyed by the English. Colbert assisted the
company financially, but it failed to become a profitable undertaking
and in 1674 was dissolved. The inhabitants, however, continued to
prosper, mainly because of the increasing number of independent
merchants who traded with the islands and the growing importance of the
sugar industry.
OPENING THE UPPER LAKE REGION AND THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
Two Lines of Approach.--The French had now established themselves firmly
in the lower St. Lawrence basin and in the Caribbean area. From these
two bases they now proceeded to the Mississippi Valley and the northern
Gulf littoral. From the St. Lawrence they made their way over the
portages to the tributaries of the Father of Waters. From the West
Indies the Gulf of Mexico served as a highway.
Occupation of the upper lakes.--After the failure of the Huron missions,
the Jesuits extended their field of operations to the shores of Lake
Superior and Lake Michigan. The mission at Sault Ste. Marie was revived;
in 1665 La Pointe mission near the western end of Lake Superior was
established by Father Allouez, who was succeeded by Marquette four years
later. Between 1670 and 1672 St. Ignace, at Michillimackinac, and St.
Xavier on Green Bay (at De Pere) were established. In 1670 Talon
despatched Saint Lusson to take possession of the Northwest; at a
meeting of the tribes at Sault Ste. Marie the following year the
sovereignty of the king over that region was proclaimed. Albanel was
also sent to open communication between the St. Lawrence and Hudson Bay.
Marquette and Joliet.--In 1672 Count Frontenac became governor and
lieutenant-general of New France. Shortly after his arrival at Quebec,
at the suggestion of Talon, he sent the fur trader Joliet to find the
Mississippi. At Michillimackinac he met the missionary Marquette, who
decided to accompany him. On May 17, 1673, they started westward; after
reaching Green Bay, they followed the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to the
Mississippi, which they descended to the mouth of the Arkansas, just at
the time when Father Larios was founding Spanish missions near the Rio
Grande. Being convinced that the Mississippi emptied into the Gulf of
Mexico, and fearing that they might fall into the hands of the
Spaniards, they determined to turn back. The return was by the
Mississippi, the Illinois, and Chicago rivers and the western shores of
Lake Michigan. Father Marquette returned to work among the Illinois, but
was soon forced by illness to abandon the field. On his way north he
died at the site of Ludington. His work among the Illinois was taken up
by others, among them being Fathers Allouez and Hennepin.
Fort Frontenac.--While Joliet and Marquette were exploring the
Mississippi, the governor was engaged in founding Fort Frontenac, on the
northern shore of the outlet of Lake Ontario, near modern Kingston, his
purpose being to overawe the Iroquois, and to divert their trade and
allegiance from the English. With the governor was La Salle, who later
became commandant of the new fort.
Frontenac's quarrels.--Shortly after Frontenac became governor the king
again changed the form of government. The council was increased to seven
members who held office directly from the king. Its chief function was
judicial. A minor court called the _prevote_, having original
jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases, was reestablished, appeals
being taken from the _prevote_ to the council. Frontenac, who was of an
imperious nature and exceedingly jealous of his authority, quarreled
with the officials and clergy of Montreal, with Laval who had recently
been made Bishop of Quebec, with the new intendant Duchesneau, and with
the council. Regulation of the fur trade and questions of authority were
the fruitful sources of disagreement. Under such conditions the colony
did not advance rapidly. As Le Sueur says in his life of Frontenac, "The
great trouble in Canada was that it was an overgoverned country.... What
these people needed in the first place was freedom to seek their living
in their own way, and secondly, an extremely simple form of government."
The constant bickering finally exhausted the patience of the home
government, and in 1682 both Frontenac and Duchesneau were recalled.
La Salle's fur trade monopoly.--During Frontenac's administration La
Salle was engaged in the exploration of the Illinois country and the
Mississippi. Having secured a royal patent to build forts and engage in
the fur trade in the interior, La Salle, with a party which included
Tonty, an Italian soldier of fortune, and the Recollet Hennepin, erected
a fort at Niagara Falls and built a vessel called the _Griffon_, on
which in 1679 they sailed up the lakes to Green Bay. The boat was sent
back with a cargo of furs, but never reached its destination. The shores
of Lake Michigan and the Illinois country were explored and Fort
Crevecoeur was erected near the site of Peoria. From there Accau and
Hennepin were sent to explore the upper Mississippi. La Salle then
returned to Fort Frontenac, crossing lower Michigan and following Lake
Erie and Lake Ontario.
Exploration of the Mississippi.--While La Salle was gone, Tonty occupied
Starved Rock, later known as Fort St. Louis, but a mutiny and an
Iroquois invasion forced the French to return to Green Bay, so that when
La Salle returned he found the country abandoned. After a fruitless
search, he heard from the Indians of Tonty's whereabouts and hastened
north to meet him. Together they returned to Fort Frontenac. Nothing
daunted, they again sought the Mississippi. On December 21, 1681, they
were again at Fort Miami, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River. On
February 6, 1682, they reached the Mississippi, and arrived at its mouth
in April, when they took formal possession of the great valley, naming
it Louisiana in honor of the king. By the end of September they were
back at Fort Miami, and in 1683 the leader returned to Quebec.
La Salle's Colony on the Gulf.--La Salle now planned a colony at the
mouth of the Mississippi River, as a means of developing the fur trade,
controlling the Mississippi Valley, providing a base for commanding the
Gulf, and, in case of war, for attack on the coveted mines of New Spain.
France and Spain were on the verge of war, and in 1683 French buccaneers
three times sacked the Spanish settlement of Apalache. La Salle's
proposals were favored, therefore, by Louis XIV. In the summer of 1684
La Salle left France with a colony of some four hundred people. In the
autumn he reached the West Indies, the ketch _St. Francois_ having been
captured by the Spaniards on the way. Continuing the voyage in November,
La Salle missed the mouth of the Mississippi and landed on the Texas
coast at Matagorda Bay. Tonty descended the Mississippi to cooeperate
(1686), but did not find his chief. On the way he built a small post on
the Arkansas.
[Illustration: La Salle's Colony on the Texas Coast, 1684-1689.]
Failure.--The expedition rapidly went to pieces. One vessel was wrecked
in landing, and Beaujeu, the naval commander, returned to France with a
second, and part of the men and supplies. La Salle moved his colony
inland to the Garcitas River, near the head of the Lavaca Bay, where he
founded Fort St. Louis, and then began a series of expeditions
northeastward in the hope of finding the Mississippi River. While
engaged in exploring, the last of his vessels was wrecked. Through
desertion and sickness the colony rapidly dwindled. On his third
expedition northeastward, in 1687, La Salle reached the Hasinai (Cenis)
Indians, east of the Trinity River. On his fourth expedition he was
murdered by his companions near the Brazos River. The remainder of his
party, led by Joutel, made their way to the Arkansas post and to Canada.
In the fall of 1689 Tonty, in an effort to rescue La Salle's colonists,
descended the Mississippi River, and made his way to the Cadodacho and
Hasinai villages. Meanwhile the colony on the Gulf had been completely
wiped out by an Indian massacre which occurred early in 1689. La Salle's
occupation of Matagorda Bay later became a basis of the claim of the
United States to Texas.
Explorers in the Southwest.--The failure of La Salle's colony did not
put an end to exploration in the Southwest. Interest in a passage to the
South Sea was perennial, and no tale of Spanish treasure was too
guttering to find credence on the French frontier. Mathieu Sagean told
of a golden country of the Accanibas, and Baron La Hontan of a Long
River. The _coureurs de bois_ were ever led west and southwest in their
fur trading operations. The result was that in this western country
traders from Canada roamed far and wide at an early date. A Canadian is
known to have reached the Rio Grande overland before 1688 and by 1694
Canadian traders were among the Missouri and Osage tribes.
The upper Mississippi--Duluth.--While La Salle was operating in the
Illinois country, others were at work in northern Wisconsin and
Minnesota. In 1678 Duluth, a cousin of Tonty, left Montreal for the
west. For several years he traded among the tribes west of Lake
Superior. Hearing in 1680 that Frenchmen were near, he went in search of
them, and found Accau and Hennepin, who had explored the upper
Mississippi. Duluth went to France, where he secured a license to trade
with the Sioux. In 1683 he returned to Wisconsin with thirty men,
proceeded to the north shore of Lake Superior, and built forts near Lake
Nipigon and Pigeon River. The highway from Brule River to the St. Croix
became known as Duluth's Portage. In 1686 he erected a temporary fort
near Detroit to bar the English traders.
Le Sueur.--Between 1683 and 1700 Le Sueur, a prominent fur trader,
operated in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In 1683 he was at St. Anthony's
Falls. The Fox Indians of Wisconsin opposed the passage of the French to
the Sioux and practically cut off their trade route. For this reason Le
Sueur protected the Brule-St. Croix highway. To effect this, in 1693 he
built a fort at Chequamegon Bay, on the south shore of Lake Superior,
and another on the Mississippi near the mouth of the St. Croix. This
post became a center of commerce for the western posts. In 1697 Le Sueur
was in France, where he secured permission to work copper mines near
Lake Superior. In 1699 he went from France to Louisiana with Iberville.
Thence, with twenty-nine men, he ascended the Mississippi to Blue River,
Minnesota, and built Fort L'Huiller (1700) at Mankato, where he traded
with the Sioux.
Perrot.--In 1685 Nicholas Perrot, who had been in Wisconsin as early as
1665, and had acquired great influence over the western tribes, was made
"commander of the west" and sent among the Sioux. In 1686 he built Fort
St. Antoine on the Mississippi near Trempealeau, Wisconsin. Other posts
established by him were Fort Perrot on the west side of Lake Pepin, Fort
Nicholas at Prairie du Chien, and one farther down the Mississippi near
the Galena lead mines, which he discovered and worked.
The Illinois and Detroit.--In the Illinois country the French Jesuits
labored from the time of Marquette, among his successors being Fathers
Allouez and Hennepin. In 1699 a Sulpician mission was established at
Cahokia and in 1700 the Jesuits moved down the Illinois River to
Kaskaskia. A year later Detroit was founded to protect the route from
Lake Erie to Lake Huron, cut off English trade with the Indians, and
afford a base for the Illinois trade. Missionaries entered the region of
the lower Mississippi and the lower Ohio, where Tonty and other
Frenchmen maintained a considerable trade.
Traders on the Tennessee.--Because of Iroquois control of the country
south of the Great Lakes and as far as the Tennessee River, the French
in La Salle's time had little knowledge of the Ohio and its tributaries.
At that period the Shawnee of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers were
declining under Iroquois attacks. On the upper Tennessee lived the
Cherokees. In spite of the Iroquois, however, by the end of the century
several _coureurs de bois_ of Canada had ascended the Ohio and Tennessee
Rivers, crossed the divide, and descended the Savannah River into South
Carolina, in defiance of the government, which tried to maintain a trade
monopoly. Their activities brought them into rivalry with the English on
the Carolina frontier.
Couture and Bellefeuille.--Among these pathfinders was Jean Couture, who
had been left by Tonty at the Arkansas post. As early as 1693 he
deserted the French colony and made his way overland to the English. In
1699 he was on the Savannah, where he proposed to lead the English to
certain mines in the west. Returning, he led a party of English traders,
sent by Governor Blake of South Carolina, up the Savannah, and down the
Tennessee and Ohio, in an attempt to divert the western trade from
Canada to the English. In February, 1700, they reached the Arkansas
River, where they were met by Le Sueur on his way up the river to
Minnesota. At the request of Iberville, the new governor of Louisiana,
the government now permitted Illinois traders to sell their peltry in
Louisiana, to prevent them from earning it over the mountains to the
English. In 1701 a party of Frenchmen under Bellefeuille and Soton
crossed the mountains to South Carolina, and attempted to open up trade.
Returning they descended the Mississippi and visited Biloxi. It was now
proposed, in order to stop the road to Carolina, that posts be
established on the Miami and the lower Ohio. For this purpose Juchereau
de St. Denis established a post at Cairo in 1702. Through the
establishment of Louisiana and the opening of trade with Canada, this
danger was largely averted.
READINGS
EARLY EXPLORATIONS AND COLONIZING EFFORTS
Baird, C.W., _Huguenot Emigration_; Brevoort, J.C., _Verrazano the
Navigator_; Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, I, 90-112;
De Costa, B.F., _Verrazano the Explorer_; French, B.F., _Historical
Collections of Louisiana and Florida_, 117-362; Hamilton, P.J., _The
Colonization of the South_, 27-41; Hart. A.B., _Contemporaries_, I,
102-112; Leacock, Stephen, _The Mariner of St. Malo_; Lescarbot, Marc,
_History of New France_; Munro, W.B., _Crusaders of New France_, 11-32;
Murphy, H.C., _Voyage of Verrazano_; Parkman, Francis, _The Pioneers of
France in the New World_, 1-228; Shea, J.G., in Winsor, _Narrative and
Critical History_, II, 260-283; Tracy, F.B., _Tercentenary History of
Canada_, I, 20-37; Winsor, Justin, _Cartier to Frontenac_, 1-47; Biggar,
H.P., _The Precursors of Jacques Cartier_.
ACADIA AND THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY
Biggar, H.P., _Early Trading Companies of New France_; Bourne, E.G.,
_Voyages and Explorations of Champlain (Trail Makers' Series)_;
Champlain, Samuel, _Oeuvres_ (Laverdiere, ed.); Colby, C.W., _The
Founder of New France_; Dionne, N.E., _Champlain_; Grant, W.L., _Voyages
of Champlain (Original Narratives Series)_; Kingsford, William, _The
History of Canada_, I, 147-294; Le Sueur, W.D., _Frontenac_, 1-60;
Marquis, T.G., _The Jesuit Missions_; Parkman, Francis, _Old Regime in
Canada_, 3-168; _Pioneers of New France_, 324-454; _The Jesuits in North
America_; Thwaites, R.G., _France in America_, 10-48; Tracy, F.B.,
_Tercentenary History of Canada_, I, 41-279; Winsor, Justin, _From
Cartier to Frontenac_, 77-183; Munro, W.B., _Crusaders of New France_.
REORGANIZATION AND THE WEST INDIES
Chapais, Thomas, _The Great Intendant_; Haring, C.H., _The Buccaneers in
the West Indies in the XVII Century_; Mims, S.L., _Colbert's West India
Policy_; Munro, W.B., _The Seigneurs of Old Canada_; Parkman, Francis,
_The Old Regime_, 169-330.
THE UPPER LAKES AND THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
Bolton, H.E., "The Location of La Salle's Colony on the Gulf of Mexico,"
in _Mississippi Valley Historical Review_, II, 165-182; Charlevoix,
P.F.X., _Histoire Generale de la Nouvelle France_ (J.G. Shea, trans.):
Cox, I.J., _Journeys of La Salle (Trail Makers' Series)_; Folwell, W.W.,
_Minnesota_, 59-65; Hamilton, P.J., _The Colonization of the South_,
187-196; Kellogg, L.P., ed., _Early Narratives of the Northwest
(Original Narratives Series)_: Le Sueur, W.D., _Frontenac_, 61-169; Ogg,
F.A., _The Opening of the Mississippi_, 59-163; Parish, J.C., _The Man
with the Iron Hand_; Parkman, Francis, _La Salle and the Discovery of
the Great West_; Phelps, Albert, _Louisiana_, 6-20; Shea, J.G.,
_Exploration of the Mississippi Valley_; Thwaites, R.G., _France in
America_, 48-71; _Wisconsin_, 40-71; Winsor, Justin, _Cartier to
Frontenac_, 183-295.