The Colonies, 1492-1750

by Reuben Gold Thwaites

CHAPTER XII.

THE COLONIZATION OF NEW FRANCE (1608-1750).

107. References.

Bibliographies.—Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, LXXI. 219-365, and France in America, ch. xix.; H. Biggar, Early Trading Companies, 171-296; Larned, Literature of American History, 395-421; Avery, II. 403-408, III. 436, 437; P. Gagnon, Essai de bibliographie canadienne; H. Harrisse, Notes pour servir à l'histoire du Canada. Consult also Wrong and Langton, Review of Historical Publications relating to Canada (published annually).

Historical Maps.—No. 4, this volume (Epoch Maps, No. [4]); also maps in Parkman, Thwaites, Winsor, and MacCoun.

General Accounts.—Lucas, Historical Geography, V. The standard English history of Canada is by W. Kingsford. The principal French historians are M. Faillon, J. Ferland, F. Garnier (English translation by Bell), and B. Sulte. The prime authority for New France is Parkman's series (12 vols., condensed into one by P. Edgar, 1902), France and England in North America. Briefer and more recent treatment of New France will be found in Works by Bourinot, Douglas, Greswell, Laut, Roberts, Thwaites, and Tracy.

Special Histories.—Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac, and Mississippi Basin; Biggar, as above; Doughty and Dionne, Quebec under Two Flags; G. Parker, Old Quebec; Laut, Pathfinders of the West; F. Ogg, Opening of the Mississippi; C. Moore, Northwest under Two Flags; W. Munro, Seignorial System in Canada; Bourinot, Local Government in Canada.—French and Indian War: Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe; A. Bradley, Fight with France for North America; W. Wood, Fight for Canada; A. Doughty, Siege of Quebec.—French in Northwest: Hinsdale, Old Northwest, chs. iii.-v.; Thwaites, Wisconsin (Commonwealths).—Manners and customs: C. Colby, Canadian Types of the Old Regime (1608-1698); Dunn's Indiana (Commonwealths), chs. ii., iii. for the Northwest; M. Pepper, Maids and Matrons of New France; Machar and Marquis, Stories of New France. See also biographies of prominent men.

Contemporary Accounts.—For detailed list, consult Thwaites, France in America, 298-303. Numerous publications of Canadian and American historical and antiquarian societies (especially the Champlain Society) contain useful material. Relative to the Northwest, see Wisconsin Historical Collections, XVI-XVIII.

108. Settlement of Canada (1608-1629).

The story of early French efforts at colonization in North America, from Cartier's visit (1534) to Champlain's foundation of Quebec (1608), the first permanent French colony in Canada, has already been told (Chapter II.).

Effect of Iroquois opposition.

It was unfortunate for New France that Champlain incurred at the outset the hostility of the Iroquois (page 196); the French and the Algonquians with whom they maintained friendly relations were long after sorely afflicted by them. Had it not been for the Iroquois wall interposed between Champlain and the South, the French would doubtless have preceded the English upon the Atlantic plain. The presence of this opposition led the founder of New France, in his attempts to extend the sphere of French influence, to explore along the line of least resistance, to the north and west.

Champlain on Lake Huron.

In 1611, Montreal was planted at the first rapids in the St. Lawrence, and near the mouths of the Ottawa and Richelieu. Four years later (1615), Champlain reached Lake Huron by the way of the Ottawa. There were easier highways to the Northwest, but the French were compelled for many years thereafter to take this path, because of its greater security from the all-devouring Iroquois.

To extend the sphere of French influence and the Catholic religion, as well as to induce the savages to patronize French commerce, were objects which inspired both lay and clerical followers of Champlain. Their |Explorers and coureurs de bois.| wonderful zeal illumined the history of New France with a poetic glamour such as is cast over no other part of America north of Mexico. Under Champlain's guidance and inspired by his example, traders and priests soon penetrated to the far west,—the former bent on trafficking for peltries, and the latter on saving souls. Another large class of rovers, styled coureurs de bois, or wood-rangers, wandered far and wide, visiting and fraternizing with remote tribes of Indians; they were attracted by the love of lawless adventure, and conducted an extensive but illicit fur-trade. Many of these explorers left no record of their journeys, hence it is now impossible to say who first made some of the most important geographical discoveries.

109. Exploration of the Northwest (1629-1699).

Early discoveries in the Northwest.

We know that by 1629, the year before the planting of the Massachusetts Bay colony, Champlain saw an ingot of copper obtained by barter with Indians from the shores of Lake Superior. In 1634, Jean Nicolet, another emissary from Champlain, penetrated to central Wisconsin, by way of the Fox River, and thence went overland to the Illinois country, making trading agreements with the savage tribes along his path. Seven years afterwards (1641), Jesuit priests said mass before two thousand naked savages at Sault Ste. Marie. In the winter of 1658-1659, two French fur-traders, Radisson and Grosseilliers, imbued with a desire "to travell and see countreys" and "to be knowne with the remotest people," visited Wisconsin, probably saw the Mississippi, and built a log fort on Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior. During 1662 they discovered James's Bay to the far northeast, and became impressed with the fur-trading capabilities of the Hudson's Bay region. Not receiving French support in their enterprise, they sold their services to England. On the strength of their discoveries, the Hudson's Bay Company was organized (1670). Saint-Lusson took formal possession of the Northwest for the French king, at Sault Ste. Marie, in 1671. Two years later (1673), Joliet and Marquette made their now famous trip over the Fox-Wisconsin waterway and rediscovered the Mississippi.

La Salle.

Champlain died at Quebec in 1635, having extended the trade and domination of France westward to Wisconsin, by the Ottawa highway. It remained for the fur-trader, La Salle, one of the most brilliant of American explorers, to add the Mississippi valley to French territory (1679-1682), his route being up the Great Lakes and via the Chicago-Illinois portage. It was 1699 before a French settlement was planted in Louisiana (Old Biloxi), and 1718 before New Orleans was founded.

The central geographical fact to be remembered in connection with the history of New France is, that the St. Lawrence and the chain of Great Lakes which serve as its feeders furnish a natural highway to the heart of the continent (page [4]).

Early explorations on the Great Lakes.

It has been shown that the hostility of the Iroquois forced the French, in their earliest explorations westward, to take the northern, or indirect, route of the Ottawa River, and caused Huron to be the first great lake discovered; Ontario, Superior, and Michigan being next unveiled, in the order named. Erie, the last to be seen by whites, was known as early as 1640, but owing to Iroquois warriors blocking the way, was not navigated until 1669, except by coureurs de bois seeking the New York fur-markets. Thus Frenchmen were familiar with the sites of Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinaw, Ashland, Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, and Chicago before they had visited the site of Detroit (1669). But that place came to be recognized after its settlement (1701) as the most important strategic point in the western possessions of New France.

Differences between French and English colonists.

The difference between the character of the English and French colonies in North America was great. Englishmen were content to sow and reap in a plodding fashion, extending their territorial bounds no faster than their settlements needed room for growth. Their acquaintance with the Indians did not, with the exception of the New York and Southern fur-traders, extend beyond the tribes which touched their borders. They were possessed of remarkable vitality and a strong sense of political and commercial independence.

110. Social and Political Conditions.

Coureur de bois versus farmer.

The rigor of the Canadian winter, the shortness of the summer season, and persistent annoyance from the Iroquois, who at times had carried their warfare to the very walls of the settlements, combined to make the lot of the French farmer on the St. Lawrence far from prosperous. During many of its early years, New France largely depended for food upon supplies brought out from the mother-country. The fur-trader experienced but little more personal danger than the agriculturist who remained upon his narrow farmhold abutting on the St. Lawrence; while the fascination of the unbridled life of adventure led by the former, free from the restraints of church and society, was such as strongly appealed to young men of spirit. The trade of New France was farmed out to commercial companies and to favorites of the king and his autocratic colonial governors. Unlicensed traffic, such as was carried on by the coureurs de bois, was looked upon as akin to smuggling, and harsh laws were promulgated against it. Nevertheless the forests, far into the continental interior, were penetrated by gay adventurers conducting illicit barter with the red barbarians, while the agriculture of the colony languished. The river-systems of the English coast colonies did not easily conduct to the interior, but the far-reaching waterways of New France were a continual invitation.

French treatment of the Indians.

Iroquois interests were bound up with the Dutch, and after them with the English. The better to improve their own position and to keep up prices, the Iroquois sought to prevent Algonquians of the upper lakes from trading with the Canadians. But French influence in the Northwest was nevertheless strong. Colonial officials cajoled the Indians and plied them with presents; while the wandering traders and their employees dwelt in comparative harmony with the red men, were adopted into many of the tribes, and married squaws, who reared in the forest villages an extensive half-breed progeny.

Paternal policy of France.

The disposition of the French Crown to interfere with the fur-trade and to repress all commercial initiative not emanating from privileged circles, was but an evidence of its general colonial policy. The colony on the St. Lawrence was made continually to feel the hand of the king. In contrast to the free town and county systems of the English, the people of New France had no voice in their government or in the appointment of their officials. Even in the most trivial affairs they looked to the Crown for action.

The administration of New France.

The country was governed much like a province in France. It was divided: (1) for judicial purposes, into districts, with a judge at the head of each, from whom there might be an appeal to the superior council. Within the districts were (2) seigniories, or great estates. The seignior held his land immediately from the king, and parcelled it out among his vassals, the habitants, or cultivators, who paid him a small rent, patronized his shops and mills, and owed him certain feudal obligations. Upon the estates were (3) parishes, in which the curé and the captain of militia were the chief personages. The only public duties exercised by the habitants were in connection with parish affairs, and then the initiative was taken at Quebec, where resided the central authority, vested in the governor, intendant, and council. In 1672, Frontenac attempted to set up in Canada an assembly of the three estates or orders; but Colbert, the king's prime minister, rebuked him, and gave directions for a gradual restriction of all privileges of representation. "It seems better that every one should speak for himself, and no one for all." The people were not permitted to think or act for themselves, and they did not covet the privilege. Without political training, they had no notion of what the English call political rights.

Causes of weakness.

Had King Louis XIV. been a wise monarch, paternalism might not have been a disadvantage for a population of this sort. But the royal patronage of colonial enterprises was spasmodic, sometimes breaking out into extravagant aid, again remarkable for its penuriousness. There were several in the long roll of colonial governors who were men of commanding ability, and well fitted, under right conditions, to make of New France a success,—notably Champlain (1622-1635), Frontenac (1672-1682, and 1689-1698), and De Nonville (1685-1689). But the times and the material at hand were against them. Official corruption ran riot. From the monopolists, who were the present favorites of the king, down to the military commander of the most distant forest trading station, officials considered the public treasury and the resources of the colony as a source of individual profit. The priesthood held full sway; little was done without the sanction of the hierarchy. The missionaries of the faith won laurels for bravery, self-denial, and hardihood, under the most adverse circumstances. But the policy of the Church was too exclusive for the good of the colony. Huguenots, driven from France by persecution, were forbidden by the bishops to reside in Canada, and thus were compelled to contribute their brain and brawn to the upbuilding of the rival English settlements. Of all Frenchmen, these were the best adapted to the rearing of an industrial empire in the New World.

111. Intercolonial Wars (1628-1697).

The struggle between French and English postponed.

In Champlain's time, while France was busy in crushing Protestant revolts at home, the settlements of Port Royal and Quebec, then wretched hamlets of a few dozen huts each, fell an easy prey to small English naval forces (1628-1629). For a few months France did not hold one foot of ground in North America. But as peace had been declared between France and England before this conquest, the former received back all its possessions, including Acadia (Nova Scotia) and the island of Cape Breton. The inevitable struggle for the mastery of the continent was postponed, and Frenchmen held Canada for four generations longer. By the close of the seventeenth century, men of New France were ranging at will over much of the country beyond the mountains, with visions of empire as extensive as the continent.

English jealousy of the expansion of New France.

The French were not exploring and occupying the western country unwatched. English colonial statesmen understood from the first the import of the movement, and their alarm was frequently expressed in communications to the home government. While Charles II. was a pensioner of Louis XIV., the royal intendant in Canada expressed the situation clearly when he urged Louis (1666) to purchase New York, "whereby he would have two entrances to Canada, and by which he would give to the French all the peltries of the north, of which the English share the profit by the communication which they have with the Iroquois, by Manhattan and Orange." In 1687, Governor Dongan of New York warned the ministry at London: "If the French have all they pretend to have discovered in these parts, the king of England will not have a hundred miles from the sea anywhere."

Extent of French settlement.

With the accession of Protestant William and Mary (1689), the Palatinate war broke out between England and France, and at once spread to America, where it was styled King William's War. The French had at that time colonies in the undefined region of Acadia, on Cape Breton, and along the north bank of the St. Lawrence as far up as Montreal. There were a few small stockades scattered at long intervals through the Illinois country, upon the banks of the upper Mississippi, at Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior, at Sault Ste. Marie, on the St. Joseph's River, and elsewhere; with here and there a lonely Jesuit mission, and the movable camps of coureurs de bois. Elsewhere, north and west of the Atlantic plain, the grim solitude was broken only by bands of red savages, who roved to and fro through the dark woodlands, intent on war or the chase.

The population of New France, in this wide region, was not, in 1690, more than twelve thousand, against one hundred thousand in New England and New York. Had it not been for the help of her Indian allies, the military strength of many of her more important stations, and the fighting qualities of her commanders, aided by division in the councils of the English colonists, New France would from the first have made a feeble defence against the overpowering resources of her southern neighbors.

King William's War.

King William's (or Frontenac's) War was costly to the colonists, and resulted in no material advantage to either side. The French, under Governor Frontenac, conducted their operations with vigor. Three winter expeditions, composed almost entirely of Indians, were sent out (1690) against the English frontier line, furiously attacking it at widely separated points,—New York, New Hampshire, and Maine. In consequence of the alarm created by these raids, the first colonial congress was held at New York (1690). A fleet commanded by Sir William Phipps (page [177]), with eighteen hundred New England militiamen on board, captured Acadia and Port Royal that summer, but Acadia was retaken by the French the following season. During the five ensuing years fighting was confined to bushranging along the New York and New England border. The struggle was without further incident until Newfoundland yielded to the French (1696), and a party of French and Indians sacked the little village of Andover, Mass. (1697), but twenty-five miles out of Boston. Later in the year came the treaty of Ryswick, under which each belligerent recovered what he possessed at the outset of the war.

112. Frontier Wars (1702-1748).

Outbreak of Queen Anne's War.

After the treaty of Ryswick (1697) there was peace between England and France for five years. Then broke out what is known in America as Queen Anne's War (1702-1713), and in Europe as the War of the Spanish Succession. The war originated in Europe; but one of England's objects in the struggle was to prevent the French from obtaining too firm a foothold in America. Much the same military operations as in King William's War were undertaken by both of the American opponents.

Continuation of border warfare.

Three attempts were made by New England troops to recapture Acadia (1704, 1707, and 1710), the last being successful. The peace of Utrecht (1713) recognized England's right to Acadia, "with its ancient boundaries," but it brought only nominal peace to the New York and New England colonists. Unfortunately the northern and western boundaries of Acadia were not therein fixed, and the country between the Kennebec and the St. Lawrence was in as much dispute as ever. Border settlers all along the line from the Hudson to the Kennebec were in hourly peril of their lives from Indian scalping-parties. There was abundant proof that the authorities of New France, instructed by the government at Paris, were actively inciting the red savages to forays for scalps and plunder. This fact tended greatly to embitter the relations between the rival white races, and led to measures of reprisal.

King George's War; capture of Louisbourg.

The irregular War of the Austrian Succession when it extended to America was known as King George's War (1744-1748). The principal event was the capture (1744) by New England troops of the strong fortress of Louisbourg, on the island of Cape Breton. Having achieved so heroic a victory almost single-handed, New Englanders considered themselves slighted by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), by which Louisbourg was surrendered to France, and in other respects the unfortunate state of affairs existing before the war was restored. Disappointment was openly expressed, and tended still further to strain the relations between the colonies and the mother-land.

113. Territorial Claims.

Boundary disputes.

An attempt had been made at the convention at Aix-la-Chapelle to settle the boundary disputes in America by referring the matter to a commission. France now asserted her right to all countries drained by streams emptying into the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi. This allowed, the narrow strip of the Atlantic coast would alone have been left to English domination. It was asserted on behalf of Great Britain that the charters of her coast colonies carried their western bounds to the Pacific; further, that as by the treaty of Utrecht France had acknowledged the suzerainty of the British king over the Iroquois confederacy, the English were entitled to all lands "conquered" by those Indians, whose war-paths had extended from the Ottawa River on the north to the Carolinas on the south, and whose forays reached alike to the Mississippi and to New England. For three years the commissioners quarrelled at Paris over these conflicting claims; but the dispute was irreconcilable; the only arbitrament possible was by the sword.

The French line of frontier forts.

Meanwhile both sides were preparing to occupy and hold the contested fields. New France already had a weak chain of water-side forts and commercial stations, the rendezvous of priests, fur-traders, travellers, and friendly Indians, extending, with long intervening stretches of savage-haunted wilderness, through the heart of the continent,—chiefly on the shores of the Great Lakes, and the banks of the principal river highways,—from Lower Canada to her outlying post of New Orleans. Around each of these frontier forts was a scattered farming community, the holdings being narrow fields reaching far back into the country from the water-front, with the neat log-cabins of the habitants nestled in close neighborhood upon the banks. In the summer the men, aided by their large families, tilled the ribbon-like patches in a desultory fashion, and in the winter assisted the fur-traders as oarsmen and pack-carriers. Many were married to squaws, and the younger portion of the population was to a large extent half-breed. They were a happy, contented people, without ambition beyond the day's enjoyment, combining with the light-heartedness of the French the improvidence of the savage.

The French covet the Ohio.

From 1700 on, the conflict seemed inevitable. The French realized that they could not keep up connection between New Orleans and their settlements on the St. Lawrence if not permitted to hold the valley of the Ohio. Governor La Jonquière (1749-1752) understood the situation, and pleaded for the shipment of ten thousand French peasants to settle the region; but the government at Paris was just then as indifferent to New France as was King George to his colonies, and the settlers were not sent.

114. Effect of French Colonization.

Characteristics of New France.

Of the region in which were scattered the permanent French settlements, the southern shore of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi valley eventually became a part of the United States; although these settlements were few and small, the influence of French operations in the West, on the development of the English colonies, was far reaching. New France will always be renowned for the immense area held by a small European population. She was from the first hampered by serious drawbacks,—centralization, paternalism, official corruption, instability of system, religious exclusiveness, the fascination of the fur-trade, a deadly Indian foe, and an inhospitable climate,—the sum of which was in the end to destroy her (page [49]). She expanded with mushroom growth, but was predestined to collapse. Yet more than any other part of North America, the French colonies in what is now Canada preserve the language and the customs of the time of their settlement.