Daily Life in New France
New France was never a very big colony. Compared to the English colonies in the south it was small. However,
life in this small colony was very different from how Canadians live today. Settlers in New France did not have
the same life style that we have. They had jobs that no longer exist today, or very few people work in that field.
Part of understanding the past is learning how people lived. This helps us understand how our lives are different
today. It also helps us appreciate how Canada has changed over time. Sometimes people think that life in the
past was very similar to how Canadians live today. This is not true.
The Seigneurial System
(sey-nure-e-al)
Imagine that you want to buy a house. You find a house that someone
wants to sell. If you like the house you offer that person money for the
property. If the owner agrees he/she transfers ownership (sells) the house
and the land to you. That house and property now belongs to you until you
decide to sell it to someone. This is called the freehold tenure system.
Settlers in New France did not buy land like we do today. They rented
their land from a large landowner. They paid rent as long as they lived
on that land. Settlers in New France were called habitants. They
received this name because their land was called a habitation in
French. Habitants was a slang term for farmers. Their proper name
was censitaires. However, we will call them habitants since this is what most people called French farmers.
The landlords were called seigneurs. This system of renting land to habitants is called the seigneurial system.
How did the Seigneurial System Work?
All of the land in New France belonged to the King of France. The king gave this land to the Church, and to
wealthy people in the colony. They became seigneurs, and rented the land out to habitants. Sometimes habitants
did not rent from just one person. Some of the religious orders in New France, like the Ursuline Nuns, owned
seigneuries and rented the land to French farmers. Not all the seigneurs were
men. By 1663 more than 50% of all seigneurs were women.
Seigneuries were both small and large. Some were 10 square kilometers in
size. Others were over 200 square kilometers in size.
(Old seigneurial manor house)
Seigneurs did more than just collect rent. They had duties to perform. These were:
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Build a large house called an estate house on their
land.
Provide money to build a church for the people on
the seigneury.
Build a mill for farmers to grind their wheat and
corn.
Report to the intendant about the seigneury and how
it was doing.
Habitants also had certain duties:
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They paid rent (usually they gave the seigneur some
of their flour).
They worked for the seigneur a few days a year
(called a corvée).They might help to build or fix
roads, work in the seigneur's fields, or build ditches.
Habitants had to grind their grain at the seigneur's mill. They paid to do this. This was called a
banalités. Since people had very little money they gave the seigneur some of their flour as payment.
Seigneuries looked very different compared to modern farms. For example, all of the land was divided into long
strips. The best land was on the St. Lawrence River, or one of the rivers that drained into the St. Lawrence.
Habitants wanted their land divided like this. Roads in New France were not very good. They were so muddy
when it rained that wagons would get stuck. Rivers were a better way to travel. Farmers loaded boats to take
things from one place to another. It was an easier way to travel than on foot or by wagon.
In the winter the habitants used sleighs to travel. Sometimes they could travel on the roads because they were
covered with snow. The easiest way to travel was on the frozen rivers.
Farmers also needed water for farming. It was easier to take water from the river than dig a well. Farmers built
irrigation ditches to bring water to their fields when there was not enough rain. Farmers could also fish if they
needed food, and some farmers caught and trapped other animals that lived on or in the river.
Habitants used many natural resources to help them farm. Marshes near the riverbank provided long grasses to
feed cattle and livestock. Habitant did not clear all the trees from their farms. They keep woodlots. This gave
them firewood, and they cut the wood into lumber to build furniture, homes and barns.
Habitant Life
Habitant lives were different from ours. They did not have many of the modern machines that we have. They
did not have electricity or gasoline engines. Habitants worked using their own muscles, or with the help of
animals. Many jobs people do today that can be done quickly took many days for the habitants. Habitants
worked all year long on their farms. There was always work to be done at different times of the year. Habitant
families worked from sun up to sun down (and even longer sometimes).
For many years the habitants spent their time clearing the land. When a new settler arrived on his land it was
covered with trees. Before he could plant crops he had to cut down the trees. Then he had to pull out all of the
large stumps. He used oxen to pull out the stumps. Large boulders in the fields were also dug out. At first
settlers planted their crops between tree stumps so they could grow some food.
(Settler's first cabin)
Habitant men used these trees to build homes. Habitant houses were simple at first. Rough logs were used for
the walls and the roof. Mud, straw and moss was put in between the logs to keep out the cold winter air. This
was called chinking.
As the colony grew people built better homes. They dug small basements to store food since it was cooler in the
basement. Some habitants built their houses out of stone. These houses were still very small compared to
modern homes in Canada. Most homes did not have a second floor. Parents might have their own bedroom
while all the children slept in a single room (sometimes in the same bed). The kitchen and family area was one
large room.
(Old French Plough)
Habitant farms were different than Canadian farms today. Modern farms often grow only one type of food, or
raise one kind of animal. Habitant farmers grew many types of food: wheat, corn, peas, and vegetables. Farms
often had different types of animals: oxen, chickens, pigs, goats, and cows. If one crop failed one year there was
always other types of food for the family to rely on. Families grew most of the food they ate.
Oxen were used as work animals. They pulled the plough through the tough soil. This turned the soil over and
made it easier to plant seeds. Oxen also pulled anything that was heavy. If a farmer need to pull logs to his
house for firewood he used oxen. They also pulled sleighs and wagons. Wealthier families had work horses to
do certain jobs.
(Habitant settlers)
Habitant Food
Habitant food was simple because all of it was made by the mother and daughters. Bread was very important.
Farmers worked very hard, and ate as many as two loaves of bread each day. This meant the women baked fresh
bread every week. Some bread was baked at home. Most families had large outdoor ovens made of clay to bake
bread in. Fresh milk and cheese was also made by women in a family.
Families ate fresh vegetables in the summer and fall. In the winter and spring families ate root crops such as:
potatoes, turnips, carrots, beets, and onions. Dried pease were another important source of food. Families could
not store frozen food like your parents can because they had no way to keep food frozen. Root crops stay fresh
for a long time if stored in a basement.
Women gathered berries from the forests in the summer. Some were eaten right away, but some berries were
dried for the winter time. Other berries were made into jam.
In the fall the habitants would kill a pig or cow for food, and cure the meat. Men placed the meat in a very
small building. On the floor a small fire burned. Smoke from the fire dried out the meat, and kept flies off of it.
Heat from the fire cooked the meat very slowly. Cured meat can be kept for a long time. Other meat was
covered with salt. This dried the meat out so it lasted longer.
Almost every part of the animal was used. Pig intestines were cleaned, and used to make sausages. Pig heads
were boiled. The meat was removed and pressed into head cheese. Pig ears were dried, and pig feet were put in
vinegar to be pickled. Other animals provided food or material year round.
Other animals were kept year round to provide food. Chickens provided eggs for the family the entire year.
Milk cows were kept to supply milk for butter, cheese and ice cream. Goat milk was also used. Sheep provided
wool for clothing.
Habitant families also hunted and fished. Moose and deer hunting was important since this provided a lot of
meat. This meat was eaten or cured. Fish could be cured or salted to last through the winter. Habitants also
caught eels in the St. Lawrence River. These were salted and stored.
As you can see a lot of food was dried or cured to preserve it, or it was pickled. Without refrigerators they
stored food differently than we do today. In the winter meat was stored outside in small sheds so it would
freeze., The shed protected it from animals. Without cold weather, however, food had to be preserved or eaten
right away.
(Making maple sugar)
Habitant families made maple syrup and sugar in the spring. Today your parents buy sugar at the store. For
settlers the only sugar they had came from maple trees. Families tapped maple trees (nail a small tube into the
tree) in April, and hung a bucket from the tap. Maple sap fell into the bucket.
Settlers collected the sap and put into a large pot to boil. This removed water from the sap and left syrup in the
pot. If the sap boiled longer it created maple sugar. As a treat people poured maple syrup on the snow. When it
froze children could eat it like a popsicle.
Maple syrup was always made outside in a small shack (called a sugar shack). You cannot boil maple sap in
your kitchen. The steam that rises from the pot is very sticky. It covers everything in your house and is very
hard to clean off.
Family Life
Habitant families were very large. Many people in the past had larger families than today. Some families had as
many as ten children. Large families were useful because
everyone worked to support each other.
Everyone in a family had work to do. All of these jobs were
important if the family wanted to do well. Men and women
(and boys and girls) had different jobs. This is not true today
as men and women are equal. In the past, however, work was
divided between men and women.
(Louis Hébert Sowing the First Wheat Crop)
Fathers and sons worked in the fields. They planted crops, and harvested them (the women often helped). Men
also looked after the livestock (although women did this too). Men made furniture, built homes and barns, and
repaired things. They also hunted and fished for extra food. Men also cut down trees and split them into
firewood.
(Habitants Harvesting Wood)
Women and girls did other kinds of work. They tended the vegetable garden. Women also did all of the
cleaning, cooking and baking. All of the family's clothes were made by the women. Women also spun all of the
wool used to make clothes (and the men sheared the sheep). Women also made soap and candles.
(Spinning wheel)
Once a child was old enough to work they helped their families. Very few children went to school in New
france. If they did attend school it was only for a few years. They learned basic reading and writing, and maybe
math. Many children never attended school. They worked on their family farm as soon as they were old enough
to help. Children only left their farm when they married. Often people married when they were teenagers.
(Hunting Moose)
Hunting was also very important to the habitants. In France very few people could hunt or fish. Wealthy nobles
owned most of the land. If someone hunted or fished without permission (poaching) they might be arrested and
put into prison. In New France people hunted and fished when they wanted. This provided them with important
sources of food. Habitants also learned what types of berries they could eat from First Nations as well as other
types of food.
Habitant families were always busy. There was always work to do the entire year because everything was done
by hand, or made by the family. Look around your house at the things that you use. Imagine if your family had
to make everything. For example, your parents could not buy bread at the store. They could not even buy flour
to make bread. Your parents would grow wheat, grind it into flour, and then bake bread. Your parents could not
buy you any clothes. Your family would raise sheep, gather the wool, spin it into thread, and then your mother
would make you clothes.
(Habitants Playing cards; by Krieghoff)
There was time for fun. Since the habitants were very religious people Christmas and Easter were two very
important holidays. There were also two other important festival days: November 11 and May 1. On November
11 all of the habitants paid their rent and taxes. Afterwards they held a large gathering to celebrate. May 1 was
considered the first day of spring. A large pole was place in the ground, and a festival was held. People tied
ribbons to the pole, and danced around it (it was called the May Pole).