New France, colonized by France in the 16thcentury, included the
colonies of Canada, Acadia, Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, and
Louisiana.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE [ edit ]
Describe the early history of French colonies in North America
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
Part of New France was divided into colonies, with the remainder ceded to Britain and Spain after
the Seven Years War.
Spain returned its portion to France, which was later sold to the US by Napoleon.
With the Treaty of Paris, Spain and Britain divided New France following the French and Indian
War.
Louisiana consisted of Illinois Country and Lower Louisiana.
The economic development of New France was marked by the emergence of
successive economies based on staple commodities, each of which dictated the political and
cultural settings of the time.
TERMS [ edit ]
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprised a series of individual
peace treaties rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish
Succession in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713.
Treaty of Paris
Signed in 1783, the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War, recognized the
United States' independence, established the borders of the United States and British North
America, and guaranteed the fair treatment of British loyalists in the United States. The treaty
greatly enlarged the territory of the United States, mainly at the expense of Native American
tribes.
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Background
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning in
1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763. At its
peak in 1712, the territory of New France extended from Newfoundland to the Rocky
Mountains and from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico . The territory was then divided into
five colonies, each with its own administration: Canada,Acadia, Hudson Bay, Newfoundland
(Plaisance), and Louisiana.
Map of New France, by Samuel de Champlain (1567?­1635): 1612
Map of New France made by Samuel de Champlain in 1612.
New France (orthographic projection) ­ maximal expansion in 1712 , before Treaty of Utrecht
Location of New France
The Treaty of Utrecht resulted in the relinquishing of French claims to mainland Acadia, the
Hudson Bay, and Newfoundland, and the establishment of the colony of Île Royale (Cape
Breton Island) as the successor to Acadia. France ceded the rest of New France, except the
islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, to Great Britain and Spain in the Treaty of Paris, which
ended the Seven Years War (also known as the French and Indian War). Britain received the
lands east of the Mississippi River, including Canada, Acadia, and parts of Louisiana, while
Spain received the territory to the west: the larger portion of Louisiana. Spain returned its
portion of Louisiana to France in 1800 under the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso, but French
leader Napoleon Bonaparte sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803,
permanently ending French colonial efforts on the North American mainland.
In 1534, Jacques Cartier claimed the first province of New France. However, initial French
attempts at settling the region met with failure. French fishing fleets, however, continued to
sail to the Atlantic coast and into the St. Lawrence River. French merchants soon realized the
St. Lawrence region was full of valuable fur­bearing animals, especially the beaver, which
were becoming rare in Europe. Eventually, the French crown decided to colonize the
territory to secure and expand its influence in America.
French Population in Its Colonies
For the first few decades of the colony's existence, the French population numbered only a
few hundred, while the English colonies to the south were much more populous and wealthy.
In 1627, France invested in New France, promising land parcels to hundreds of new settlers
with the hope of turning Canada into an important mercantile and farming colony. Samuel
Champlain was named Governor of New France. The colony forbade non­Roman Catholics
from living there. Protestants were required to renounce their faith to establish themselves in
New France; many therefore chose instead to move to the English colonies.
In the 1650s, Montreal still had only a few dozen settlers and a severely underpopulated New
France almost fell completely to hostile Iroquois forces. In 1663, New France finally became
more secure when Louis XIV made it a royal province.
The economic development of New France was marked by the emergence of successive
economies based on staple commodities, each of which dictated the political and cultural
settings of the time. During the 16th and early 17th centuries, New France's economy was
heavily centered on its Atlantic fisheries. This would change in the later half of the 17th and
18th centuries as French settlement penetrated farther into the continental interior. Here,
French economic interests would shift and concentrate on the development of the fur trade.
Furs would soon become the staple goods that would strengthen and drive New France's
economy, in particular that of Montreal, for the next century.
Louisiana was an administrative district of New France and was under French control from
1682–1763 and 1800–1803. It originally covered an expansive territory that included most of
the drainage basin of the Mississippi River and stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of
Mexico and from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains.
In 1689, King William's War began, and the English and Iroquois launched a major assault
on New France after many years of small skirmishes throughout the English and French
territories. King William's War ended in 1697, but Queen Anne's War broke out in 1702 with
the British gaining control over the Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, and part of Acadia. After
the French and Indian War in 1756­1763, France was forced to cede the eastern part of the
Louisiana territory to the victorious British in 1763, and the western part to Spain as
compensation for that country's loss of Florida . The British took control of the rest of New
France. France regained sovereignty of the western territory in 1800, but, strained by
obligations in Europe, Napoleon Bonaparte decided to sell the territory to the United States
in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, ending France's presence in Louisiana.
Map showing territorial gains of Britain and Spain following the French and Indian War. Also shown
are boundary changes within the territory the British had aquired between 1763 to 1783.
Map showing British territorial gains following the Treaty of Paris in pink and Spanish territorial
gains after the Treaty of Fontainebleau in yellow.
French exploration of the area began during the reign of Louis XIV, while French Louisiana
was not greatly developed due to a lack of human and financial resources.
Flag from 1663
Flag from 1663