Canada | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1534–1763 | |||||||||
 The royal banner ofearly modern France or"Bourbon Flag" was the most commonly used flag in New France[1][2][3]  The lesser coat of arms of France as used by theGovernment | |||||||||
_Location_Map.svg) Map of Canada after 1713. At its fullest extent, Canada extended from south of theGreat Lakes to theGulf of St Lawrence. | |||||||||
| Status |
| ||||||||
| Capital | Quebec | ||||||||
| Official languages | French | ||||||||
| Religion | Catholic Church (state religion)[4] | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
• 1534–1547 | Francis I (first) | ||||||||
• 1715–1763 | Louis XV (last) | ||||||||
| Viceroy/Governor General | |||||||||
• 1541–1543 | Jean-François Roberval (first) | ||||||||
• 1755–1763 | Pierre de Rigaud (last) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• French territorial possession | 1534 | ||||||||
• Founding ofQuebec | 1608 | ||||||||
• Founding ofTrois-Rivières | 1634 | ||||||||
• Founding ofMontreal | 1642 | ||||||||
| 10 February 1763 | |||||||||
| 7 October 1763 | |||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1740 survey[5] | 48,500 | ||||||||
| Currency | New France livre | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | |||||||||
Canada was aFrench colony withinNew France. It was claimed byFrance in 1534 during the first voyage ofJacques Cartier in the name of the French king,Francis I. The colony remained a French territory until 1763, when it became a British colony known as theProvince of Quebec at the end of the globalSeven Years' War.[6][7][8][9]
In the 16th century thewordCanada could refer to the territory along theSaint Lawrence River[10] (then known as the Canada River) fromGrosse Isle to a point betweenQuébec andTrois-Rivières.[11] The terms "Canada" and "New France" were also used interchangeably.[12] French explorations continued west "unto the Countreys of Canada, Hochelaga, and Saguenay"[13] before any permanent settlements were established. In 1600 a permanent trading post and habitation was established atTadoussac at the confluence of theSaguenay and Saint Lawrence rivers. However, because this trading post was under a trade monopoly, it was not constituted as an official French colonial settlement.
The first official settlement of Canada wasQuébec, founded bySamuel de Champlain in 1608.[14][15] The other four colonies withinNew France wereHudson's Bay to the north,Acadia andNewfoundland to the east, andLouisiana far to the south.[16][17] Canada became the most developed of the five colonies of New France. It was divided[when?] into three districts,Québec,Trois-Rivières, andMontreal, each with its own government.[citation needed] The governor of the District of Quebec also served as the governor-general for all of New France.[17][failed verification]
TheSeven Years' War of 1756–1763 sawGreat Britain defeat the French and their allies, and take possession of Canada. In theTreaty of Paris of 1763, which formally ended the Seven Years' War,France ceded Canada in exchange for other colonies, with a large portion of Canada becoming the British colony of theProvince of Quebec.[18]
In the 240 years betweenVerrazano's voyage of exploration in 1524 and theConquest of New France in 1763, the French marked the North American continent in many ways. Whether it was through by land distribution and clearing, the establishment of villages and towns, deploying a network of roads and paths or developing the territory with various constructions, theFrench colonists transformed and adapted the environments according to their needs.
There are three major periods of expansion of the territory of Canada, mostly as a result of exploration efforts. First, the 1534–1603 period, in which Canada's territory comprised the coasts ofNewfoundland, the entirety ofSt John's Island, theSaint Lawrence River and theGulf of Saint Lawrence, and lands that later becameNova Scotia and the coasts ofNew Brunswick.
Then 1603–1673, in which, due to westward expansion and conflicts withGreat Britain, Canada's territory was composed of the coasts of the Saint Lawrence River, of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and of theGreat Lakes, as well as lands that later becamesouthern Ontario and northernNew England.
Then, in the last period of 1673–1741, Canada's territory was composed of the coasts of the Saint Lawrence River, of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and of the Great Lakes, and lands that later became southern Ontario,southern Manitoba, the north-easternUS Midwest, and part of theUpland South. It was in this period that Canada was at its largest.[19]
Dependent on Canada were thePays d'en Haut (upper countries), a vast territory north and west of Montreal, covering the whole of the Great Lakes and stretching as far into theNorth American continent as the French had explored.[17] Before 1717, when it ceded territory to the new colony of Louisiana, it stretched as far south as theIllinois Country. In the Great Lakes area, a mission,Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, was established in 1639. Following the destruction of the Huron homeland in 1649 by theIroquois, the French destroyed the mission themselves and left the area. In what are today Ontario and the eastern prairies, various trading posts and forts were built such asFort Kaministiquia in 1679 (at modernThunder Bay, Ontario),Fort Frontenac in 1673 (today'sKingston, Ontario),Fort Saint Pierre in 1731 (near modernFort Frances, Ontario),Fort Saint Charles in 1732 (onLake of the Woods located on Magnusens Island on theNorthwest Angle ofMinnesota) andFort Rouillé in 1750 (today'sToronto). The mission and trading post atSault Ste. Marie (1688) would later be split by theCanada–US border.
The French settlements in thePays d'en Haut among and south of the Great Lakes wereFort Niagara (1678) (near modernYoungstown, New York),Fort Crevecoeur (1680) (near the present site ofCreve Coeur, Illinois, a suburb ofPeoria, Illinois),Fort Saint Antoine (1686) (onLake Pepin inWisconsin),Fort St. Joseph (1691) (on the southernmost point ofSt. Joseph Island, Ontario onLake Huron),Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit (1701) (today'sDetroit, Michigan),Fort Michilimackinac (1715) (on theStraits of Mackinac atMackinaw City, Michigan),Fort Miami (1715) (modernFort Wayne, Indiana),Fort La Baye (1717) (today'sGreen Bay, Wisconsin), andFort Beauharnois (1727) (inFlorence Township, Goodhue County, Minnesota).
Today, the termLes Pays-d'en-Haut refers to aregional county municipality in theLaurentides region of the present Province ofQuebec, north of Montreal, while the formerPays d'en Haut was part of the District of Montreal.
TheDomaine du roy, established in 1652, was a vast region ofNew France, which stretched north from theSt. Lawrence River toHudson Bay. It was located between the eastern limit of theseigneurie ofLes Éboulements and Cape Cormorant. The territory had an area of more than 460,000 km2. After theConquest of New France, the territory's name was changed toRupert's Land.[20]
A population survey was done in 1740 to estimate Canada's population. The survey of theSaint Lawrence River valley counted about 44,000 colonists in total. The majority of them were born in Canada and lived in a rural environment. Of the colonists, 18,000 lived under the Government ofQuébec, 4,000 under theGovernment of Trois-Rivières and 22,000 under the Government ofMontreal. As for colonists not living in the Saint Lawrence River valley,Île Royale (nowCape Breton) counted 4,000 inhabitants (of which 1,500 were inLouisbourg), and Île Saint-Jean (nowPrince Edward Island) had 500 inhabitants.[5]
In 1791, the Province of Quebec was separated intoLower Canada (nowQuebec) andUpper Canada (nowOntario). Lower Canada and Upper Canada were fused into theProvince of Canada in 1841, before separating again into the modern-day provinces ofQuebec andOntario during theConfederation of Canada in 1867. Because of the historical and geographical continuity, as well as the continued use of the French language,civil law, customs, cultural aspects and the ruling power of theCatholic Church ingovernment until theQuiet Revolution of the 1960s, the province ofQuebec is considered by many to be themodern-day continuation of the Canada colony of New France.[21][22][23][24]
Still today, the majority of theQuebec population is descended from the original French-speakingCanadien of Canada, and thecultural distinctiveness of Quebec from the rest of the country has led to the emergence of aQuébécois identity and theQuebec sovereignty movement.[25]
There is no significant political movement inQuebec advocating for rejoiningFrance. The idea of Quebec directly rejoining France is not a popular or widely supported concept today.
Descendants of the originalCanadien of Canada (New France) living outside of Quebec are now often referred to by a name which references their province of residence (ex.Franco-Ontarian). Francophone populations in theMaritime provinces, however, are more likely to be descended from the settlers of the French colony ofAcadia. They are therefore calledAcadians.
It is most probable that the Bourbon Flag was used during the greater part of the occupancy of the French in the region extending southwest from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, known as New France... The French flag was probably blue at that time with three golden fleur-de-lis ....
La Nouvelle-France désignait l'ensemble des territoires de l'Amérique du Nord sous administration française, avant 1763. Dans sa plus grande dimension, avant le Traité d'Utrecht (1713), la Nouvelle-France comprenait cinq colonies possédant, chacune, une administration propre : le Canada, l'Acadie, la Baie d'Hudson, Terre-Neuve, la Louisiane.
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