Exploration and New France

Why Europeans explored

In the 1400s and 1500s, European kings and merchants wanted riches from Asia: spices, silk and gold. Travelling over land was long and dangerous, so explorers sailed west, hoping to find a sea route. Many searched for a Northwest Passage, a route through or around North America to Asia.

They didn’t find an easy route to Asia. Instead, they reached lands that were already home to many Indigenous nations.

Early explorers

Indigenous guides and knowledge were essential. Explorers relied on Indigenous people for maps, routes, food, canoes and survival skills, such as a cure for scurvy made from white cedar.

The beginnings of New France

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded Québec on the St. Lawrence River. It became the heart of New France, the French colony in North America. Later settlements included Trois-Rivières (1634) and Ville-Marie, later Montréal (1642), founded by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance.

At its largest, New France stretched from the Atlantic through the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River to Louisiana.

The fur trade

The fur trade was the main reason France kept New France. Europeans wanted beaver fur to make felt hats.

• Indigenous trappers and traders, such as the Wendat, Innu and Anishinaabe, traded furs.
• In return they received metal goods: kettles, knives, axes, needles, cloth and guns.
• Coureurs des bois ("runners of the woods") travelled into the forests to trade, often learning Indigenous languages and marrying into Indigenous families.
• Later, voyageurs paddled large canoes full of furs and goods along rivers and lakes.

The fur trade created alliances, but also rivalries and wars, especially between the Haudenosaunee and the French and their allies.

Life in New France

The seigneurial system

Land was divided using the seigneurial system. The king gave land to a seigneur (landlord), who divided it into long, narrow strips running back from the river. Each farm had river access for water and travel.

Habitants

A habitant was a farmer in New France. Habitants grew wheat, raised animals, built homes and paid rent to the seigneur. Winters were long and hard.

The Church

The Catholic Church was very important. Priests and nuns ran schools, hospitals and missions. Marie de l’Incarnation founded a school for girls in Québec.

The filles du roi

Few women lived in New France. Between 1663 and 1673, about 800 young women, called the filles du roi ("King’s Daughters"), came from France. Many Quebec families today trace their ancestry to them.

Government

New France was ruled by the King of France through a governor (military and relations with Indigenous nations), an intendant (justice, money and daily life; Jean Talon was a famous intendant) and a bishop.

The end of New France

Britain and France competed for control of North America. During the Seven Years’ War, British forces won the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Québec in 1759. In the Treaty of Paris (1763), France gave New France to Britain. But French language, Catholic faith, laws and culture survived, and they remain at the heart of Quebec today.

Try it yourself

1. Trace Cartier’s and Champlain’s routes on a map.
2. Draw a seigneury with long, narrow farms along a river. Why was this layout useful?
3. Write a diary entry as a habitant, a coureur des bois or a Wendat trader.
4. List three ways Indigenous peoples helped European explorers.

Quick recap

• Europeans explored North America searching for a route to Asia.
• Cartier and Champlain explored the St. Lawrence; Champlain founded Québec in 1608.
• The fur trade, based on partnerships with Indigenous peoples, drove New France.
• Habitants farmed long, narrow lots under the seigneurial system.
• Britain took control in 1763, but French culture remained strong.