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1599-1589 - Acadia & New France

In 1599, King Henry IV of France appointed Pierre Chauvin de Tonnetuit lieutenant-general for ten years of the coasts of 'Lacadie' and other areas of New France. Chauvin was granted a fur trading monopoly by King Henry IV of France in 1600, which led him to establish a trading post at Tadoussac, near the mouth of the Saguenay River in present-day Quebec. This trading post at Tadoussac was one of the first French settlements in North America, serving as a base for fur trade with Indigenous peoples. Although the colony did not thrive, and Chauvin’s efforts to establish a permanent settlement were not entirely successful, his work laid the groundwork for future French exploration and colonization in the region.

Chauvin’s endeavors are often overshadowed by the later accomplishments of Samuel de Champlain, who is credited with founding Quebec City in 1608 and playing a more significant role in the establishment of New France. However, Chauvin's early expeditions and trading activities were crucial in the early stages of French colonial expansion in North America.

The lieutenant-general commission was transferred to Pierre du Gua de Monts four years later. De Monts used Lacadie in his petition to the king to undertake the exploration and colonization of New France. Although it is not shown on modern maps, Acadia occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of more than a quarter of a million people who proudly proclaim their Acadian heritage with a flag, an anthem, and a national day. There is confusion about Acadia's origin and meaning, and a few people agree on the exact area it encompasses. Yet it is a name of extensive geographical, historical, and cultural significance. The name of Acadia can be traced to the discoveries of Giovanni de Verrazzano, who explored the coast of North American in 1524. He was struck by the beauty of Chesapeake Bay, calling it Archadia, a variation of Arcadia, the pastoral paradise of the Greek and Roman classics.

The “Father of New France,” Samuel de Champlain [ 1567 to 1635] was at the heart of the French venture in North America from 1603 to 1635. Unlike Cartier who was a maritime explorer, Champlain was also an inland explorer. He first undertook three maritime voyages, exploring the coasts of Nova Scotia and New England between 1604 and 1607 and founding Port Royal in 1605. Champlain made three inland voyages after building his habitation. The main goal of his voyages was again to find a route to China.

In 1603 Samuel de Champlain wrote a report entitled Des Sauvages in which he used Arcadie for the area we now call the Maritimes. In the early years of the seventeenth century, the form l'Acadie became common in documents and on maps referring to Port-Royal and other settlements around the Bay of Fundy. From the late 1620s to 1763, Acadia was an undefined territory east of New England and southeast of New France. The inhabitants of French extraction, cut off from other French colonies and with little immigration from their homeland, developed a distinctive Acadian culture. After their forced expulsion to the United States and Europe in 1755, and the subsequent return of many to the region, their Acadian heritage was reaffirmed.

During the reign of Henri IV, in 1603 Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, a nobleman, went to the king and proposed a settlement in an area called Acadia. Under the leadership of Pierre Dugua de Mons, Champlain helped colonize Acadia and, in 1608, founded a settlement at Québec that became the centre of the colony. He formed important alliances with Aboriginal peoples and expanded the French sphere of influence, travelling up the Ottawa River and as far west as the Great Lakes. Champlain explored and mapped large areas of the continent, and in his travel journals left an invaluable record of his era for future generations.

Earlier trials by the French during the 1500s to colonize in North America had not been successful. An astute businessman, Sieur de Mons was more than determined to establish a French presence. De Mons’ plan called for private investors to finance the colony. In return, they received the monopoly for the fur trade in a vastly larger area between the 40th and 46th parallels. After much bargaining, the king granted the monopoly to Sieur de Mons, under the conditions that he establish a colony in Acadia and convert the native people to Christianity.

In 1603, Samuel de Champlain made his first trip to New France. Accompanied by St. Malo merchant Gravé du Pont, he visited the Tadoussac fur-trading post that had been set up in 1600. Once they had concluded their trade, the two Frenchmen headed up the St. Lawrence River to the rapids at Lachine and explored down the Iroquois River, later to become the Richelieu River. This expedition convinced Champlain that France had to have a permanent base in the St. Lawrence Valley, since the river led to the heart of the country and would open the way to new lands to supply the fur trade.

In the summer of 1604, the expedition settled in Saint Croix, a small island on the Saint Croix River between Maine (USA) and New Brunswick (Canada). After a bitter cold winter, isolated on the island with no reliable source of water or fuel, nearly half of the 79 colonists died of scurvy.

In the summer of 1605, French explorers built a settlement on a beautiful river basin near the present town of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. There the soil was fertile and the natural surroundings plentiful with fish and game. Most importantly, the Mi’kmaw people whose ancestors had lived in the region for thousands of years welcomed the men (no women were on the expedition) and showed them how to survive in this new climate. Christened Port-Royal, it became the first European settlement north of Florida. While only in existence a few years, the settlement, and what it accomplished, proved to be a model for future exploration of the continent. In spite of milder temperatures than what the expedition had experienced in Saint Croix, around twelve men out of 45 died that first winter in Port-Royal.

In 1608, Champlain sailed to find a permanent colony in Nouvelle France. He decided to pick an area where the St. Lawrence river was narrower. In theory, it was to prevent enemies from pushing further inland. Quebec [a name meaning "where the river narrows"] was an obvious choice and Champlain built a habitation between the St. Lawrence and Cap Diamand (at today's Place Royale). The habitation was simply a wooden building surrounded by an inner yard and served as a lodging, storehouse, and fortress for the inhabitants. However, unlike Cartier, protection was not needed as urgently since the Iroquois no longer inhabited the St. Lawrence valley. This settlement contained only 28 people, and 20 of them died during the first winter, marking the beginning of a new era of trade and colonization.

Champlain needed a way to encourage larger numbers to immigrate to the St. Lawrence region. Hence, France adopted the seigniorial system and gave Champlain seigniorial powers. The seigniorial system is a simple system whereby the seigneur owes fealty and homage to the king, and habitants owe rents and dues to the seigneur. The geographical and social units were called a rang or cote i.e. a belt of contiguous farms. Long lots, having a length/width ratio of about 10:1 stretched at right angles to the ridges. This system was initially developed in eleventh-century Europe to settle unused floodplains.

To run the fur trade, the French first of all needed traders and also intermediaries from the Montagnais, Algonquin and Huron First Nations. They had to gain the confidence of the Indigenous and weave ties of trade with them. The next step for Champlain was to create a partnership with the Hurons to stimulate fur trade. This meant being able to communicate with the Hurons and adapt to their culture.

In 1609, Champlain consolidated his alliances when he participated in a raid against the Iroquois. On 14 July 1609, Champlain arrived at a huge lake to which he gave his name: Lake Champlain. His first encounter with the Iroquois was to the south of the lake. It was the superiority of the Europeans' arms that enabled the French and their allies to come out victorious from this, the first battle in what was to become a long series of conflicts with the Iroquois. Champlain had just opened the way for the man who would later establish the first military post at the foot of the rapids at Chambly: Jacques de Chambly, captain of a detachment of the Carignan-Salières Regiment.

It did not take a long time until a trade route was developed. However, the first five years proved difficult because there was not enough fur being collected. Therefore, Champlain recruited more First Nations villages, and by 1614, the trade route was profitable enough for the French to build more permanent settlements and begin to fortify Quebec (1620). Champlain was undisturbed in Nouvelle France until England (a force led by David Kirke and his brothers) invaded Quebec and took over for a short period between 1629-1632. During this period, Champlain was taken back to England as a prisoner. He was appointed the first governor of Nouvelle France in 1632 and then returned to the St. Lawrence valley in 1633. He died in 1635.

The settlements at Saint Croix, Port-Royal and Quebec marked the beginnings of French settlement on the continent. The generations that followed would firmly ensure the integration of French culture in North America.