Global InformationNew France information
New France Nouvelle-France (French) | |
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| 1534–1763 | |
 Flag[b]
![Coat of arms[a] of New France](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Coat_of_Arms_of_Kingdom_of_France.svg/85px-Coat_of_Arms_of_Kingdom_of_France.svg.png) Coat of arms[a]
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Motto:
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 New France’s territory at its height in 1712, before the Treaty of Utrecht. | |
| Status | Viceroyalty of the Kingdom of France |
| Capital | Quebec |
| Common languages | French |
| Religion | Catholicism |
| King of France | |
• 1534–1547 | Francis I (first) |
• 1715–1763 | Louis XV (last) |
| Viceroy of New France | |
• 1534–1541 | Jacques Cartier (first; as Governor of New France) |
• 1755–1760 | Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil (last) |
| Legislature | Superior Council |
| Historical era | Colonial/French and Indian War |
• Exploration of Canada begins with Jacques Cartier | 24 July 1534 |
• Louis XIV integrated New France into the royal domain, endowed it with a new administration and founded the French West India Company | 18 September 1663 |
• By the Treaty of Utrecht, France ceded most of Acadia to the Kingdom of Great Britain as well as its claims on
Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay. | 11 April 1713 |
• By the Treaty of Paris, Louis XV cedes New France to Great Britain | 10 February 1763 |
| Area | |
| [6] | 8,000,000 km2 (3,100,000 sq mi) |
| Currency | Livre tournois |
| Today part of | Canada United States Saint Pierre and Miquelon[c] |
New France (French: Nouvelle-France) was the territory colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spain in 1763 under the Treaty of Paris.
A vast viceroyalty, New France consisted of five colonies at its peak in 1712, each with its own administration: Canada, the most developed colony, which was divided into the districts of Québec, Trois-Rivières, and Montréal; Hudson Bay; Acadie in the northeast; Terre-Neuve (Plaisance) on the island of Newfoundland; and Louisiane.[7][8] It extended from Newfoundland to the Canadian Prairies and from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, including all the Great Lakes of North America.
In the 16th century, the lands were used primarily to draw from the wealth of natural resources such as furs through trade with the various indigenous peoples. In the seventeenth century, successful settlements began in Acadia and in Quebec. In the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, France ceded to Great Britain its claims over mainland Acadia, Hudson Bay, and Newfoundland. France established the colony of Île Royale on Cape Breton Island, where they built the Fortress of Louisbourg.[9][10]
The population rose slowly but steadily. In 1754, New France's population consisted of 10,000 Acadians, 55,000 Canadiens, and about 4,000 settlers in upper and lower Louisiana; 69,000 in total.[11] The British expelled the Acadians in the Great Upheaval from 1755 to 1764, which has been remembered on July 28 each year since 2003. Their descendants are dispersed in the Maritime provinces of Canada and in Maine and Louisiana, with small populations in Chéticamp, Nova Scotia, and the Magdalen Islands. Some also went to France.
After the Seven Years' War (which included the French and Indian War in America), France ceded the rest of New France to Great Britain and Spain in the Treaty of Paris of 1763 (except the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon). Britain acquired Canada, Acadia, and French Louisiana east of the Mississippi River, except for the Île d'Orléans, which was granted to Spain with the territory to the west. In 1800, Spain returned its portion of Louisiana to France under the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso, and Napoleon Bonaparte sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, permanently ending French colonial efforts on the American mainland.
New France eventually became absorbed within the United States and Canada, with the only vestige of French rule being the tiny islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas collectivity of France, although Quebec remains predominately French-speaking. In the United States, the legacy of New France includes numerous place names as well as small pockets of French-speaking communities.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ The Governor General of Canada (12 November 2020). "Royal Banner of France - Heritage Emblem". Confirmation of the blazon of a Flag. February 15, 2008 Vol. V, p. 202. The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General.
- ^ New York State Historical Association (1915). Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association with the Quarterly Journal: 2nd-21st Annual Meeting with a List of New Members. The Association.
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 ....
- ^ "Background: The First National Flags". The Canadian Encyclopedia. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
At the time of New France (1534 to the 1760s), two flags could be viewed as having national status. The first was the banner of France — a blue square flag bearing three gold fleurs-de-lys. It was flown above fortifications in the early years of the colony. For instance, it was flown above the lodgings of Pierre Du Gua de Monts at Île Sainte-Croix in 1604. There is some evidence that the banner also flew above Samuel de Champlain's habitation in 1608. ... the completely white flag of the French Royal Navy was flown from ships, forts and sometimes at land-claiming ceremonies.
- ^ "INQUINTE.CA | CANADA 150 Years of History ~ The story behind the flag". inquinte.ca.
When Canada was settled as part of France and dubbed "New France," two flags gained national status. One was the Royal Banner of France. This featured a blue background with three gold fleurs-de-lis. A white flag of the French Royal Navy was also flown from ships and forts and sometimes flown at land-claiming ceremonies.
- ^ Wallace, W. Stewart (1948). "Flag of New France". The Encyclopedia of Canada. Vol. II. Toronto: University Associates of Canada. pp. 350–351.
During the French régime in Canada, there does not appear to have been any French national flag in the modern sense of the term. The "Banner of France", which was composed of fleur-de-lys on a blue field, came nearest to being a national flag, since it was carried before the king when he marched to battle, and thus in some sense symbolized the kingdom of France. During the later period of French rule, it would seem that the emblem...was a flag showing the fleur-de-lys on a white ground... as seen in Florida. There were, however, 68 flags authorized for various services by Louis XIV in 1661; and a number of these were doubtless used in New France
- ^ Havard, Vidal, Histoire de l’Amérique française, Flammarion, 2003, p. 67.
- ^ Francis, R. Douglas; Jones, Richard; Smith, Donald B. (2009). Journeys: A History of Canada. Cengage Learning. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-17-644244-6.
- ^ "La Nouvelle France: Le Territoire" [New France: The Territory] (in French). Government of France. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ Johnston, Andrew John Bayly (2001). Control and Order in French Colonial Louisbourg, 1713–1758. MSU Press. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-0-8701-3570-5. JSTOR 10.14321/j.ctt7zt68f.
- ^ "History". Fortress of Louisbourg Association. Archived from the original on 23 July 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ^ Leclerc, Jacques [in French] (2018). "Arrival of the Europeans: Canada at the Time of New France". Linguistic History of Canada. University of Ottawa online.