Theme7: American Colonies- France and England

American Colonial Empires: France and England

History 140

By Ryan Babers

American Colonies 5- Canada and Iroquois

The English, Dutch, and French mariners sought out to conduct a smuggling trade against Spain who at the time (16th century) was the leading superpower in Europe. Especially across the Atlantic in the Americas

European countries needed to establish colonies to disrupt Spain’s flow but not be in range of any attack

The French sought after “weaker” resources and land to colonize in North America along the St. Lawrence river but were forced to abandon the area due to the harsh climate, scurvy, and hostile Indians

Along the gulf of St. Lawrence, the French set up a post

There, the French, English, Basque, and Portuguese found two new commodities to profit from; Fish and furs

Local Indians became more dependent on the European goods which, forced them into a bind

If the traders refused to help, war would break out with the local tribes. However, European traders would rather avoid conflict and helped the locals

The French had placed themselves as diplomats pledging alliances to the tribes to avoid any hostility

In the region, Indian tribes were split among the Algonquian and the Iroquois

The Iroquois were centralized around lake Ontario whereas the Algonquian covered much o the Eastern seaboard

The French had become an early leader in the fur trade

French traders established alliances with the Algonquin

Rival Iroquois tribes had been supplied with metal weapons by the Dutch which in turn the Iroquois sought out to disrupt French trade and colonization

Canada The fur traders had thoughts about creating permanent

posts within their territory

Posts would attract Indians over seasonal ships. Were fortified and armed with a canon in an effort to scare away other traders. It had also attracted more colonists who might invest in the trade business

Companies kept their posts small and inhabited exclusively by their own dependents to avoid any new competitors

At the end of the 16th century, French fur traders shifted their focus to Tadoussac, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence and along the peninsula Acadia (Nova Scotia)

The French created a monopoly in Acadia setting up small, all-male settlements but it had failed to deter interloping traders, and due to harsh & scurvy winters annually that killed most of the colonists

The French shifted their focus to reclaim the St. Lawrence valley

The region was a poor location for an agricultural colony

The St. Lawrence had promised the French with a more extensive fur trade with more northern Indian people than any other river system the continent could provide

Frenchman Samuel de Champlain led to found a colony of New France on the St. Lawrence River

Champlain recognized that French success in Canada depended upon building an alliance with a network of native peoples

Champlain built a fortified trading post in QUEBEC

Colonists relied heavily on French supply ships for food & Indian goodwill for their survival and prosperity

The Five Nation Iroquois consisted mostly of Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca who all had frequently raided northward to afflict the Montagnais, Algonquin, and Huron which hurt the French trade

The French needed little hand putting a little pressure on Canada’s natives who had more territory than they needed after the epidemics of the 16th century

The French agreed to help their native suppliers against the Five Nation Indians creating new enemies for themselves

Champlain and others had joined with allied Indians against rallied Iroquois (Mohawk) where they defeated them in present day (Lake Champlain)

The French introduced firearms to the natives which would revolutionize Indian warfare

The Iroquois sought after their own firearms dealing with the Dutch to even the score

Although previously forbidden, French and Dutch trader had profited greatly from the sale of firearms to Indians

Five Nation natives feared for their own who would be killed that didn’t receive a proper ceremony and would haunt them

They felt compelled to replace the dead by capturing or killing a prisoner

The Iroquois were brutal to their prisoners by torturing them and the women would butcher the remains for the village to eat as act of gaining power

The Five Nation Indians had been on the brink of destruction when internal wars broke out

An Indian prophet and his chief disciple helped restore peace under a new Great League of Peace stopping the internal conflict and revenge killings

The peace was overshadowed by a new threat of disease epidemics which afflicted much damage to many Indians

The French and Iroquois had been increasingly dependent on one another despite their rivalry

Jesuits & Destruction

The French colony had the idea to convert the Indians to be Catholic in an effort to make them more dependant on the French who used the mission style like the Spanish

The Jesuits had been trained extensively in Indian culture and would not let their ideals go to waste

Indians were entitled to equality but of poor status if converted

The mid 17th century saw conflict on epic proportions when the Iroquois went on a rampage which brought chaos to all sides

The Great League had nearly wiped out the Huron and forced other tribe into the league

There was a mixed feeling for New France who had started to think twice about their investments in Canada

American Colonies 16-

French America

French America 1650-1750 The British had been colonial rivals to the Canadian

French

The French had the Indians to rely on to deter British expansion

Louisiana, a new French colony was created in the lower Mississippi valley at the end of the 17th century

Louisiana was scarcely populated much like New France in the North and also relied on native Indians for defense against the British

The French colonies stretched from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico

The French crown ordered the New France company to recruit more inhabitants

The colonies began to include farming families which started to grown but only at a slow-steady pace

For being to slow in growth, the French crown seized control of the colony in 1663 and played for their transatlantic passages

Most of the emigrants were men looking for work and food

Comprised mostly of urban laborers and artisans

Most were also engages or indentured servants

Many of the engages had negotiated their contracts and tended to leave whereas married men mostly stayed

French emigration was hindered by failing to secure a migration chain unlike rival Britain who had done so

Much of New France’s increase in population was natural

Still, the growth was minimal in comparison to English colonists

Cultural values and institutional obstacles obstacles blocked overseas emigration

Peasants were determined to remain rooted in their land

Canada’s environment was also very unpleasant for potential colonies, especially for agriculture

French colonies reflected a more militaristic, paternalistic, and centralized form of authority

The French crown appointed three rival officials in New France: a military governor-general, a civil administrator (intendent), and a Catholic bishop

All three positions were involved in a triangle which each position had power over the other in an attempt for crown favorite

The French had appointed a sovereign council which included the 3 officials, 5-7 seigneurs, and an attorney general

New France also lacked the town or county governments

Instead of not having town or county governments, they divided the St. Lawrence valley into parishes, which combined civil, military, and ecclesiastical functions

Each town had a church, a priest, and a militia company under a captain appointed by the intendant

By the 18th century, France consisted of two very different sectors: the narrow, cultivated St. Lawrence valley and the vast forest and lakes known as the Upper Country

One sector was mainly colonization (St. Lawrence valley) and the other was mostly trade (interior)

Much of the region saw increased reproduction, and because of peace with the Iroquois it brought greater security, prosperity, and development to the valley

A mix of tribes had also come to an agreement with the priests who conformed to a more traditional custom and ritual that wasn’t in opposition to Catholic Worship

The Indians had become a hybrid of Indian and European horticulture and continued to hunt for meat and furs

The French were obliged to respect their pact with them

The French were more concerned about expanding their trade business in Louisiana more than their religious ambitions

Louisiana was given a private company, The Company of the Indies by the crown which promoted plantations to cultivate tobacco and indigo

The focus was then shifted by establishing New Orleans and became the colony’s largest town, principal seaport, and government headquarters

The Company of the Indies had transported 5,400 European colonists (mostly French) and 6,000 African slaves to Louisiana

The climate in the south proved difficult for colonists

Only a 1/3 of European emigrants remained alive in Louisiana (1731) however, conditions improved during the 1740s as colonists acquired partial immunities to fevers and farming conditions improved

With a failing business the Company of the Indies had eventually become bankrupt and forced to surrender the colony to the French crown in 1731

The French had been employing blacks in militias to fight the Indians fearing blacks and Indians would rebel against them

Some blacks managed to seek refuge in New Mexico and other Indian tribes from harsh punishment by the French

From the French crown perspective French America was a economic disappointment and cost them

France could not force their way out due to the Indians desperate bind & need for their goods, had become so well adapted

American Colonies 6- Virginia 1570-1650

Virginia 1570-1650 The Spanish had established missions up to the

Chesapeake Bay (Virginia) but were driven out by native resistance

The English had successfully colonized Ireland and sought to continue their expansion to Virginia, named in honor of Queen Elizabeth, a supposed virgin

England originally were looking for ways to get rich by searching for gold and Spanish treasure ships

Tobacco was instead found and in an effort to colonize the region, the English faced resistance from Algonquian Indians

England invested in subcontractors and monopolies to privatize the area

The country needed to expand to prevent collapse internally

The executive power was bestowed in the monarch, with a Queen instead of a king

English rule included kingdoms of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland (1603)

The English From London, England dominated over the others

The Queen had to share her power with the Parliament

Under her rule, England hit a series of social woes economically and crime filled

Colonial plantations could improve England’s balance of trade with other nations was suggested

Virginia plantations had promised to improve the nations trade by providing import substitutes

It was also relief to the cloth industry

England used the colonization of Ireland as a model for how to colonize overseas

In 1585, one hundred male colonists under Sir Walter Raleigh set out to colonize Roanoke, a small island on the North Carolina coast

The island prevented any Spanish activity and England access due to the shoals and sands

Roanoke was eventually abandoned

Virginia Some surviving members in the Roanoke expedition

apparently found refuge in a Indian village but were killed

The English made another attempt at Chesapeake Bay which offered better harbors, navigatable rivers, and more fertile land

The English named the 4 major rivers in Virginia: James, York, Rappahannocha, and Potomac

The region had some 24,000 Indians who were all united under a chief named Powhatan

Virginia Indians viewed England’s total war as pointless and wasteful. However natives were interested in English technology and thought of them as allies to defeat rival tribes

The English though were highly distracted because of ruthless acts of killings and kidnappings

They had also distrusted the English way of life

England had not set up missions like the Spanish or French either

In 1604 a peace treaty with Spain reduced danger of Spanish attack on any new colony

A newer interest in colonial Virginia became more popular

The colony of Jamestown was established after a band of English ships sailed up the James river

The town was good for defense against Spain and Indians but extremely poor on health (disease-wise)

Colonists expected the Indians to feed them but did not know about the scarce resources available for the colonists

Some colonists tried to parade on a village and were killed and left for their countrymen to see

Captain John Smith was taken prisoner and offered a role as subordinate chief

Smith was released and continued to harass Indians for corn

Both the colonists and Powhatan launched brutal attacks on each other

Pocahontas was captured, accepted Christian conversion, and married colonist John Rolfe

Both sides made peace however, Pocahontas went to England and would die from disease

American Colonies 9- Puritans and Indians

Puritans and Indians 1600-1700 Puritans perceive the pre-colonial landscape as “a hideous

and desolate wilderness full of wild beasts and men.”

They saw the Indians as their opposite and feared that their own peoples (puritans) would turn into them

Colonists had spread out mostly for better land

Puritan leaders feared that “profit & religion” were diverging and people thought more about their economic interests

The New English worked to show that they are still Christians and would not dwell into Indian culture

The puritans were also working to convert and transform Indians into English Christians

The New English wanted to dominate the region and its natives

South New England Indians had culture, and language but lacked the political strength that the Powhatan chiefdom had

The top tribes in the region were the Mohegan and Pequot of Connecticut, the Narragansett of Rhode Island, the Patuxet and Wampanoag of the Plymouth colony, and the Nipmuck, Massachusetts, and Penacook of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

The tribes were subdivided into local bands who had a common hunting & gathering territory, and shared villages

Natives could leave from one band to go into another

To the English, the natives had the notion that all they were is hunters

The Indians also surprised the English with their superior agriculture skills and their diet had been so well balanced with nutrients

Indians had been able to control forest fires rather let them burn wildly and destructively like the English had done

Fires had become a staple in Indian agriculture as well

Men and women in tribes had general roles where men would do “male” centered roles like hunting, fishing, and warfare whereas women took care of the children, maintained homes, and agriculture (gathering roles)

Indian women performed roles which were less time consuming than colonial women and took pride in their work

Puritans and Indians Most Indians had to share their resources unless acquiring

or stealing goods from the English

Colonists had been protective of their possessions and tended to not share with natives

Colonists marveled at the vast wildlife and land which they began to see it as a chance of commodity

They had themselves decided to determine the portions of land to clam and what to give to the Indians by issuing deeds or contracts

Once property was in colonists hands, they felt any trespassers by Indians would result in self defense

The colonists were also clearing out land at a faster rate and with more claims of land, it became off limits and hostile to Indians

The first major conflict between the New English and the Indians broke out in 1636

Colonial leaders had made outlandish demand of the Pequot tribe and declared war, forcing the Mohegan, and Narragansett to fight against the Pequot as allies

Puritans and Indians With the help of the Mohegan and Narragansett the New

English attacked the Pequot village

Both the Mohegan and Narragansett were in a state of shock as the colonists had slaughtered men, women, and children sparring no one which was originally thought

England Puritans also criticized the New English for their slaughter

They had nearly wiped out all the remaining Pequot

Ironically the Pequot would eventually help the colonists fight the Narragansett some years later

Many remaining bands began to ponder the price of fighting the colonists or being subordinate to them

Some of the colonists began to attempt evangelizing the Indians where they built “praying towns” to attract them

Smaller, weaker bands were of most concern

In 1675-76, the bloody King Philips’s war broke out

The chaotic war had finally subdued the natives after years of massacre