The French in North AmericaHistory 140 By: Josh KessnerProfessor Arguello

American Colonies 5: Canada & Iroquoia

o Coming into North America, the French travelers needed to find a way to maintain survival on the land of the new world

o In order to start there better life and promising futures within the new world they would need to train to hunt, or trade with the native peoples who had these necessities

o The natives believed that almost anything the Europeans had brought with them held a special value.

o They would trade guns, beads, textiles, pretty much anything the natives saw as valuable in return for food and fur

o This trade helped advance the productivity of Canada and America in making successful colonies

o This economy allowed for villages to last a very long time and for a much more peaceful co-existence with the native people

American Colonies 5: Canada & Iroquoia

o Trade was monumental to the beginnings of North America.

o At first the native peoples would only trade within their communities

o Since the natives thought of the majority of the trade objects as Manitou (possessing spiritual power) It put a lot of weight on the value of the objects

o With the new goods, the natives would place them upon the highly revered, displaying status on objects worn by the people.

o Also, the more powerful the objects would seem, and the higher amount worn by a person would grant them the idea of higher access to Manitou power

American Colonies 5: Canada & Iroquoia

o The fur trade was one of the key commodities in expanding the Northern Colonies

o The French would trade with the Northern Algonquians which led up to alliances

o As far as the necessities of the colonials, they needed fur and put just as much reliability upon it and food, as the natives did upon manitou

o These furs were later traded in exchange for guns which would pose a threat to neighboring colonies

o Armed with new weaponry, the already skilled hunter gatherers of the native land were now further empowered

American Colonies 5: Canada & Iroquoia

o The Iroquois Indians lived within the St. Lawrence Valley

o They were enemies of the French and eventually created an alliance with four other tribes

o This alliance was known as the Five Nations of the Iroquois Indians

o The alliance began between 1570-1600 when a member of the Seneca tribe attempted to make a treaty with the Onondaga tribe. The Onondaga lived with the Mohawk tribe and eventually over time the two other tribes entered into the alliance.

o All tribes agreed not to come into conflict with one another as a means of protection and safety for all of the Iroquois indians

o All of the Iroquois were experienced torturers and advanced in hunting

American Colonies 16: French America

o French America was made up of all the land from the gulf of Mexico up to St. Lawrence

o It wasn’t until 1663 that Canada finally belonged to the French Crown

o Prior to that, Canada belonged to the fur-trading company of New France

o The British were the rivals of the French and they needed stronger colonies if they were to defened Quebec from the English

o The way that the Canadian economy was kept going was by tax money.

o Tax money that was spent on the military for the most part kept the flow of the economy in motion

American Colonies 16: French America

o New France had an area of land on the interior of the country that was covered in forest and lakes

o This area was known as the upper country and here there were still many of the native Indians

o In order to stay on good terms with these people they created a sort of alliance called a middle ground

o It was more of a temporary peace plan

o The colonists and the Indians would trade with one another, guns and other goods, and the Indians would fight off the enemy

o The French had to be generous in their trade and give gifts because the British trade was of a much lesser price, and the French needed to have allies of some sort.

o Maintaining the middle ground was important to the upper country

American Colonies 16: French America

o As previously stated French America went all the way down south to the Gulf of Mexico

o Louisiana was discovered by the Frenchman La Salle while sailing down the Mississippi river

o The French immediately went to the area of land and won the natives over with trade goods and weapons

o After winning the territory, the Crown forwarded Louisiana to the company of the Indies

o From there, colonists migrated to the area and many African slaves were transported

o Louisiana had horrible production of any trade good and population grew due to the types of people that were exported to the area.

American Colonies 16: French America

o The French tried to gain a stronger alliance with the Choctaw Indians

o They would do this by trading weapons and tools for peace

o The English and French would compete for influence over the native Indians

o Since British colonists were able to sell a much larger quantity at a lower price with a better quality product, they had the advantage in gaining the alliances.

o Yet, the French still managed to maintain an alliance with the weaker tribes that were dependent upon them

o The Indian tribes were essential to the well being on the French colonists, and vise versa.

o New France and Louisiana were very costly and actually cost more than the revenue they gained from trade.

o Therefore both Indians became dependent upon the French trade, and the French dependent upon the Indian lands