Compagnie de la Nouvelle France

The Compagnie de la Nouvelle France , also known as the Compagnie des Cent-Associés , was a French trading company founded in 1627 and founded by King Louis XIII. was privileged. She received from Cardinal Richelieu , the huge trade monopoly between Florida and the Arctic regions, and between the Atlantic coast and in Europe as yet unknown west of North America . It committed itself to bringing 4,000 settlers from France.

requirements

For Cardinal Richelieu, who had been the leading minister since 1624, colonial policy and naval building were just as much a means of strengthening France as mercantilism and the consolidation of royal power over the nobility. His advisor Isaac de Razilly (1587-1635) suggested that he set up a state-controlled company to manage the colonies. On April 29 and May 7, 1627 it was signed by Richelieu and six other advisers. Richelieu himself made himself head of society, who claimed the title viceroy. Each of the slightly more than 100 members - hence the name Cent-Associés - participated with a deposit of 3000 livre , of which 1000 were due immediately. Around half of the partners held public offices, 33 alone held the title conseiller du roi (adviser to the king), 32 were merchants, most of them from Dieppe , Rouen and Paris . There were also wealthy clerics and aristocrats.

On May 6, 1628, Louis XIII. an edict in which he recognized the company's statutes. In it he accused the predecessor organization of self-interest and that it had not acted in the royal interest. The 100 partners pledged to bring 4,000 settlers to North America within 15 years and to provide them with food for three years. Huguenots were supposed to enjoy freedom of conscience, but not be allowed to hold public worship - when Ludwig issued the edict, the last stronghold of the Huguenots, La Rochelle , was under siege. Three Catholic clergymen should be sent to each settlement to lead both pastoral care and mission. Converted Indians should have the same rights as all other subjects. Foreigners were not allowed to enter.

Within its monopoly territory, the company should have the sole right to trade fur for an unlimited period of time and for 15 years in all other goods. The movement of goods between the colony and the mother country should also remain duty-free for 15 years. Only fishing should be allowed to all subjects.

Trade monopoly and fight against the English (1628 to 1645)

One of the shareholders or associés was Samuel de Champlain , who founded Québec in 1608 . He was governor- general in New France from 1629 to 1635 , a role in which he represented Richelieu.

The English opponents under David Kirke (with his brothers James, John, Lewis and Thomas) hijacked the French fleet, which had set out in April 1628, and conquered the starved Québec on July 19 the following year. Although the colony was returned in March 1632 by the Treaty of Susa (1629) and the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1632), society did not recover. In the years 1628 to 1629 alone, the losses amounted to 345,788 livres, while the income only amounted to 67,301.

Champlain stayed in France from 1629 to 1633 and put the defenses of Québec back in 1634. In the same year Sieur de Laviolette founded the settlement of Trois-Rivières . The Kirke brothers had left New France in 1633. In order to survive against the Iroquois , Champlain Richelieu asked on August 15, 1633 for 120 lightly armed men, a request that he made again the following year. The cardinal did not react, but through Jean Nicollet (1598–1642) , Champlain was able to mediate peace between the Hurons ( Wyandot ), allied with France, and the Winnebago on Lake Michigan . This left their backs free for the French allies and opponents of the Iroquois.

Champlain died on December 25, 1635, with which the company lost its head. He had pushed through a settlement colony against the interests of most of the shareholders, who were only interested in trade. He played the Indian groups off against each other, but especially distrusted the tribes known as Montagnais , of whom he reports that they would like to chase the French away to clear the way for other Europeans who would be better off.

As early as 1632, the tight state finances caused by the Thirty Years' War and the losses in North America prompted Richelieu to found a subsidiary made up of members of the company. This should supply the colony for five years. In return, she received all of the income from the fur trade. The company could hardly promote the settlement with the remaining income.

Transfer of monopoly to the settlers of New France

The Jesuits continued the settlement work in Champlains. In 1637 a mission station was established in Sillery near Québec. From there the Jesuits evangelized the nomadic Montagnais, whereby not only their religion but also their way of life was completely changed. The establishment of Trois-Rivières served the mission among the Algonquin . Under the direction of Jean de Brébeuf , two more mission stations were set up on the southeast bank of Georgian Bay , which served the mission of the Hurons. Their tribal area was divided into four mission provinces in 1639. From 1634 they brought in smallpox . This first epidemic was followed by devastating epidemics in 1636, 1637 and 1639, killing about every second Huron.

The Société Notre-Dame de Montréal , an association of lay people and clergy, which had been founded in Paris in 1639/40 and which had dedicated itself to the coexistence of Indians and French to cultivate the soil and the common Catholic life, received from the company an island in the upper reaches of the St. Lawrence River . 40 to 50 craftsmen and farmers received settlement contracts with a period of three years. In 1641 there were only 240 settlers. Head was Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve (1612–1676), who was governor there from 1642 to 1665. This was so controversial, especially on the part of the company, that Anna of Austria felt compelled on February 13, 1644 to confirm the Montréal's claim to their own governor. At the same time, it strengthened Montreal's autonomy vis-à-vis Québec by guaranteeing free traffic on the St. Lawrence and the right to establish further stations. The founder and administrator of the hospital there was Jeanne Mance (1606–1673) from Langres . Settlement began in the spring of 1642, but the Iroquois tried to stop the expansion. Nevertheless, 596 settlers lived here in 1663, compared to 760 in 1666. In 1657 Anna of Austria had allowed the colony to accept priests from the Société de St. Sulpice , who founded a seminary in Montréal . In 1658 a girls' school followed.

The governor of the Compagnie de la Nouvelle France was Charles Huault de Montmagny from 1636 to 1648 . Under him, the company, indebted with over 400,000 livres, gave its rights and obligations to the Communauté des habitants (Compagnie des habitants), which in turn had a fur trade monopoly from 1645 to 1663 . However, this society was the community of all settlers only in name. The settlers were divided into three asset classes, a division that should be checked every four years. Few of the wealthy ruled it. In return, they had to promise to bring at least 20 settlers to North America every year, plus 1,000 livres per year and the administrative costs. The administrative management was taken over by directeurs . On September 6, 1645 they forbade all settlers to trade in fur. After two years of unrest, resistance and exchanges of letters and petitions, the royal council appointed a board of directors to the company. This body was soon called the Conseil de Québec . To it belonged in addition to the governor of the superior of the Jesuits, the governor of Montréal, as well as elected representatives (syndics) of the three largest settlements Québec, Montréal and Trois-Rivières, which however had no voting rights. From March 5, 1648, two representatives of the habitants , the residents, and the governor of Trois-Rivières were added. They had voting rights. With a royal edict of March 27, 1647 everyone was again allowed to trade in fur. In 1648 men who worked for distant tribes were allowed to purchase fur as long as they did not trade in it for their own account. This legalized the activity of several hundred rangers , who became increasingly important.

In 1652 the company got into financial difficulties. The Conseil de Québec declared the fur trade free so that anyone in New France could practice it. In 1657 the habitants were strengthened again, the enrichment possibilities of the upper class limited. The Jesuits left the leadership at their own request. In 1663 the society also collapsed.

As early as 1635 the Mohawk had managed to break the Mohegan's monopoly on the fur trade with Dutch rifles. Their attacks led the French to lift the ban on handing guns to Indians in 1640. From 1645 to 1648 there was peace between the Mohawk and the French according to the treaty, but the fighting flared up again and led to the extensive destruction and expulsion of the Hurons and other large tribes on the Great Lakes.

At the same time, tension increased between the Bishop of Québec and the governors. In 1660, Bishop Laval called the sale of alcohol to the Indians a mortal sin. In a sharp conflict, Paris now had to decide, which recalled the governor.

On February 24, 1663, the Cent-Associés privilege was revoked and Canada became a royal province. A representative of the king, initially director Louis Robert de Fortel, and from 1665 Jean Talon took over the state funding . The "Compagnie des Indes Occidentales Françaises", see French West India Company , was responsible for overseas trade between the colony and the mother country .

Feudal rule

Robert Giffard de Moncel was one of the first to receive a fief near Québec in 1634 . His job was to open up the country. He had the right to the flour mills and other facilities, for which he collected the associated taxes of a fourteenth ( banalité ). As a kind of vassal service to the king, he built bridges and roads, and he took care of the lower jurisdiction , from which he in turn drew income. By 1663, only ten of the seventy manors had established a significant settlement; most of the French lived around Québec and Montréal.

The Coutume de Paris , the system of French feudal rule, was officially introduced in 1640. It was in contrast to British, more moderate feudalism. In addition, there was the sharp contrast within the French group, because the confessional wars of Europe were also fought in North America.

The later Nova Scotia , Acadie called, was initially also as a basic rule issued, but it ended in the Valley of Annapolis after a few decades and led to free land. The cause were the raging wars from 1631 to 1642 and from 1653 to 1657 between the Huguenot Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour , the governor of Acadia, and the Catholic Charles de Menou d'Aulnay . While La Tour was supported by Mi'kmaq and Abenaki and the traders, there were influential men at court behind d'Aulnay.

See also

• Fur trade in North America
• History of Canada

literature

• Dorothy Burwash: La Compagnie de la Nouvelle France, 1627-1663 , Mount Holyoke College, Department of History and Political Science, 1933.
• Aleksandra Dmitrievna Lublinskaya: French Absolutism. The Crucial Phase, 1620–1629 , Russian 1965, translated by Brian Pearce, Cambridge at the University Press, Cambridge 1968, ISBN 0-521-07117-8 (overview).
• Stephan Maninger: New France. A military historical consideration of the period 1608 to 1701 , Grin Verlag, Munich a. a. 2009, ISBN 978-3-640-23923-8 .
• Hermann Wellenreuther: decline and rise. History of North America from the beginning of settlement to the end of the 17th century , Lit Verlag, Münster u. a. 2000, ISBN 3-8258-4447-1 ( History of North America in an Atlantic perspective from its beginnings to the present 1), (2nd edition, ibid. 2004).

Web links

• Compagnie des Cent-Associés ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .

Remarks

1. ↑ The privilege can be found here ( Memento of the original from December 26th, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
2. ↑ Hermann Wellenreuther : Fall and Rise. History of North America from the beginning of settlement , Münster / Hamburg / London 2000, p. 215, note 77.
3. ↑ HP Biggar (ed.): The works of Samuel de Champlain , 6 vols., Champlain Society, Toronto 1922-1936, vol. 5, pp. 124f.