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Leif Erikson was a Norse explorer from Iceland. He was the first known European to have set foot on continental North America. He created small temporary communities, like L'anse aux meadax.
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Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he accidentally stumbled upon America.
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John Cabot was an Italian born navigator who explored the coast of Newfoundland for the English. He was sponsored by bunch of wealthy merchants. King Henry VII gave his approval, but no funding.
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The fur trade was one of the earliest and most important industries in North America. The fur trading industry played a major role in the development of the United States and Canada.
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Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence. He made contact with First Peoples and met Donnacona, the First Nations chief of the community of Stadacona (now Quebec)
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Jesuits were missionaries who lived among the First Nations, learned their languages & culture and tried to convert them into Christian. Ones who did convert were given guns by the French which made hunting easier.
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He was called "Father of New France". He sailed up the St. Lawrence and found a large rock formation, the site of Stadacona. Champlain built his own settlement there, called it Quebec.
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The Seigniorial System was a system of land use and land ownership in New France. The land was divided to maximize access to the river. All the land was owned by the king which was ditributed to 'Seigneurs' who would then rent it out to the 'habitants'.
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King Louis XIV became the absolute ruler of France in 1661, and two years later made New France an official royal colony. He broke tradition and declared that he will rule without a chief minister.
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In Ne France there was one woman for every 6 men, the colony had a population of about 3000. Women who had 10 children or more were given extra money.
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The sovereign Council was a group of officials in New France that represented the King Louis XIV. The council members had a Attendant, Governor, Bishop and 5 Councillors.
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Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America comprising the Hudson Bay drainage basin, a territory in which a commercial monopoly was operated by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870.
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Hudson Bay Company is a fur trade company formed by Pierre Radisson and Medard des Groseillers. After being fined for trading without licenses they presented their plan to set up trading post on the shores of Hudson Bay to reduce the cost, to The king of Britain, Charles II. King Charles II granted them a monopoly over the fur trade in all lands that drained into Hudson Bay Company.
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Pierre Radisson and Metard des Groseillers were two 'coureurs du bois' (runners of the woods) French explorers and fur traders in Canada. Their decision of English service led to the formation of Hudson Bay Company.
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The french tried to protect what was left of their colonies and save the St. Lawrence river, began building a massive fort on Cape Breton Island. It was known as Cape Breton Island then.
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France lost the war in 1713 and was forced to sign the Treaty of Utrecht. This treaty meant that they had to surrender Hudson Bay, Acadia, and Newfoundland. The British gained possession of all three.
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Britain and France had always been enemies, and they stayed that way through out the 1700's. The war of Spanish Succession was caused by the death of the childless King Charles II.
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Acadians were handed over to the British , they were to continue their normal live and were not expected anything but loyalty for the British. In 1754, Charles Lawrence, the governor of Nova Scotia wanted the Acadians to take another oath of loyalty and fight the french. The Acadians refused and Charles Lawrence ordered the mass expulsion of all Acadians from Nova Scotia.
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On September 13, 1759, the British under General James Wolfe achieved a victory when they scaled the cliffs over the city of Quebec to defeat French forces under Louis-Joseph de Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham.
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General James Wolfe lead the British forces during the Battle of Plains of Abraham. He was 32 years old and had been in the military since the age of 13. He died after being seriously wounded during the Battle of Plains of Abraham.
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Louis-Jeseph de Montcalm lead the defense of Quebec during the Battle of Plains of Abraham. He was sent by King Louis XV to New France to act as a Commander-in-Chief of the colonies during the war.
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The Seven Years War (1756-1763) was a conflict between the major European powers with France, Austria, and Russia on one side and Great Britain and Prussia on the other. The war coincided with the French / British colonial struggle in North America and India.
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The Treaty of Paris was signed on 10 February 1763 by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement, after Great Britain's victory over France and Spain during the Seven Years War
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Pemmican was the fur traders primary source of food. It was an important part of Native American cuisine in certain parts of North America, and is still prepared today.
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By 1770 Montreal based fur traders were stretched as far West as Lake Athabasca. In order to save money and spread their resources so they formed another fur trading company called North West Company.
