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Period: 1534 to 1535
Jacques Cartier explored St. Lawrence River, claimed land for France
French navigator Jacques Cartier sailed into the St. Lawrence River for the first time on June 9, 1534. Commissioned by King Francis I of France to explore the northern lands in search of gold, spices, and a northern passage to Asia, Cartier's voyages underlay France's claims to Canada. -
1564
Fort Caroline (Florida) established by Huguenot's (French Protestant sect)
René de Goulaine de Laudonnière led a second attempt and in 1564 established Fort Caroline near the mouth of the St. Johns River in Florida. This group of 200 named the area La Caroline after the French King Charles IX and began constructing permanent shelters and defenses to try to grow the colony. -
Port-Royal founded as first capital of Acadia (Canada)
Port-Royal was the capital of Acadia from 1605 to 1710. Initially Port-Royal was located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin in the present-day community of Port Royal (note the Anglophone spelling), which is the site of the replica reconstruction of the original Habitation at Port-Royal. -
Samuel de Champlain founds trading post: future Quebec City
Samuel de Champlain Founder of Québec. This imposing statue of Samuel de Champlain is commensurate with the role that he played in Québec and New France. Not only did he found Québec in 1608, but for 25 years he tirelessly championed the ambitious project to establish a French colony in the St. Lawrence Valley. -
BI. Marie (Guyart) de Incarnation established Ursuline convent in Quebec City
Marie Guyart was born in Tours in 1599 and died in Quebec in 1672. She was canonized in 2014, an extraordinary destiny for a remarkable woman. She founded the first convent that educated women in North America and was a key witness of colonial life. -
Period: to
North American martyrs: St. Isaac Jogues Jean de Brebeuf & companions
Isaac Jogues and his companions were the first martyrs of the North American continent officially recognized by the Church. -
St. Marguerite Bourgeois opened her first school in New France
After years of searching for ways to answer God's call in France, she sailed to “Ville Marie” (Montreal) to participate as an educator in the building of a colony intending to embody the ideals of the early Christian community. St. Marguerite opened the first school in 1658. -
Fr. Francois de Laval made bishop of New France
In June 1658 Laval was made a bishop and vicar apostolic of New France, and a year later he took up residence in Quebec. A man of great vision and strong character, Laval was quarrelsome by nature and became involved in frequent conflicts with the civil authorities of the colony. -
French government took control of New France
In 1663, New France finally became more secure when Louis XIV made it a royal province, taking control away from the Company of One Hundred Associates. -
Fr. Marquette and Louis discovered the Mississippi River
Hernando de Soto was the first European to make official note of the Mississippi River by discovering its southern entrance in 1541, Jolliet and Marquette were the first to locate its upper reaches, and travel most of its length, about 130 years later. -
St. Kateri Tekakwitha baptized by French Jesuit missionaries
Kateri was moved by the words of the Jesuit missionaries, and secretly received instructions in the Catholic faith at the age of eighteen. Her uncle finally gave in, and she was baptized on Easter Sunday, April 5th, 1676. -
Fr. Louis Hennepin arrived at Niagara Falls with La Salle
Hennepin and a party of La Salle's men left Quebec City on November 18, 1678. They were joined by the explorer at Fort Frontenac, and the group travelled to the junction of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, marked by the incredible cataract of Niagara Falls. -
St. Kateri Tekakwitha martyred
Kateri did not suffer martyrdom herself, her witness (and her prayers) had a galvanizing effect on the Haudenosaunee Catholics of Kahnawake to go even deeper in their commitment to the Catholic faith. -
La Salle claimed Louisiana for France - named for King Louis XVI
The French explorer Robert la Salle claimed the Mississippi River basin for France in 1682 and named it La Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV. -
Madeleine de Verchéres (age 14) defended Fort Vercheres from Iroquois attack
In 1692, Madeleine de Verchères, then only 14 years of age, alone in Fort de Verchères with her two young brothers, an old servant, and two soldiers, took command and defended the post successfully for eight days against a war-party of Iroquois. -
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Queen Anne's War between French and British
Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) was the second of four great wars for the empire fought between France, England, and their Indian allies. This struggle broke out when the French raided English settlements on the New England frontier. -
British conquer the Colony of Acadia, New France
As tensions mounted between the French and British for control of what is now Canada, Acadia was plundered numerous times by the British, whose New England colony was situated just on the other side of the Gulf of Maine. In 1713, with the Treaty of Utrecht, Acadia was ceded to the British. -
French settlement of Natchitoches, La established
Natchitoches, the oldest European settlement in present-day Louisiana, was founded by the French explorer Louis Juchereau de St. Denis in 1714. Named after a local Native American group, Natchitoches remained an important colonial outpost during the French, Spanish, and American periods in Louisiana history. -
New Orleans founded
New Orleans was founded in early 1718 by the French as La Nouvelle-Orléans, under the direction of Louisiana governor Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. -
Period: to
French and Indian War between French and British
The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war's expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. -
St. Marie Marguerite D' Youville founded the Sisters of Charity
St. Marguerite was the first Canadian female saint, canonized (named a saint) by Pope John Paul II, in 1982. She is the patron saint of; poverty, loss of parents and people rejected by religious orders. -
Fall of Quebec to the British
The Battle of Quebec was fought on 13 September 1759 during the Seven Years War (1756-63). British troops led by Major-General James Wolfe came up against the garrison of French general the Marquis de Montcalm. Wolfe's victory ultimately led to the conquest of Canada by Britain.