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    Discovery, Exploration and Settlement

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    Sushi
    The document summarizes the history of French settlement in North America over 400 years, beginning with explorers in the 16th century like Verrazano and Cartier. It then discusses the religious conflicts that led Huguenots to flee France in the 16th-17th centuries. Finally, it outlines the end of French rule in North America after defeats in the French and Indian War, and subsequent waves of French Canadian immigration to New York in the 19th century, establishing a large Franco-American population.

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    Discovery, Exploration and Settlement

    Uploaded by

    Sushi
    24 views3 pages
    The document summarizes the history of French settlement in North America over 400 years, beginning with explorers in the 16th century like Verrazano and Cartier. It then discusses the religious conflicts that led Huguenots to flee France in the 16th-17th centuries. Finally, it outlines the end of French rule in North America after defeats in the French and Indian War, and subsequent waves of French Canadian immigration to New York in the 19th century, establishing a large Franco-American population.

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    The document summarizes the history of French settlement in North America over 400 years, beginning with explorers in the 16th century like Verrazano and Cartier. It then discusses the religious conflicts that led Huguenots to flee France in the 16th-17th centuries. Finally, it outlines the end of French rule in North America after defeats in the French and Indian War, and subsequent waves of French Canadian immigration to New York in the 19th century, establishing a large Franco-American population.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    24 views3 pages

    Discovery, Exploration and Settlement

    Uploaded by

    Sushi
    The document summarizes the history of French settlement in North America over 400 years, beginning with explorers in the 16th century like Verrazano and Cartier. It then discusses the religious conflicts that led Huguenots to flee France in the 16th-17th centuries. Finally, it outlines the end of French rule in North America after defeats in the French and Indian War, and subsequent waves of French Canadian immigration to New York in the 19th century, establishing a large Franco-American population.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    INTRODUCTION

    The 2000 United States census counted more than 8 million Americans
    who claim French ancestry. Franco-Americans, the fifth largest ethnic group
    in the United States, trace their history in North America back more
    than 400 years. They came as explorers, missionaries, settlers, soldiers,
    religious refugees, exiles, and immigrants.

    Discovery, Exploration and Settlement

    In 1524 François I of France, seeking to increase his revenues, began the


    search for a route to the Orient. Following the example of Queen Isabella
    of Spain, he commissioned an Italian navigator, Giovanni da Verrazano,
    to sail the coast of North America from the Carolinas to the Canadian
    Maritimes on behalf of the French crown. In his explorations, Verrazano
    is believed to have sailed up the Hudson River, a feat which preceded
    Henry Hudson’s exploration by 85 years. Although Verrazano found no
    riches, similar efforts by the French continued, and Jacques Cartier was
    sent to explore the northern portion of North America; he discovered
    the St. Lawrence River in 1534.
    Samuel de Champlain arrived in North America in 1604 and started
    a settlement in Acadia. His explorations took him as far as Lake Cham-
    plain and into New York State. He is thought to have been the first
    European to describe Niagara Falls. In 1608 Champlain founded the city
    of Québec. While France was still looking for a route to the Indies, it
    discovered another source of riches—beaver pelts, for which there was
    a great demand in Europe. To support the hunters and trappers, some
    10,000 French settlers arrived in New France.

    1
    Religion and Emigration

    The 16th and 17th centuries in France were a time of great religious turmoil.
    During the Reformation, John Calvin converted many fellow Frenchmen
    to Protestantism. These Huguenots, as they were called, were feared by
    the Catholic majority in France; this fear led to conflict and war. Many
    Huguenots fled to England, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany.
    They belonged to the new middle class: many were skilled craftsmen,
    especially in the growing textile trade. Although they were welcomed
    wherever they went, some Huguenots sought greater religious freedom
    and left for America. The Dutch settlers of Fort Orange (now Albany)
    in 1624 were mostly French-speaking Waloons from Hainaut who had
    fled persecution. They were also among the first to settle the Hudson
    River Valley and Manhattan Island between 1620 and 1626. The pass-
    ing of the Edict of Nantes in 1598 granted the Huguenots religious and
    political freedom, but it was repealed in 1685 by Louis XIV; once again
    the Huguenots were persecuted and fled France. Many came directly to
    America while others fled to England and other European nations.
    France’s religious fervor had other effects in North America. The
    ardor of those seeking a route to the Indies and the pelts of beavers was
    often exceeded by the zeal of priests, nuns, and laymen. They came not
    only to support the faith of the settlers, but to convert American Indians
    to Roman Catholicism. Fathers Jogues, Hennepin, and Marquette are the
    best known of the countless priest-explorers who came to North America
    from France. Father Jogues was the first European to see Lake George,
    which he named Lac du Saint Sacrement. He was tortured to death by
    the Indians in 1644 and was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church
    in 1930.

    The End of France’s North American Empire

    The period from 1689 to 1763 is marked by a series of wars. King William’s
    War, Queen Anne’s War, and King George’s War originated in Europe and
    spread to North America where they caused conflict between the British
    and the French. The final war of the period, the French and Indian War
    (a name often given to all four wars) ended French rule in Canada with
    the taking of Québec City in 1759 and Montréal in 1760 by the British.
    Maintaining control of North America was a difficult task for the
    British, and the presence of so many British troops caused unrest in the
    American colonies leading to the American Revolution in 1775. Large

    2 / J’aime New York


    numbers of people from Canada and France were sympathetic to the
    colonists’ cause. While Québec could not enter the war, many of her
    young men joined fighting forces such as the Green Mountain Boys. An
    entire battalion of French Canadians fought alongside the colonists in
    the Continental Army. In recognition of their contributions they were
    given land grants, enabling them to settle in the United States after the
    war. From France came the Count de Rochambeau, Count de Grasse,
    and the Marquis de Lafayette, a young and wealthy nobleman who used
    his personal fortune help the Americans in their struggle. This aid was
    an important factor in the success of the Revolution.
    By the end of the 18th century, the circumstances in France which
    brought about the French Revolution produced a new wave of French
    immigrants to the United States, many of whom settled in New York State.

    French Canadians Emigrate

    French Canadians were growing restive under the oppression of their British
    conquerors. In 1837, under the leadership of Louis-Joseph Papineau, they
    revolted. A band of 2,000, armed only with clubs, pitchforks, and wooden
    guns, was quickly subdued by 8,000 well-armed British soldiers. Many
    of those who escaped resettled in upper New York State and northern
    New England. The dissatisfaction and unrest which provoked the revolt
    continued and was ultimately one of the causes of the mass migration
    from Québec to the United Sates in the latter half of the 19th century
    and the beginning of the 20th century.
    Large textile mills, developed in England during the Industrial Revolu-
    tion, were now being reproduced in America. Needing industrious workers,
    mill owners recruited in Québec. Between 1840 and 1850, 30,000 French
    Canadians moved south. This migration increased to the point that, each
    year between 1866 and 1875 50,000 people left Québec. Although the
    rate of emigration from French Canada decreased, it continued strong
    well into the middle of the 20th century.
    Today there are nearly 630,000 people of French ancestry in New
    York; they are the state’s eighth largest non-English-speaking ethnic group.
    With such a large population in New York, it is the aim of this guide to
    examine the contribution made by the French to the shaping of the state.
    In this guide, New York is divided into seven geographic regions
    as follows: Capital District, Lower Hudson Valley, Metropolitan, North
    Country, Thousand Islands, Central, and Western.

    Introduction / 3

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