Administrative Structure Quiz (1663-)

Administrative Structure (1663-)

• Governor General: Top official, responsible for defense and relations with external groups.
• Intendant: Second-in-command, handled justice, finances, civil administration, policing, defense construction, and soldier provisions/pay.
• Sovereign Council: Main administrative body, created minor laws and acted as an appeals court.  Composed of the bishop, attorney general, colonial executives, governor general, and intendant. Mostly judicial, legislative functions delegated to the intendant.
• Captain of Militia: Led and drilled militia units, sometimes carrying out intendant's orders.  Unpaid, yet prestigious position.
• Assemblies: Bodies occasionally called for public input, representing a limited form of consultation, but authorities were not obliged to listen. This system was not democratic, only providing some limited avenues for public input.
• Judicial System: Three tiers: seigneurial courts, royal courts, and the Sovereign Council (final appeals court). Decisions from lower courts could be appealed. Torture was used for serious crimes and punishments for convictions were severe (fines, flogging, hanging).. Crime rates in New France were low.

Social System

• Nobles: Held key government and military positions and most seigneurial grants. Involved in trade to a lesser extent. Income from grants was often insufficient for a living standard; primarily sought prestige, hoped for increased land income in the future, and some engaged in trade. Often became dependent on government assistance, aristocratic daughters became nuns.
• Clergy: Enjoyed legal privileges, including exemption from military service.
• Merchants: Cultivated good relations with the government to secure contracts. Generally hard-working, frugal, and invested in businesses. Provisioning the king's troops was a means for financial gain. Not many merchants amassed great wealth.
• Tradesmen: Small-scale contractors (e.g., stonemasons, tanners, tavern keepers, metal workers, wig makers). Unlike France, trades were not heavily regulated in New France, practically anyone could offer services. Surgeons required licenses.
• Day Laborers: Engaged in unskilled, often seasonal work (e.g., carpentry, unloading ships). Struggled to make ends meet, often relying on charity due to seasonal nature of employment.
• Regular Soldiers: Possessed few rights and received very low pay. Came from France, and had less rights than day laborers. Could potentially earn money by working for individuals, but had little personal autonomy and promotion prospects were limited. Primarily lower class.
• Slaves: Predominately of African heritage, and many Native captives. Brought in, worked as domestic servants for the elite.

Indigenous Relations and Conflicts

• Iroquois Confederacy: Formed before European contact, between 1475 and 1525. Huron's refusal to join fueled Iroquois hatred; fur trade rivalry exacerbated tensions.
• Jesuits and Huron: French demanded Huron allow Jesuits into their villages; some Hurons viewed Jesuits as evil shamans, and disease attributed to them. 
• Huronia Destruction (1649): Iroquois attacked and eliminated Huronia; missionaries Jean de Brebeuf and Gabriel Lalement were tortured to death. Hurons fled; many died of starvation or were absorbed into Iroquois tribes.
• Reasons for Iroquois attacks on Huronia:
  • Historical animosity between the Huron and Iroquois Confederacies.
  • Economic motives (neo-liberal arguments) to access or control fur trade.
  • Striving for tribal security (relativist arguments) and desire for territorial buffer zones.
• Iroquois Success: Disparity in weaponry (Iroquois had significantly more firearms). French policy favored Huron converts, resulting in their under-armament. Failure of French officials to anticipate the Iroquois’ strength.
• Consequences of Huron Fall: Provided new agricultural markets for French settlers, stimulated farming, and opened inland fur trade routes for Europeans.
• Bishop Laval: Unsuccessfully opposed the liquor trade with Indigenous peoples; opposed by governors.
• Marguerite Bourgeoys: Established schools in Montreal, founding the Congregation de Notre Dame. Reduced illiteracy in the colony.
• New France Besieged (1650-1653, 1658): Iroquois attacks on settlements; peace treaty in 1653, renewed hostilities in 1658.
• Adam Dollard des Ormeaux: Led a small group in an ambush against Iroquois; considered a hero, but may have also been motivated by a desire to steal Iroquois furs instead.
• French Response: French troops committed to protecting New France. 1666 offensive against Mohawk; 1667 treaty, enduring tensions with Iroquois. Resumed hostilities in 1684, culminating in reprisals and war against Seneca Iroquois. Iroquois, with support from New York, attacked Lachine in 1689, resulting in settler deaths and captivity.
• Madeleine de Verchères: Defended her family farm from Iroquois attack, symbol of colonial resilience

New France's Economic Development (1663-)

• Royal Province (1663): Louis XIV designates New France a royal province, aiming to integrate it into France's mercantile economy. Colonial raw materials and captive markets to boost France's economy.
• Colbert's Plan: Minister of colonies, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, established a triangular trade model (France, New France, West Indies). Focused on creating a self-sufficient "compact colony" centered along the St Lawrence River.
• Colonist Initiatives: Attempts to develop the timber industry, mining, beer/footwear manufacture, and shipping fish/agricultural products – mostly unsuccessful. Colonial resource limitations and market distances. Challenges in transporting goods and issues with resource suitability for ship building, preventing colony's economic expansion.
• Seigneurial System: King owned land, grants given to seigneurs who then granted land to censitaires (tenants). 1663, reduced land grants and returned uncultivated land to the Crown to encourage production. Seigneurs’ obligations included land grants to farmer applicants, and building grain mills. Rents and other payments were exchanged.
• Population Growth: Encouragingly, French tried to increase population by sending engages (indentured servants), military men, and filles du roi (young women) to increase the population of New France; This significantly contributed to population growth. However, few Europeans moved to New France due to availability of land and inheritance rights in Europe, a negative perception of New France as well as religious limitations. Despite this, marriages were younger than in France and birth rates were unusually high. This demographic success increased the population from 3,000 in 1663 to 70,000 a century later.