S.S. - New France and the Fur Trade

Question 1

Name four countries that sent explorers out and started colonies in other parts of the world.

Answer 1

England
France
Spain
Portugal

Question 2

What was the Northwest Passage? Where did Europeans hope it would lead them?

Answer 2

The Northwest Passage was an imaginary route around the north of Canada. Europeans hoped it would give them a new way to reach Asia.

Question 3

What goods did people from Europe want to trade for with Asia?

Answer 3

Spices and silk.

Question 4

Who were the very first Europeans to sail and land on what is now Canada?

Answer 4

The Vikings.

Question 5

Which country sent settlers to begin the first permanent European colony in Canada?

Answer 5

France

Question 6

Who was the French explorer and mapmaker who built the first “habitation” in New France?

Answer 6

Samuel de Champlain

Question 7

Where was the first French colony built?

Answer 7

Where Quebec City is now.

Question 8

What was a “coureur du bois?”

Answer 8

It means “runner of the woods.” They were fur traders who traded without a license. They traveled into the wild to meet with First Nations trappers and trade for furs.

Question 9

What was a “voyageur?”

Answer 9

It means “traveler.” They were fur traders who had a license. They used canoes to follow the rivers through Canada and trade with First Nations.

Question 10

Who was Etienne Brulé?

Answer 10

Etienne Brulé was the first French “coureur du bois.” He was sent by Samuel de Champlain to live with First Nations groups and learn their language. He explored Canada with his First Nations friends, and was the first European to see the Great Lakes.

Question 11

Who was Marguerite Bourgeoys?

Answer 11

She was a nun who started some schools for girls in Ville Marie, and took care of the “filles du roi” until they found husbands.

Question 12

Who were the “filles du roi?”

Answer 12

It means “King’s daughters.” They were poor young women from France who agreed to move to New France and get married if the King would give them a dowry.

Question 13

Why did the King of France send the “filles du roi” to New France?

Answer 13

He wanted the colony to grow, so he needed people to get married and start families in New France.

Question 14

Who was Jean Talon?

Answer 14

Jean Talon was the first intendant of New France. He ran the colony and supervised the “filles du roi” program.

Question 15

What was the “seigneurial system?”

Answer 15

The seigneurial system was the way land in New France was divided into farms.

Question 16

What were the responsibilities of the seigneur?

Answer 16

The seigneur had to:
- divide their large piece of land into smaller plots.
- find farmers (habitants) to live on each plot of land.
- build a mill for the farmers to use.
- build a church for the habitant families to attend.

Question 17

What did the habitants (farming families who rented land from the seigneur) have to do?

Answer 17

Habitants had to:
- clear any trees from their plot.
- build their own house.
- clear the fields and start farming.
- pay rent and taxes to the seigneur.
- do some work to help build the seigneur’s house or the church.

Question 18

What was the French colony started in Nova Scotia called?

Answer 18

Acadia.

Question 19

Which country was France often at war with?

Answer 19

England.

Question 20

Which river was an important part of travel to New France, for ships coming in from Europe as well as for the fur traders?

Answer 20

The St. Lawrence River was hugely important to the colony of New France.

Question 21

Which animal was the most important in the fur trade?

Answer 21

The beaver.

Question 22

What skills did the First Nations people have that made them integral to the fur trade?

Answer 22

-First Nations knew the land, and knew how to travel the rivers and lakes.
- They knew how to make canoes to allow fast travel along rivers.
- They knew how to survive a Canadian winter.
- They had the hunting and trapping skills to catch the animals.
- They knew which wild plants were safe to eat and which ones to use for medicine.

Question 23

How did it help European fur traders to marry First Nations women?

Answer 23

• Marrying a First Nations woman made the fur trader part of a First Nations family (fostered peaceful relationships between cultures).
• Their First Nations wives could translate French to their Indigenous languages.
• First Nations women knew how to make pemmican (important food for traders who traveled long distances).

Question 24

How was pemmican an important food to the fur traders?

Answer 24

It was made of bison meat, bison fat, and dried berries. It could last a long time without going rotten.