The French Flashcards
Which French monarch initiated explorations of the New World?
Francois I, 1515-1547
Who was the first to explore the New World for the French, and when?
Giovanni de Verrazano, 1524
Who led a French expedition to Pernambuco, Brazil, and when?
Bertrand d’Ornesan in 1531
When did Jacques Cartier set sail for the New World, and why?
- April 20, 1534
- hoped to discover the Northwest Passage, islands, lands, and gold
Where did Cartier’s first voyage take place?
sailed between L’anse aux Meadows and Red Bay, following the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence
What happened after Cartier hit a storm on his first voyage?
pushed into the Gaspe Bay, where he met about 300 Native Americans interested in trade
Who did Cartier kidnap on his first voyage, and why?
Chief Donnacona and his sons, Domagaya and Taignoagny to serve as guides
Where did Cartier’s second voyage take place?
hugged the banks of the St. Lawrence River, arriving in Stadacone and then Hochelaga
Why did Cartier return to Stadacone on his second voyage, despite rumors of gold further upriver?
running out of supplies
What happened on Cartier’s second voyage when his crew was forced to winter in the area?
they suffered from scurvy, but were aided by the Native Americans
What happened on Cartier’s second voyage when the Native Americans returned from a hunting expedition with others?
fearing an attack, Cartier took Domagaya and Taignoangy hostage and returns with them to France
When did Cartier’s third voyage take place, and what was the outcome?
- 1536
- does not find any gold but claims the land for France and forges alliances with Natives in the area
What kind of presence did the French have in the New World in the 1500s?
no settlements, but lots of fishing
What sort of archaeological evidence has substantiated 16th-century French exploration?
beads
What led to the fur trade in North America?
fishing
Quebec was founded by ___________________ in ____
Samuel de Champlain; 1609
When was Montreal founded, and for what purpose?
1642, religious enterprise
What city took over as the fur trade center?
Montreal
Who were the Coureurs de bois?
French fur traders who decided to go further inland by themselves to trade with the Natives using canoes and other boats
Which tribes did the Coureurs de bois encounter in the Pays d’en haut, and how did they interact? (3)
- Algonquin (allies)
- Huron (neutral)
- Iroquois (enemies to the Algonquin)
What happened to the Huron from 1649-1659?
they were destroyed by the Iroquois, who were allied with the English and the Dutch
How did the absence of the Huron affect the French?
Coureurs de bois became more important, but left their settlements vulnerable to attack for most of the year
How did the French government intervene in the fur trade in the late 1600s?
tried to curtail the trade, but it proved to be too profitable and the French settlers remained unprotected
Where had the French expanded by the early 1700s? (4)
- Ohio River
- Illinois River
- Mississippi River
- Lake Winnipeg
How did the French try to discourage attacks by the English?
they ceded their border territories to them
What led to the taking of all French territory by 1760?
the English were much more powerful, and the French & Indian War ensued
How did European technology influence Native American groups? (3)
- metal tools repurposed to make traditional Native American tools/shapes
- hunting muskets changed hunting strategies and equipped Natives to fight European rivals, evening the playing field
- at first, the French didn’t want to arm the Natives until they converted to Christianity, but saw that the English didn’t care about this and handed them over
What was the impact of the fur trade on French-Native relations?
- relationships with Indigenous Peoples were established by the fur trade
- forced the French to rely on natural resources and natural environment
- willingness to embrace Indigenous Peoples’ ways of life allowed the French to do better in the New World than other European powers
What was Rene-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle’s obsession in the New World?
finding the Northwest Passage
Where did La Salle’s first expedition take place?
down the Ohio River
What did La Salle do after his first expedition?
he was sent as an emissary to Ontario, where he explored the Great Lakes
What did La Salle do after exploring the Great Lakes?
a few years later, La Salle becomes the first European to travel all the way down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico
What ship did the king of France give La Salle in 1684?
La Belle
When did the French colonists set out for the Mississippi River?
1684
Where did the colonists end up?
- the ships end up 400 miles west of their target in Matagorda Bay
- La Salle was convinced that they were close, but the navigator was not
What did the colonists decide to do after reaching Matagorda Bay?
they went into the harbor; La Belle entered successfully but the larger ship hit a sand bar and was beached
How did the colonists interact with the Karakawans upon arrival?
they stole their canoes in a misunderstanding and they begin to kill off the colonists
What was the name of the colony the French established near Matagorda?
Fort St. Louis
When did La Salle leave in search of the Mississippi River?
January 1686
What happened to La Belle?
it was hit by a violent storm and wrecked in Matagorda Bay after returning to Fort St. Louis
What happened to La Salle?
he decided to take all the able-bodied men and walk from Fort St. Louis to Montreal, but was shot by his own men near present-day Navasota
How do we know how La Salle died?
the scribe survived the journey back to Montreal and recorded the events
What happened when the Spanish found out about La Salle’s journey?
they embarked on two expeditions to destroy him, one from New Spain and the other from Florida
What did the Spanish discover in Matagorda bay?
the wrecked ships, the failed colony, La Salle’s fate, and the remaining women and children
What methods were used to uncover La Belle in 1995?
a remote-sensing campaign was launched in the bay utilizing magnetometry, discovering the wreck immediately
What was the first finding from the La Belle shipwreck?
a bronze cannon bearing the name of le Comte de Vermandois, the admiral of the French navy for a short period that coincided with La Salle’s journey
What was unique about the La Belle excavation?
rather than performing underwater archaeology, the Texan team removed the water from the site
Where were the hull of the ship and many of its artifacts brought in 1997?
the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M Rellis Campus
What did the conservators use to maintain the shape of the wood, and why did this become an issue?
polyethylene wax, the price of this material skyrocketed due to the fuel crisis in the mid 2000s
How did conservators respond to the lack of polyethylene wax?
they designed a giant freeze dryer to prevent damage to the wood as the water dried
How did conservators handle the La Belle timbers?
they disassembled the ship in the pool, freeze-dried the pieces, and shipped them to the Bullock museum in Austin for reassembly
What artifacts were found in La Belle? (3)
- one crew member died of thirst in the bow of the ship
- iron polearms were found as well
- lots of pottery, kitchen utensils and candlesticks
What was interesting about the artifacts of La Belle?
artifacts made by the same people and excavated by A&M were found in the wreck of La Belle and in Port Royal
