French and Dutch Colonization of the New WorldAPUSH: Spiconardi

The French• Motives• Find gold• Locate a Northwest Passage• Both were failures

The French• Colonization• In 1608, Samuel de

Champlain founded Quebec• In 1673, a Jesuit priest

and fur traded located the Mississippi River• By 1681, the French

had gotten to the Gulf of Mexico • French claim the entire

Mississippi River Valley

The French

The French• The Population• By 1628, the French population was 85• By 1663, the population was fewer than 3,000• By 1700, there inhabitants had risen to 19,000• Why the low population?

• France feared a population loss would undermine their status as a European power

• French government feared potential conflicts between settlers and natives

• Canada was deemed as icebox

The French

• Characteristics• Roman Catholic• Persecuted Huguenots were

not allowed to immigrate to New France

• No representative government• Focused on fur trade as

opposed to agriculture

The French • Relations with Native Americans• The French prided themselves on

adopting a more humane approach to relations with natives

• The French did not desire large amounts of land like the English and Spanish

• Religious Tolerance…Sort of• Samuel de Champlain encouraged

religious tolerance for all Christians and did not view Native Americans as inferior

• Jesuits• Attempted to convert natives, but did not

seek to suppress traditional religious practices

• Encouraged natives to adopt French language and gender roles

• But… “It happens more commonly that a Frenchman becomes savage than a savage becomes a Frenchman.”

The Dutch• Dutch West India Trading• A trading company appointed directors

to govern the people• New Netherland lacked any form of an

elected assembly

• Tolerance• The Dutch came to trade, not conquer

land• Settlements were forbidden until land

had officially been purchased from natives

The Dutch• What was the most famous

land deal?• The sale of Manhattan (New

Amsterdam) to the Dutch

The Dutch• Tolerance (con’t)• Dutch women could own property,

go to court & borrow money• Slave rights

• By 1650, there were 500 slaves in New Netherland

• Half-Freedom• Some slaves were given land to

support their families

• Diversity• By 1630s, roughly 18 languages

were spoken• Why so diverse?

• Religious tolerance extended to all Christians and Jews

The Dutch• New Amsterdam becomes New

York• Peter Stuyvesant becomes

governor in 1647• Ruled harshly & repressively

• In 1664, King Charles II of England grants land in New Netherlands to his brother James, Duke of York and Albany

• English show up with four armed ships

• Stuyvesant surrenders without fight• Not supported by residents of

New Amsterdam