Colonies of France: a brief history of the colonial empire
France was one of the first countries to startactively explore and populate new continents. It is interesting that some colonies of France exist even today, although in a much smaller number.
In the 16th century, the French statePortugal and Spain, began to equip expeditions to discover and colonize unknown lands. It is interesting that the era of the existence of the colonial empire can be divided into two stages.
French colonies of the 16th-19th centuries
To begin with, it is worth noting that most of theNorth America in its time was divided into separate colonies, which belonged to England and France. By 1713 the colonial empire had reached its maximum size. Canada, Louisiana, Quebec are all former colonies of France.
The history of the development of new colonies is quite interesting. After the part of North America was called "New France", the first necessity was to develop a viable state here.
The territory of the colony grew more and moreCatholic priests who not only supported the French who arrived here, but also actively implanted Christianity among the Indian tribes. As early as 1674, a diocese was established in Quebec, headed by Bishop Francois de Laval. By the way, in 1663 he created a spiritual seminary, which became a real impetus to the development of the education system. A few years later the school turned into Laval University, which became the first higher educational institution in the Western Hemisphere.
Nevertheless, New France lagged far behindin development from the English colonies. There were no schools for children, therefore, the population was not only illiterate, but extremely superstitious. The gap between aristocrats and peasants only increased. On the territory of the colonies there were no workers, no lawyers, no researchers. There were no even normal ways that would connect the different parts of the colony.
At the beginning of the 18th century the colonies of France were huge:
- south of the modern province of Quebec (by the way, the population of this province in Canada still considers itself to be part of the French state, there are even two official languages here);
- the area near the Hudson Bay;
- Louisiana (the territory of this region stretched from the Great Lakes to New Orleans);
- New Earth;
- Acadia.
Unfortunately, in connection with the Seven Years' War, Francelost most of the American colonies. In 1762, the Paris Peace Treaty was signed, in which the colonial empire renounced its possessions in the Ohio Valley, on the eastern shore of the Mississippi, the Canadian provinces and Nova Scotia. Under French rule, New Orleans remained.
And already in 1803 between the United StatesAmerica and the French state signed documents on the sale of Louisiana. Now France also lost its control over New Orleans - an important strategic city.
Another blow to the state of the colonial empirewas inflicted in the early 19th century. In those days, France also owned the colony of Santo Domingo, which is on the territory of the islands of Haiti. From 1791 to 1803 years. the uprising of African slaves continued. By the way, for today this is the only known history of the slave revolt, which ended in their victory. In the 19th century, the population still gained independence, and Santo Domingo became the first republic headed by blacks.
Modern colonies of France
No doubt, a few centuries agoFrance owned vast territories around the globe. The state was interested not only in large areas, but also in small islands, and also in those parts of the earth that are practically unfit for living. For example, once France belonged to the small islands of the Arctic and part of Antarctica.
But to this day there has been a smalla part of the once huge colonial empire. Overseas French departments are in French Guiana, on the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, as well as in Reunion.
