New France
area colonized by France in North America
New France was a colony in North America that was settled by France. The colony's regions included what later became Quebec, Acadia, and the Louisiana Territory. Its capital was Quebec City. The French settled there after finding Quebec and then creating New France. The colony was most valuable for its fur trade.
New France Nouvelle-France | |||||||||||||
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1534–1763 | |||||||||||||
Motto: Montjoie Saint Denis! "Mountjoy Saint Denis!" | |||||||||||||
Anthem: Marche Henri IV "March of Henry IV" | |||||||||||||
Status | Colony of France | ||||||||||||
Capital | Quebec | ||||||||||||
Common languages | French | ||||||||||||
Religion | Roman Catholic | ||||||||||||
King | |||||||||||||
• 1534–1547 | Francis I (first) | ||||||||||||
• 1715–1763 | Louis XV (last) | ||||||||||||
Viceroy | |||||||||||||
• 1534–1541 | Jacques Cartier (first) | ||||||||||||
• 1755–1760 | Pierre de Rigaud (last) | ||||||||||||
Legislature | Sovereign Council | ||||||||||||
Historical era | Colonial Era | ||||||||||||
24 July 1534 | |||||||||||||
3 July 1608 | |||||||||||||
11 April 1713 | |||||||||||||
18 September 1759 | |||||||||||||
8 September 1760 | |||||||||||||
10 February 1763 | |||||||||||||
Currency | New France livre | ||||||||||||
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Today part of | Canada United States France (as French Overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon) |
New France surrounded British North America. Britain and France quarreled over which places were French and which ones British. France lost the colony during the French and Indian War, and it became part of British North America except the western part of the Louisiana Territory, which France had ceded in 1762 to Spain. In 1800, Spain returned that territory to the French, who sold it to the United States in 1803.