French Colonial Outposts in North America - H-Net

French Colonial
Outposts in North
America
Robert H. Jackson
1

Beginng in 1608, the French
established a series of permanent
outposts in North America. There
had been earlier French settlements,
but the establishment of Quebec in
1608 initiated French settlement.
Quebec was the heart of settlement
in the St. Lawrence Valley, which
included farming hamlets and towns
such as Montreal and Trois Rivieres.
Some 40,000 people lived in the St.
Lawrence Valley at the end of French
rule.
2

Contemporary Map of French
settlements in the St. Lawrence River
Valley.
3

Quebec City was the center of
French settlement in the valley.
Champlain first settled at the base of
a bluff in an area known as the
“Lower City” French settlement then
spread to the top of the bluff and the
fortified “Upper City.”
4

Quebec City in 1760.
5

Map of Quebec City in the mid-1770s.
6

Site of Champlain’s first
fort in Quebec.
7

Site of Champlain’s first
fort.
8

Lower City.
9

Lower City.
10

Lower City.
11

Lower City.
12

Colonial Church in
Lower City
13

Upper City
14

Upper City
15

Upper City
16

Upper City
17

Upper City Church
18

Defensive Walls seen
from the Lower City.
19

Mid-19 th Century British
Military Installation
Outside City Walls
20

Fortress Louisbourg established
by the French on Cape Breton
Island in 1713, and destroyed by
the British in 1758.Louisbourg
was also a commercial and
fishing center. In 1745, a colonial
American force forcedthe
surrender of the outpost.
21

Map of Louisbourg in 1734.
22

Occupation of Louisbourg in
1745 by an English colonial
militia force.
23

Views of the restored
outpost.
24

Population
1757
1755
1753
1751
1749
1747
1745
1743
1741
Population of
Louisbourg
29
3000
2500
2000
1500
Population
1000
500
0
1713
1715
1717
1719
1721
1723
1725
1727
1729
1731
1733
1735
1737
1739
Year

Baptisms and Burials
Recorded at Louisbourg
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
Baptisms
Burials
Baptisms/Burials
60
40
20
0
1713
1715
1717
1719
1721
1723
1725
1727
1729
1731
1733
1735
1737
1739
1741
1743
1745
1747
1749
1751
1753
1755
1757
Year
30

Lake Champlain Region. The
French attempted to contest
English claims to the upper
Hudson Valley by establishing
outposts on Lake Champlain and
eventually attempting to occupy
Lake George at the onset of the
Seven Years War. In 1757,
French forces destroyed Fort
William Henry on the southern
shore of Lake George.
31

Contemporary map of Lake
Champlain.
32

In 1739, the French built Fort St.
Frederick at a strategic point on Lake
Champlain, at a site where the lake is
only ¼ mile wide. The new fort
controlled all lake traffic south or
north.
33

Fort St. Frederick in a
1740 Drawing
34

The dominant feature of Fort St.
Frederick was the bastion, built
alongside the lake. Shown here in an
18 th century illustration.
35

Architectural Reconstruction of the
bastion
36

Diagram of Fort St. Frederick
37

Ruins today of Fort St. Frederick
38

Ruins of the Bastion today
39

In the mid-1750s, the French
occupied the southern part of Lake
Champlain, and began the
construction of Fort Carrilon, shown
in an 18 th century map.
40

Map showing 1757 French campaign
from Carillon to Fort William Henry
on Lake George.
41

Battle for Fort William Henry.
42

Fort Carillon during 1759 British
campaign.
43

Carillon passed into British hands and was
renamed Ticonderoga. The outpost figured
prominently in the American Revolution. After the
conclusion of the war, the United States army
abandoned Carillon/Ticonderoga to ruin.
44

Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga in 1890
45

In the early part of the twentiethcentury
a member of the Pell family
that owned the site of the old fort
began reconstruction. The process
continues today.
46

Restored Structure at Fort
Carrilon/Ticonderoga
47

In 1759, British forces occupied Fort
Carrilon and Fort St. Frederick. The
British renamed Carrilon Fort
Ticonderoga. Fort St. Frederick, left
in a damaged state by the retreating
French, did not suit the military
needs of the British. In the early
1760s, the British began
construction of His Majesty’s Fort at
Crown Point. The new fort was the
largest British military installation in
North America.
48

A Contemporary Map of Crown
Point showing Fort St. Frederick.
49

A second contemporary map of
Crown Point and the ruins of Fort St.
Frederick.
50

Terre Haut-The Great Lakes and Upper
Mississippi Valley vital for the fur trade.
Contemporary map from the 1750s of a
part of the Terre Haut, showing French
outposts and allied tribes.
51

In the Niagara Falls region, the
French built a fort in the 1720s at
the point where the Niagara River
enters Lake Ontario. Fort Niagara
served during three major wars,
and was an active military
outpost into the 20 th century.
52

Overhead photograph of Fort
Niagara
53

French structure built of Stone at
Fort Niagara in the mid-1720s
54

Fort Beasuejoir
55

Fort Presque Isle-Map
56

Fort Presque Isle-Map
57

Fort Michilimackin.
58

Ste. Marie Among the
Hurons, a reconstructed
Jesuit mission established in
1639 on the shores of Lake
Ontario.
59

Another view of St. Marie
among the Hurons.
60

French Illinois.
61

Map of French Settlements
in Illinois.
62

Fort des Chartres
located on the
Mississippi River
(Illinois).
63

Fort des Chartres.
64

Fort des Chartres.
65

Fort des Chartres.
66

Cahokia (Illinois)
67

Louisiana
68

French controlled Gulf
Coast in 1720.
69

Mobile-A map dating to
1702
70

Another contemporary
map of Mobile
71

Fort St. Louis Model
72

Archaeological
excavations at French
Mobile.
73

Excavations at Mobile
74

Fort Toulouse
75

Contemporary map of
Biloxi.
76

New Orleans, the Crescent
City, established in 1718.
The French Quarter still
retains the flabor of
colonial architecture, even
with the later Spanish and
American imprint.
77

Contemporary Map of New
Orleans.
78

A second map of New
Orleans.
79

Cathedral and Cabildo
80

Cabildo
81

Structure dating to the
1790s
82

Typical French Quarter Architecture.
83

France lost most of its North
American territory in 1763, but
French colonization has left a lasting
imprint, particularly in Quebec and
Louisiana. The British defeated the
French in the Seven Years War. The
war began in what today is
Pennsylvania with the defeat of a
British expedition sent to occupy the
site of modern Pittsburgh, lead by
General Braddock.
84

Contemporary map of the
battleground where the conflict
began in 1755.
85

Early Stages of War.
86

Campaigns in New York.
87

Conquest of Canada.
88

Siege of Louisburg in
1758.
89

A second map of the Siege
of Louisburg in 1758.
90

Battle of Montmorency,
July 1759.
91

Battle of Quebec, 1759.
92

Another map of the
Battle of Quebec.
93

North America in 1765,
showing British garrisons
at former French outposts.
94

1766 map.
95