Canada(English Canada [ˈkænədə], French Canada) - a state in North America, ranks second in the world in area. It is washed by the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans, bordered by the United States in the south and northwest, and Denmark (Greenland) and France (Saint-Pierre and Miquelon) in the northeast. Canada's border with the United States is the longest shared border in the world.

Today, Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system, a bilingual and multicultural country where English and French languages recognized as official at the federal level. A technologically advanced and industrialized nation, Canada has a diversified economy based on wealthy natural resources and trade (in particular, with the United States, with which Canada has been cooperating comprehensively since the days of the colonies and the founding of Confederation).

Founded by French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534, Canada traces its origins to a French colony on the site of modern Quebec City, originally inhabited by indigenous peoples. After the period of English colonization, the Canadian Confederation was born from the union of three British colonies (which were previously territories of New France). Canada gained independence from the United Kingdom through a peace process from 1867 to 1982.

Currently, Canada is a federal state consisting of 10 provinces and 3 territories. The province with a predominant French-speaking population is Quebec, the rest are predominantly English-speaking provinces, also called "English Canada" in comparison with French-speaking Quebec. As one of nine predominantly English-speaking provinces, New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual Canadian province. The Yukon Territory is officially bilingual (English and French), while the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Territory recognize 11 and 4 official languages ​​respectively (which also include English and French).

origin of name

The name Canada comes from a word meaning "village" or "settlement" in the Laurentian language, which was spoken by the Laurentian Iroquois who wintered in the village of Stadacone (in the vicinity of modern Quebec) in the early 16th century - the first American Indians, whom Jacques Cartier met on Gaspé in the summer of 1534 at their summer camp. In 1535, residents of what is now Quebec City used the word to guide explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacone. Soon after Cartier's expedition, the Laurentian tribe disappeared without a trace - as modern studies have shown. archaeological excavations, most likely as a result of wars with the Hurons and southern Iroquois.

Cartier used the word "Canada" to refer not only to this village, but to an entire region that also included the village of Ochlagagh. Today, historians agree that "Country Canada" originally referred to the present-day environs of Quebec. By 1545, European books and maps labeled this region and all banks of the St. Lawrence River settled by the French with the word "Canada." Subsequently, this name was transferred to most neighboring territories in North America, governed by the British Empire.

Story

Indians in Canada

For thousands of years, the territory of Canada was inhabited by Indian and Eskimo tribes. It is believed that the first Europeans to set foot on Canadian soil (the island of Newfoundland) around 1000 AD. e., there were Icelandic Vikings, but they were unable to colonize the country.

The French colony of Canada, one of the provinces of New France, was founded on lands along the banks of the St. Lawrence River: in 1600 Tadousac managed to build a permanent French fort here (a modern village at the mouth of the Sagnay River). Before this, France founded trading posts to the south (New Angoulême, which later became New York, Saint-Augustin in Florida), but was forced out from there by other European powers.

In 1750, the French province of Canada extended to the Acadian provinces (British since 1713), occupying the continental part of the modern Atlantic provinces, Maine and Newfoundland, to the east; almost to the Arctic - to the north; to the Rocky Mountains - to the west; and to the middle of the Appalachians - to the south. The border between Louisiana and Canada was not clearly demarcated and would have been in the Ohio Valley at Fort Duquesne (present-day Pittsburgh). Soon, the French king, by his decree, obliged, in order to standardize the “law” in New France, to use the “Parisian custom” in civil and commercial matters.

Battles for control of the Ohio Valley led to war between France and England. The Huron Indians were recruited as allies by the French, and the Iroquois by the British. In 1759, with the capture of Quebec by British troops, Canada became a British colony. The rights of French Canadian citizens were significantly limited until 1766: they could not perform their rites, and the use of the "Parisian custom" (the common law of the north of France) was replaced by the English "common law". Under pressure Catholic Church, in order to reduce the threat of rebellion in the province of Quebec and for practical reasons, a few years later the rights to perform Catholic rites and to use the "Parisian custom" in trade and civil relations were restored to the French-Canadians. However, criminal law remained English, and French Canadians were still prohibited from re-establishing “ties with the motherland.”

In 1791, this part of the British colonies was divided into two provinces: Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Upper Canada corresponds to modern-day Ontario and is where Anglo-Canadians, mostly “loyalists” of the American War of Independence, were concentrated. Lower Canada corresponds to modern-day Quebec, and the majority of French Canadians were located there. Each province had its own parliament, which did not have significant powers; key decisions were made by the governor-general, who was appointed to a position in each colony by royal decree. Canadian patriots under the leadership of Louis-Joseph Papineau, dissatisfied with their powerless situation, sent a resolution to London demanding more rights for provincial parliaments. London's refusal led to the Patriot Rebellion of 1837 and the proclamation of the independent Republic of Canada. This attempt at revolution was brutally suppressed by the English army. Numerous Monteregie villages were burned and patriots were hanged.

With the birth of Confederation in 1867, the name "Canada" was officially adopted by the English Crown in the British North America Act to designate the new dominion. The adopted institutional system took the form of a federation, which initially included four provinces: Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Canada quickly developed western territories with the expansion of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, the founding of the Red River Colony, which became the bilingual province of Manitoba (much smaller in area than the territory of the modern province), British Columbia, and subsequently the Great Plains. Local indigenous peoples, including mestizos (descendants of Indians and French or Scots), organized into their own political structures, were forced out of their lands, which resulted in armed conflicts and even wars. The most significant of them ended with the capture of the Métis leader Louis Riel, who was hanged at the first opportunity. During the 19th century, a significant number of Indians received government-guaranteed reservations (which included communal ownership of land) to replace their lost lands, within which they were granted autonomy under federal control.

During the world wars, Canadians fought as British soldiers in separate units, often alongside the Scots and Australians. The Statute of Westminster 1931 gives Canada greater political autonomy from the United Kingdom and allows Canada to enter World War II a week after the United Kingdom. The war opens the door to a more important consequence for the postwar federal state—the emergence of a new identity. In 1949, Newfoundland became part of Canada as the tenth province.

In 1982, the Canadian constitution returned to its homeland from London. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to the name Canada, so that is currently the only statutory name. This change was reinforced when the name of the national holiday was changed in 1982 from “Confederation Day” to “Canada Holiday”.

Currently, Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a federal government structure, similar to Australia. It includes 10 federal states called provinces and 3 organized territories. The third territory of Nunavut, created in 1999, occupied part of the Northwest Territories.

New France

In 1524, the eastern shores of Canada were explored by an expedition of the Florentine navigator Giovanni Verrazano, who was in the service of the French king.

In 1534, Jacques Cartier came ashore to the Gaspé and called this land Canada, which later became one of the provinces of New France. It has not yet been proven that Giovanni Caboto landed before in Canada or Newfoundland. After numerous unsuccessful attempts (New Angoulême on Long Island and St. Augustin in Florida), the French founded the first colonies approved by the crown: Tadousac (Quebec) in 1600, Port-Royal in 1605 and Quebec in 1608. The British legally founded Newfoundland city of St. John's. The French establish strong ties with the Indian peoples closest to them.

However, European explorers bring numerous diseases that quickly spread along trade routes deep into the indigenous population, causing devastation. French settlers, often arriving very sick in less than clean ships, are saved by Indian medicine. For example, to cure scurvy, the Hurons offer decoctions of the bark of the white cedar tree, called aneda.

French period: alliances, battles and the Seven Years' War

Competition for territory, naval bases, furs, and fisheries becomes increasingly violent, and multiple wars break out involving the French, Dutch, English, and allied Indian tribes. The French-Iroquoian wars for control of the fur trade are fought between the Iroquois Confederation, whose allies were first the Dutch and then the English, and the Hurons or even Algonquins, allies of the French. Four French-Iroquois Wars between 1689 and 1763 result in the successive passage of Newfoundland and, later, Acadia into British hands. Various clashes occurred between French settlers and British authorities, such as the complete destruction of Port-Royal and the subsequent deportation of the Acadians (known as the Great Unrest) in 1755.

New France stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians. The British want to go to the Ohio Valley, wanting to achieve Fort Duquesne (modern Pittsburgh). In 1756, the Seven Years' War between France and England in America led to the capture of the cities of Quebec in 1759 and Montreal in 1760. After victory in the Seven Years' War, under the Treaty of Paris of 1763, Great Britain finally annexed Acadia, Canada and the eastern part of Louisiana (between Mississippi and Appalachia).

English period: Upper and Lower Canada

By the end of the American Revolution, approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists would immigrate to Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland. Since they prove to be completely unwelcome guests in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick separates from this colony in 1784 to receive them. Subsequently, in order to accommodate English-speaking loyalists, the colony of Canada is divided by the Constitution Act of 1791 into two different colonies, Upper Canada and Lower Canada.

Two decades later, Canada played a significant role during the War of 1812, which divided the United States and the United Kingdom. Its defense costs it important long-term benefits, especially the creation of a sense of unity and nationalism among the population of British North America. Massive immigration to Canada from Great Britain and Ireland occurs in 1815. A series of agreements subsequently leads to a long period of peace between Canada and the United States, interrupted only by short raids led by political rebels such as the Fenians.

The absence of real authorities capable of establishing laws and collecting taxes from the Parliament of Lower Canada, social difficulties and the treatment of French speakers as a minority lead to the revolt of the Patriots. Under the leadership of Louis-Joseph Papineau, the independence of the Republic of Canada is proclaimed. This desire for self-government is brutally suppressed by the British army, which burns and plunders numerous Montérégie villages. Many patriots were hanged, some were exiled to Australia, others were forced to flee to the USA.

New France British Canada Split and development of new territories

	Confederation and Dominion
	Independent Canada
	Modern Canada
	Holidays in Canada

British Canada

Rivalry between the British and French

While English colonies grew rapidly along the Atlantic coast, French trappers and explorers moved steadily inland. An expedition down the Mississippi River to its mouth in 1682 gave France the right to possession of a vast territory bordering the American colonies from the Great Lakes and the Ohio River Delta to the Strait of Mexico. It was only a matter of time before the British and French competed for land in the New World. England's concerns about France's control of most of the continent began with Hudson's expedition.

England began to understand that it was more profitable to make money from the fur trade rather than gold mining. So she quickly got her bearings, creating the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670 and giving it all fur trading rights in the region.

For many years, England's dominance in Hudson Bay was threatened by France. In 1686, Pierre Troha led an amazing campaign from Montreal to the shores of the bay, where his companions managed to take several English forts by surprise. In his company was one of the bravest men in New France, Pierre le Moyne, who commanded several naval battles over the next years that practically drove the British from that part of the continent.

A new outbreak of war between France and England, known as Queen Anne's War, began in 1702 and led to the capture of Port Royal by the British in 1710. The Treaty of Utrecht, which restored peace between the two countries in 1713, gave France the territory of Hudson's Bay, Novaya Zemlya and Acadia, but was allowed to retain Cape Breton and all inland colonies.

As a result of this defeat, France founded Fort Louisbourg on the island of Cape Breton. It was intended to serve as a year-round military and naval base for the remnants of the French Empire in North America and also to protect the passage to the St. Lawrence Sea. Louisbourg was the most heavily defended fortress in North America for the next 25 years.

In 1745, the army of the English colonies under the command of Sir William Pepperel launched a campaign against Louisbourg, which consisted of 90 ships and 4 thousand people. After three months of siege, Louisbourg surrendered. The fortress was, however, returned to France under the treaty of 1748.

To counter the renewed threat to the fortress of Louisbourg, England built its own bastion. In 1749, a flotilla carrying more than two and a half thousand new settlers from the British Isles began construction of the city of Halifax.

Decisive battle for the continent

The peace between the two enemies did not last long. A new battle in the New World broke out even before the start of the Seven Years' War in Europe (1756-63). As early as 1754, a detachment was sent against a French fort near the Ohio River, where modern Pittsburgh now stands. This and the second campaign the following year were unsuccessful. In 1755, a tragic incident occurred in Acadia. French settlers in now English Acadia who refused to swear allegiance to the English king were loaded onto ships and transported to the English colonies to the south. American historians call the war that followed this event the French and Indian War. Canadian and European historians generally associate the start of the decisive battle for the continent with the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in Europe.

The British goal was to destroy New France and especially to capture Quebec, the heart of the French colonies. Under the wise leadership of Louis Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Ste-Veran, the passages to Quebec along the St. Lawrence Strait from Lake Ontario and further downstream at Richelieu were successfully blocked. The first attempt by the British to break through was stopped at Oswego, and the second at Ticonderoga. The French defeated the British in both battles. The third route went up the St. Lawrence, past the French fortress of Louisbourg. In 1758, an impressive British force landed on the island of Cape Breton. In the battle that followed, Louisbourg fell in the second and last time throughout its entire history. The waterway to Quebec was finally clear. In 1759, a flotilla of 140 ships carrying 9,000 troops, commanded by General James Wolfe, sailed up the St. Lawrence Sea and besieged the capital of New France.

Throughout the summer, Wolff tried unsuccessfully to find weaknesses in the natural barriers to Quebec that Montcalm had so skillfully exploited. Towards the end of the summer, an English general came up with an incredible plan for a night landing that led to victory over Quebec the next morning.

Both Wolf and Montcalm were mortally wounded in this battle. Montreal, cut off from any hope of reinforcements and supplies from France, surrendered very quickly to English troops who continued up the river. When the Treaty of Paris finally ended the Seven Years' War in 1763, the British flag flew almost everywhere on the eastern part of the continent.

Early period of English rule

The British faced two problems at once in the vast territory that was thus added to the other English Atlantic colonies. First, there were over 60,000 French-speaking settlers living on the newly acquired land. Secondly, the new territories contained many unexplored and dangerous lands in the Great Lakes region, where Indian warriors significantly outnumbered the British.

The Indians, led by a chief named Pontiac, suddenly rebelled against their new masters and destroyed the forts on the Great Lakes one by one, mercilessly killing all the inhabitants. By mid-1763, the only remaining English fort was Fort Detroit, west of Lake Erie. He was the only one the settlers were able to hold until reinforcements arrived, and the Indian rebellion was finally suppressed.

Law of 1774

By royal decree, the administration of the conquered province of Quebec was given to a governor and an appointed consul. In 1774, the English Parliament passed the Quebec Act. It was the first major milestone in the constitutional history of British Canada. By law, the province's boundaries now extended to the Ohio River. The law accepted the Roman Catholic Church and recognized its right to collect church tithes. Also important points of the law were points where French civil law was established in the province. British criminal law was introduced for all violations of the law and misdemeanors, the possible punishment for which was a fine, imprisonment or death. These decisions of the English Parliament made a favorable impression on the religious leaders of the province and, in particular, on the colonists themselves. However, the settlers were denied their own elected government.

An opportunity soon presented itself to test the loyalty of the inhabitants of the new province. Within a year of the Quebec Act, the thirteen Atlantic colonies, in rebellion, sent two armies to capture the "Fourteenth Colony." Sir Guy Carleton, the British governor of Canada, barely escaped capture when one of these armies, led by Richard Montgomery, took Montreal. Carleton reached Quebec in time to organize a small garrison to repel the army of Benedict Arnold. Arnold began the siege of Quebec and was soon joined by Montgomery. In the midwinter battle that followed, Montgomery was killed and Arnold wounded. With the onset of spring, the attackers retreated. For the rest of the war in the American colonies, there were no battles on Canadian soil.

United Empire Loyalists

When peace was restored in 1783, many thousands of Loyalists, called Tories by settlers, left the newly formed United States. They made a fresh start under the British flag in Nova Scotia and the uncharted lands beyond the St. Lawrence Rapids and north of Lake Ontario.

This huge war of new settlers, who were known in Canada and England as United Empire Loyalists, marked the first significant wave of English-speaking immigration since New France. Their arrival caused the reorganization of both Nova Scotia and the province of Quebec.

The previously uninhabited forests west of the Bay of Fundy, once part of French Acadia, were given to Nova Scotia. In 1784, this territory was allocated to a new colony called New Brunswick. At the same time, the island of Cape Breton was separated from Nova Scotia (returned to the province in 1820). In total, it is believed that about 35 thousand Englishmen settled in the provinces in the first wave of immigration.

Settlement in the more inaccessible lands north and west of Lake Ontario and on the north shore of the upper St. Lawrence River did not occur as quickly. About 5 thousand loyalists settled in this territory.

Upper and Lower Canada

It was obvious that these United Empire Loyalists who had traveled to the west of what was part of the Province of Quebec would not long tolerate the limited rights and French laws established by the Quebec Act. Accordingly, in 1791 the British Parliament approved the Constitution Act, which divided Quebec into two provinces: Upper and Lower Canada. Both new provinces were to be governed by a consul appointed for life and an elected assembly to be elected by the people.

The right to be represented in the legislative assembly was something new for the French-speaking inhabitants of the lower provinces. Legislative assemblies have existed in Nova Scotia since 1758, in Prince Edward Island since 1773, and in the province of New Brunswick since 1786. Executive branch, however, was not responsible for its actions, as the inhabitants of the colonies saw less than half a century later.

Founding of New France. In 1602, King Henry IV of France granted a monopoly on the fur trade in Canada to a group of merchants from Rouen. This group, the first in a series of companies that effectively ruled New France for the next 60 years, mounted an expedition to Canada in 1603 and appointed Samuel de Champlain as its chief representative. In 1605, Champlain founded the settlement of Port-Royal (now Port Royal) on the coastline. Fundy, giving the area the name Acadia (now Nova Scotia). In 1608 he sailed up the St. Lawrence Estuary and founded Fort Quebec, through which the fur trade was conducted. Champlain then began systematic exploration and mapping of the entire St. River basin. Lavrentiya, from the hall. Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) in the northwest to Lake. Champlain in the south. However, in order to secure the friendship of the Algonquin and Huron Indian tribes, who controlled the routes to the inland regions, Champlain was forced to take their side in their feud with the Iroquois Union of Five Tribes. As a result, France acquired irreconcilable and dangerous enemies in the Iroquois. Gradually trappers and so-called. “forest tramps” like Etienne Brulé and Jean Nicolet moved further into the interior of the continent. Through their efforts the fur trade extended throughout the territory as far as the headwaters of the Mississippi; At the same time, France's colonial claims grew. The success of these pioneers encouraged the companies that received royal concessions to concentrate all their efforts on the fur trade, without wasting energy on developing agriculture in the St. Lawrence Valley; many colonists abandoned their settlements and became “forest vagabonds.” In general, in the first half of the 17th century. The mother country paid little attention to the colonies in Canada, since it was involved in the Thirty Years' War. After the death of Champlain (1635), colonization took place mainly under the control of members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Driven by the missionary zeal characteristic of the Counter-Reformation era, they tried to convert the Indians to Christianity and strengthen Catholic faith in New France. Traveling with the "forest vagabonds", the Jesuits founded missions; in this way they managed to spread their influence westward all the way to the hall. Georgian Bay. In 1659, François Laval became the head of the church in the colony, and in 1674 he received the rank of bishop of New France; under him, Protestants were prohibited from settling in Canada. Because the missionaries were involved in the fur trade, they were subject to attacks by the Iroquois, who were associated with the French's rivals, the Dutch traders who had settled in the Hudson Valley. The Jesuits were especially active among the Hurons, the main suppliers of furs from the interior of the continent. In 1648, the Iroquois invaded the Huron lands, massacred and destroyed the Jesuit mission of St. Mary's on the shore of the hall. Georgian Bay on the lake. Huron; their goal was to exterminate the Hurons and, by cutting off the trade routes by which furs were sent to the French, make them the main shopping center Dutch settlement of Fort Orange (modern Albany). The Iroquois captured the priest Jean Brebeuf and several other Jesuits, tortured them and burned them at the stake; these were the first Christian martyrs of French Canada. After this, the Iroquois began to raid the very center of New France. Montreal was especially in danger; this settlement, founded in 1642 on an island at the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers, controlled the entire fur trade of the colony with the interior of the continent. For 12 years, Montreal was subject to constant attacks by the Iroquois.
Royal Province. In 1663, King Louis XIV, not satisfied with the state of affairs in the colony, deprived the Company of New France of monopoly rights to this territory. The colony was declared a royal province under the control of the Supreme Council, which was charged with the responsibility of monitoring the implementation of royal edicts. At the head of the Council were the governor, who was responsible for the defense of the colony; the intendant, whose duties included administering justice and promoting economic development; and the bishop, who was in charge of the affairs of the church and therefore had enormous influence. Despite the fact that the members of the Council constantly quarreled among themselves, this body acted very effectively. Under the leadership of capable and dedicated administrators, such as the royal intendant Jean Talon, who was the first to occupy this position, New France embarked on a path of prosperity. Its population grew from 2,000 people in 1663 to 6,000 in 1672. In addition, almost 1,000 veteran soldiers of the French Carignan-Salier Regiment were sent there to strengthen security. The Talon encouraged large families, the development of crafts, and the creation of permanent agricultural communities. On the territory of the colony, there was a seigneurial system of land ownership, based on French land law. Since truly large fortunes were rare here, the feudal hierarchy did not play a big role, and feudal duties were smaller than in the metropolis and were not a particularly heavy burden for the peasants - habitants (from the French habitant). Even under Bishop Laval (1659-1688), the church received huge land holdings (seigneuries) and very significant sums granted to the Jesuit order. Education was entirely in the hands of the clergy. The Church also insisted on its right to monitor the morals of the colonists, but its attempts to ban the use of alcohol (brandy) in the fur trade were unsuccessful.
Expansion of French possessions into the interior of the continent. Attempts by intendants and bishops to create in the basin of the St. Lawrence, the present French Catholic society, based on feudal land ownership, constantly failed; the main reason was that buying fur was a much more profitable business than cultivating land, and peasants often abandoned their plots and went into the forests to hunt animals. In addition, due to the harsh climate, the upper part of the St. River. Laurentia found itself bound by ice every winter. This prevented the development of maritime trade with settlements in Acadia and with the French West Indies. Therefore, the French penetrated deeper into the continent faster and further than the British. Already in 1673, a trading detachment under the command of the “forest tramp” Louis Joliet set off from the hall. Green Bay on the lake Michigan to the upper Mississippi. The Jesuit missionary Father Jacques Marquette took part in the expedition and left notes about this campaign. They reached the Mississippi and explored this river until it flowed into the Arkansas River. In 1682, Sieur de La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi River, and in 1699 Pierre de Moines, Sieur d'Iberville, one of the most remarkable explorers born in Canada, founded a small French colony in Biloxi, on the Gulf Coast. Thus, to By 1700, the French had created a system of forts that extended far to the west, controlled from the St. Lawrence Valley and spanning from Hudson Bay in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south.
Anglo-French rivalry. This expansion of France's sphere of influence inevitably gave rise to friction with the British colonial power in the New World. The English Hudson's Bay Company, formed in 1670, began trading furs. Taking advantage of the monopoly rights granted English king Charles II to his cousin Prince Rupert and a group of courtiers and financiers, the Company extended its power over the entire territory covered by the rivers that flowed into Hudson Bay. With a convenient sea route into the heart of "fur country" in northwestern Canada, these English adventurers threatened to deprive the French of their most reliable source of furs. In the south, in the Hudson Valley, English traders replaced the Dutch. Allying with the Iroquois, they began to compete with the French for control of the Ohio Territory, which stretched from the Mississippi to the Allegheny Plateau.

In 1672, the Count de Frontenac was appointed governor of this French colony, which was increasingly in danger. This ruler, although later celebrated by the American historian Francis Parkman for his military exploits, actually alienated many colonists by using his position for personal enrichment. He lost the trust of French-friendly Indian tribes by failing to fulfill his promise to support them in the war against the Iroquois. In 1682, Frontenac was recalled and left, leaving his successors an internally divided and poorly defended colony. However, new attacks by the Iroquois and the outbreak of war between England and France prompted the French government to return Frontenac to the post of governor in 1689. Under his command, raids were carried out (involving Indians and French) against the border settlements of New England and New York State, which were characterized by extreme brutality. towards the Protestant population. The Iroquois were pacified, but the enraged English colonists were burning with a desire for revenge. In 1690, an English fleet sailing from Massachusetts captured Port Royal in Acadia. The British attacked Quebec and Montreal, but these attacks were repulsed, and D'Iberville captured many of the forts built by the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1701, peace was concluded with the Iroquois, but by this time it became clear to everyone that the outcome of the Anglo-French conflicts in the North America was as much influenced by events in Europe as by the actions of the colonists. The early 18th century saw rapid population growth and economic expansion in the British colonies. Lack of land encouraged colonists to move west. During the War of the Spanish Succession, a dynastic quarrel between Bourbons and Habsburgs for the Spanish throne (1702-1713) - the British again captured Port Royal, which was returned to France in 1697, and attacked Quebec.In 1713, the war in Europe ended with the defeat of France; the Treaty of Utrecht was concluded, according to which England territories in the area of ​​Hudson Bay and Acadia, which from that moment received the name Nova Scotia, were ceded.The French, having lost all approaches to the lands in the river valley. St. Lawrence, except on the way past Fr. Cape Breton and Fr. Saint-Jean (modern Prince Edward Island), began strengthening their defense. On Isle Royale (Cape Breton), a well-fortified Fort Louisbourg was built, where an army of 1,400 people was stationed. Seeing this as a threat to their colonies in Nova Scotia and the fisheries in the Newfoundland area, the British increased pressure along the entire border zone. Fort Oswego, located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, challenged French territorial claims in the area and threatened trade routes linking the St. Lawrence Valley to the interior. To protect themselves from British invasions of New France through the lake. Champlain and the Richelieu River, the French built the fortifications of Crown Point and Ticonderoga south of the St. Lawrence Valley. In the far northwest, Pierre La Vérendry built a chain of fortified trading posts in the 1730s that stretched across the prairies to the Saskatchewan River; thus limiting the expansion of the Hudson's Bay Company to the west was set.

The French and Indian War with the British. During the 1740s and 1750s, sporadic warfare continued in North America, driven by the clash of different cultures, economic interests, and imperial ambitions. During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), the French fortress of Louisbourg on Ile Royale was captured by the British, but later, under the terms of the peace treaty signed in Aachen in 1748, it was returned to France (in exchange for a trading post in India). To counter French military influence in the area and create a naval base that could control the North Atlantic, the British fortified a harbor on the south shore of Nova Scotia, where they founded a new colonial capital, Halifax. In 1755, after the French and Indian War broke out, more than 10 thousand French who remained in the vicinity of Port Royal in Acadia were expelled from this province. The final stage Anglo-French rivalry was marked by the so-called. the French and Indian War, which began in 1754 and continued as part of the Seven Years' War (which began in Europe in 1756). At the beginning of the war, the population of the 13 British colonies on the Atlantic coast was approx. 2 million people, while the French were only approx. in all of North America. 80 thousand people and most of them lived in the St. Lawrence Valley. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the war the French managed to maintain and strengthen their defensive lines. In 1754 they defeated the colonial forces commanded by Colonel George Washington and built Fort Duquesne in the heart of the Ohio Territory. In 1756, France sent significant military reinforcements to the St. Lawrence Valley under the command of an able young general, the Marquis de Montcalm. With a regular army of about 10 thousand people, Montcalm immediately took Fort Oswego from the British and captured several other British fortifications; he kept the British forces in constant tension all along the frontier. The era of French colonial rule in Canada was ending when in 1758 the British government launched a massive offensive by land and sea. Louisbourg capitulated, and in the spring of 1759, British troops under the command of General James Wolf embarked on ships, entered the St. Lawrence River and moved to the fortress of Quebec. After several unsuccessful attacks on the outer defensive lines of the city, the British landed near the city itself at night, climbing a steep cliff. On the morning of September 13, Wolf forced Montcalm to fight on the Abraham Plateau outside the walls of the fortress. Both commanders, Wolf and Montcalm, were killed in the battle, and Quebec surrendered. Governor Vaudreuil and the surviving soldiers retreated down the river to Montreal, hoping to recapture Quebec the following spring when reinforcements arrived from France. However, in 1760, it was English, not French, ships that arrived here first, and in September Vaudreuil signed a capitulation, thereby ceding all of New France to Great Britain.

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• - Agreement on reciprocity. In the 1840s, there was concern in Canada that much valuable land in North America had been ceded to the United States...

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• - or Algeria - the name of a French colony in northern Africa, stretching along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea between Tunisia in the east and Morocco in the west for 1070 km, in the south going far into the Sahara...

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• - French colony on the west coast of Africa...

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• - I Dnieper Russia IX-XII centuries. lands" occupied by tribes were determined partly by natural boundaries - lines of watershed ditches, partly by cross-collision of individual waves of colonization...

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From the book Metaphysics of St. Petersburg. Historical and cultural essays author Spivak Dmitry Leonidovich

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From the book Hippies from A to Z. Sex, drugs, music and influence on society from the sixties to the present day by Stone Skip

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From the book Six Systems of Indian Philosophy by Müller Max

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Chapter 6 French Canada, or How to Lose a Colony

From the book England and France: We Love to Hate Each Other by Clark Stefan

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Quebec is French America or French Canada, a region, city and port at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, a Francophonie island on the English- and Spanish-speaking continent.

The first European voyage to Quebec was made in 1534 by Jacques Carte, who, on behalf of King Francis I of France, declared Canada to belong to the French monarch. In 1535-1536 Jacques Cartier was engaged in the construction of the future of Montreal. A century later, Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec. In 1609, the territory received the name New France. A little later, Richelieu founded a company to which he entrusted the development of New France.

New France in the 17th century was not a paradise at all. Two months of sailing across the ocean - and immigrants from the Old World found themselves in a cruel climate, on a land whose only means of communication were rivers, and the local population received the settlers with extreme hostility. Those who came here, of course, did not come for this, but for the fortune. By 1700, only 15 thousand people settled in New France, a hundred years later - 70 thousand, while by that time two and a half million lived in the English colonies. Europeans came for natural resources, for new lands, and in return they brought alcohol and epidemics to the Indians, which killed half the population.

The tribes that inhabited Canada were the Inuit, Iroquois and Algonquins, all of them did not accept the new masters of Canada, who took advantage of the enmity between the tribes. In clashes, the Indians were often supported by the British, who saw the French as rivals on the new continent. Only in 1701 was the Great Peace signed between the French and the Indian tribes, which put an end to the war between them, as well as inter-tribal hostilities. The War of the Spanish Succession pitted the British and French on a new land; in 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht was signed, according to which France retained lands along the banks of the St. Lawrence River, and already in 1763, Quebec became the fifteenth English colony in North America. In 1791, the two provinces of Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec) were created, most of which remained French-speaking. In 1867, the Canadian Confederation was created with four provinces - Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, Quebec's economic life was closely linked to agriculture and forests. Then active urbanization began, attracting new settlers.

Main administrative center Quebec is a city of the same name, whose population is 7 million 250 thousand people, which is a quarter of the total Canadian population. They speak French and English here, and the coin is the Canadian dollar. Quebec is located in the northeast of the continent, from the United States to the northern seas. It is the largest province of Canada, occupying 16.7% of the entire territory, Quebec is three times larger than France, seven times larger than Great Britain and fifteen times larger than Belgium.

There are 130 thousand water streams and a million lakes. The most large river- St. Lawrence, originating in the Great Lakes and flowing into the Atlantic in the bay of the same name. The highest mountain peaks in Quebec are Mount D'Iberville (1622 m) on the Torngat ridge on the border with Labrador, and Jacques-Cartier (1268 m) in the Chik-Chok massif in Gaspésie. About 80% of the population lives along the banks of the St. Lawrence, in Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Quebec. Quebec has a continental climate, temperate in the meridional part and polar in the north, on the Ungava Peninsula. Winters are very snowy, temperatures drop to -30, summers are hot, up to +30. Therefore, it is common for Quebecers to sunbathe in the summer , and in winter go skiing in the mountains.

All four seasons here are very contrasting. It is especially beautiful in Quebec in the fall - the forests “burn” with bright colors. If the symbol of Canada is the maple leaf, then since 1999 the symbol of Quebec has become the iris flower. Irises bloom in spring throughout almost all of Quebec. In addition to the iris, the symbol of the region is also the yellow birch, namely the dark-stemmed Canadian birch. The flag of Quebec features a lily, as if linking this territory with France through time and ocean and emphasizing its attachment to French history and culture.

Most of the population of North America turned out to be English-speaking, but the French population of Canadian Quebec did not cease to demand self-determination. In isolation, Quebec's Francophones have managed to maintain their language and their identity, despite the fact that they are surrounded by 250 million Anglophones! Of course, Quebec French is different from Parisian. They say that it shows the features of the dialects of French Picardy and Norman of the 17th century, in addition, there are a lot of borrowings from English, this language has its own vocabulary, its own vocabulary. “Hello” is said here both when they meet and when they say goodbye, “lunch” means “breakfast”, “dinner” means “lunch”. Here it is customary to address people as "you", especially if you are under thirty. People of the same generation, acquaintances and strangers, also address each other as “you.” It is also not customary to address people by “you” on the phone.

Despite the formal break with France that occurred in the 18th century, the soul of Quebec remained French. Quebec dreams of sovereignty. However, in 1980, the population rejected the sovereignty project with the formation of the federal government. The last referendum on sovereignty, held in 1995, also showed that the majority of the population did not want independence. Polls public opinion show that the majority support the project of a free Quebec, but when it comes to elections, the picture changes. The Parti Québécois argues that the people of this region are at the intersection of three civilizations - they were nurtured by French culture, which gave them a civil code, have integrated traditions and elements of British society, such as parliamentarism, into their lives, and live in an American way.

There are twenty tourist regions in Quebec. This is a huge area of ​​natural resources, where the landscape is constantly changing - forests, rivers, lakes, mountains, there are 19 national parks. Magnificent places, mesmerizing with their beauty, attracting lovers of large space. For example, Parc Canton de l'Est is isolated from civilization. It is located 250 km from Quebec City and 225 km south of Montreal - short distances for motorists. It is open daily from mid-May to mid-October and from December to the end of March There is a campsite in the park. Hunting, cutting down trees, and fishing are prohibited, however, as in other national parks. Along the way you may encounter deer, moose, even bears, bobcats, and some say they saw a cougar. Here, on Mount Megantic, is the largest observatory on the east coast of North America.

Parc Mauricie, 70 km north of Trois-Rivières, is considered by many to be the most beautiful park in Quebec. Created in 1970, it covers an area of ​​536 km2. On the way to the park there are beautiful views of lakes Vapizagonke and Edouard. The park is open all year round. Gasperi Park is located 516 km north of Quebec and covers an area of ​​800 square meters. km. This is the only place in Quebec where caribou and Virginia deer live. If you are tired of civilization, you should go to Quebec not only for natural exoticism, but here you can get acquainted with the culture of the Indians. In Quebec, namely in fifty villages scattered over an area of ​​1,600,000 square meters. km., is home to 11 indigenous nations. These are settlements that are also a kind of tourist base, since you can stay there and fully immerse yourself in the life of the Indians - try local dishes from caribou meat, bear, wild duck, fish, take a canoe trip, and go fishing. In the spring, whales come to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. You can watch them both from the shore and from the water - for this, boat excursions are organized here. There are many bird sanctuaries in Quebec. There are up to 270 species of birds on Cape Turmant. Thousands of white ducks and wild ducks arrive in the spring and fall.

The word "Quebec" implies several concepts - country, province, region, city, commune. Quebec City includes eight arrondissements, all of which are on the north bank of the St. Lawrence River. The city is called the old city, old capital, upper city, etc. Like no other city in Canada, it is connected with the history of the entire continent. Once the site of bloody battles, Quebec today has retained the features of its past - it stands on a river, has a citadel, is surrounded by forest, with 5 thousand trees of 80 species.

Quebec City was founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain. It was first the capital of New France (1608-1759), then became a fortress of the English colony and the capital of lower Canada under the English regime (1763-1867), and later became a provincial capital during the Canadian Confederation in 1867, when Canada's federal provinces were born. Occupying Quebec, or the strategically important territory on which it is now located, was the first goal of all the conquerors of Canada - the French and the English. Defensive construction of the city began in the 17th century, but was completed only by 1830, and the city defense system was finally formed at the beginning of the 20th century. Quebec is interesting for its historical monuments, parliament, and ancient buildings. Its charm consists of historical, cultural and architectural factors.

After walking through old Quebec and seeing its old buildings, you can go to the Notre-Dame de Quebec church, Cathedral cities. The cathedral was declared a historical monument in 1966, its history has been going on for 300 years. French craftsmen worked on its interior decoration. Stunning stained glass windows illuminate the crypts containing the remains of the bishops of Quebec and the rulers of New France. To get a more complete picture of Quebec, it is worth visiting the Quebec Museum, which houses the most interesting collection of Quebec art from the 17th century to the present day. The exhibition of the Museum of Civilization tells about the history of culture, about the Indians, about the traditions of both the first inhabitants of the region and modern Quebecers. In January-February, Quebec hosts a traditional winter carnival. The city turns into a kingdom snow queen. Usually at this time, canoe rides and ice and snow sculpture competitions are organized; an Ice Castle is being built in Lotto-Québec Square, in front of the Parliament building, around which performances and performances take place. A lot of entertainment is provided for children - ice slides, snow rafting. An Indian village is built right in the city. You can ride around the city on a sleigh drawn by horses and even dogs, and also play golf on the ice.

Montreal is a city much larger than Quebec. It is considered the metropolis or main city of Quebec and the second French-speaking city in the world. This is a modern city, a port, beloved by many for the diversity of its architecture and cosmopolitanism. Here you will find Italian, Latin, Portuguese, and Chinatowns. Montreal received global recognition as a city where the range of restaurants is huge and whose nightlife is incredibly diverse. Residents and visitors have no opportunity or mood to be bored. In addition to the many restaurants and bars, it is worth checking out the museums - Museum contemporary art, which houses a collection of Quebec and foreign masters, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, whose collection has been created for 137 years, the Center for Canadian Architecture, which is a museum and educational center that hosts exhibitions of contemporary architects, as well as the Museum of Archeology and History, which shows history of the metropolis from the Ice Age to the present day.

The heart of Montreal is Mainstreet, in French simply La Main, that is, the main street. The real name of the street is St. Lawrence Boulevard. This is the largest artery of the city, which has developed since its founding in the 17th century. St. Lawrence only became a boulevard in 1905, before which it was a road, then a street. The boulevard was the gateway to the New World, it led newcomers from another continent deep into Canada through the market, the royal square and the port embankments. Old Montreal has retained the spirit of antiquity, although the houses on its embankments have turned into offices and luxurious residences.

The Port of Montreal, renovated for its 350th anniversary in 1992, has not, however, forgotten its historical past. It is evidenced by the old trading warehouses of Saint-Joseph, built in 1861-1880, the streets of the Saint-Paul and Saint-Jacques district, built up in the 17th century, on which trading companies, banks, publishing houses, for example, have long been located. La Presse, the largest French-language weekly in America. On Notre Dame Street, in addition to the church of the same name, there are administrative buildings - the city hall, three courthouses. Notre-Dame Cathedral is the first neo-Gothic building in Montreal in the 19th century. The interior is rich in sculptures, wooden carvings, and gilding; the Sacré-Coeur Chapel amazes with its splendor. Chinatown, before it became a place of residence and trade for thousands of Chinese, was a favorite place of the Irish, who made it a little Dublin in the mid-19th century. However, the construction of the railway leading to western Canada in 1877 brought many Chinese here, and appearance The streets of the neighborhood have changed forever.

The suburb of St. Lawrence, a block at the exit from the city center, is a habitat and meeting place for a motley public, hippies, night butterflies, and regulars of trendy bars. They say that here you can eat the best hot dog in the city. Carre Dorre - the quarter where late XIX Montreal's richest families have lived here for centuries, and the Notman House, which has become an architectural monument, is located here, next to which is the hospital of the Sisters of the Anglican Church of St. Margaret, built in 1894. The Portuguese Quarter was once a neighboring village to Montreal; in 1909 it became part of the city. The city hall building reminds you of the old village. The Portuguese once settled here, joined by Jews, Germans, and Poles who arrived in Montreal starting in 1900. The mixture of cultures in this quarter is evidenced by the proximity of synagogues, Catholic cathedrals, stone funeral steles, and the decoration of houses with Arabic azulejo tiles, characteristic of Portugal. The Italian quarter abounds with Italian cafes and restaurants, food markets, meat and cheese shops, and bakeries. The Italians, most of whom came to Montreal at the beginning of the twentieth century, built a Catholic cathedral here - the Notre-Dame de la Défense church on Dante Street, created by an Italian architect.

CANADA. STORY. FRENCH COLONY
Founding of New France. In 1602, King Henry IV of France granted a monopoly on the fur trade in Canada to a group of merchants from Rouen. This group, the first in a series of companies that effectively ruled New France for the next 60 years, mounted an expedition to Canada in 1603 and appointed Samuel de Champlain as its chief representative. In 1605, Champlain founded the settlement of Port-Royal (now Port Royal) on the coastline. Fundy, giving the area the name Acadia (now Nova Scotia). In 1608 he sailed up the St. Lawrence Estuary and founded Fort Quebec, through which the fur trade was conducted. Champlain then began systematic exploration and mapping of the entire St. River basin. Lavrentiya, from the hall. Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) in the northwest to Lake. Champlain in the south. However, in order to secure the friendship of the Algonquin and Huron Indian tribes, who controlled the routes to the inland regions, Champlain was forced to take their side in their feud with the Iroquois Union of Five Tribes. As a result, France acquired irreconcilable and dangerous enemies in the Iroquois. Gradually trappers and so-called. “forest tramps” like Etienne Brulé and Jean Nicolet moved further into the interior of the continent. Through their efforts the fur trade extended throughout the territory as far as the headwaters of the Mississippi; At the same time, France's colonial claims grew. The success of these pioneers encouraged the companies that received royal concessions to concentrate all their efforts on the fur trade, without wasting energy on developing agriculture in the St. Lawrence Valley; many colonists abandoned their settlements and became “forest vagabonds.” In general, in the first half of the 17th century. The mother country paid little attention to the colonies in Canada, since it was involved in the Thirty Years' War. After the death of Champlain (1635), colonization took place mainly under the control of members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Driven by the missionary zeal of the Counter-Reformation era, they tried to convert the Indians to Christianity and strengthen the Catholic faith in New France. Traveling with the "forest vagabonds", the Jesuits founded missions; in this way they managed to spread their influence westward all the way to the hall. Georgian Bay. In 1659, François Laval became the head of the church in the colony, and in 1674 he received the rank of bishop of New France; under him, Protestants were prohibited from settling in Canada. Since the missionaries took part in the fur trade, they were subject to attacks by the Iroquois, who were associated with the French competitors - Dutch traders who settled in the valley of the river. Hudson. The Jesuits were especially active among the Hurons, the main suppliers of furs from the interior of the continent. In 1648, the Iroquois invaded the Huron lands, massacred and destroyed the Jesuit mission of St. Mary's on the shore of the hall. Georgian Bay on the lake. Huron; their goal was to exterminate the Hurons and, by cutting off the trade routes by which furs were sent to the French, make the Dutch settlement of Fort Orange (modern Albany) the main trading center. The Iroquois captured the priest Jean Brebeuf and several other Jesuits, tortured them and burned them at the stake; these were the first Christian martyrs of French Canada. After this, the Iroquois began to raid the very center of New France. Montreal was especially in danger; this settlement, founded in 1642 on an island at the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers, controlled the entire fur trade of the colony with the interior of the continent. For 12 years, Montreal was subject to constant attacks by the Iroquois.
Royal Province. In 1663, King Louis XIV, not satisfied with the state of affairs in the colony, deprived the Company of New France of monopoly rights to this territory. The colony was declared a royal province under the control of the Supreme Council, which was charged with the responsibility of monitoring the implementation of royal edicts. At the head of the Council were the governor, who was responsible for the defense of the colony; the intendant, whose duties included administering justice and promoting economic development; and the bishop, who was in charge of the affairs of the church and therefore had enormous influence. Despite the fact that the members of the Council constantly quarreled among themselves, this body acted very effectively. Under the leadership of capable and dedicated administrators, such as the royal intendant Jean Talon, who was the first to occupy this position, New France embarked on a path of prosperity. Its population grew from 2,000 people in 1663 to 6,000 in 1672. In addition, almost 1,000 veteran soldiers of the French Carignan-Salier Regiment were sent there to strengthen security. The Talon encouraged large families, the development of crafts, and the creation of permanent agricultural communities. On the territory of the colony, there was a seigneurial system of land ownership, based on French land law. Since truly large fortunes were rare here, the feudal hierarchy did not play a big role, and feudal duties were smaller than in the metropolis and were not a particularly heavy burden for the peasants - habitants (from the French habitant). Even under Bishop Laval (1659-1688), the church received huge land holdings (seigneuries) and very significant sums granted to the Jesuit order. Education was entirely in the hands of the clergy. The Church also insisted on its right to monitor the morals of the colonists, but its attempts to ban the use of alcohol (brandy) in the fur trade were unsuccessful.
Expansion of French possessions into the interior of the continent. Attempts by intendants and bishops to create in the basin of the St. Lawrence, the present French Catholic society, based on feudal land ownership, constantly failed; the main reason was that buying fur was a much more profitable business than cultivating land, and peasants often abandoned their plots and went into the forests to hunt animals. In addition, due to the harsh climate, the upper part of the St. River. Laurentia found itself bound by ice every winter. This prevented the development of maritime trade with settlements in Acadia and with the French West Indies. Therefore, the French penetrated deeper into the continent faster and further than the British. Already in 1673, a trading detachment under the command of the “forest tramp” Louis Joliet set off from the hall. Green Bay on the lake Michigan to the upper Mississippi. The Jesuit missionary Father Jacques Marquette took part in the expedition and left notes about this campaign. They reached the Mississippi and explored this river until it flowed into the Arkansas River. In 1682, Sieur de La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi River, and in 1699 Pierre de Moines, Sieur d'Iberville, one of the most remarkable explorers born in Canada, founded a small French colony in Biloxi, on the Gulf Coast. Thus, to By 1700, the French had created a system of forts that extended far to the west, controlled from the St. Lawrence Valley and spanning from Hudson Bay in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south.
Anglo-French rivalry. This expansion of France's sphere of influence inevitably gave rise to friction with the British colonial power in the New World. The English Hudson's Bay Company, formed in 1670, began trading furs. Taking advantage of the monopoly rights granted by the English King Charles II to his cousin Prince Rupert and a group of courtiers and financiers, the Company extended its power over the entire territory covered by the rivers that flowed into Hudson Bay. With a convenient sea route into the heart of "fur country" in northwestern Canada, these English adventurers threatened to deprive the French of their most reliable source of furs. In the south, in the Hudson Valley, English traders replaced the Dutch. Allying with the Iroquois, they began to compete with the French for control of the Ohio Territory, which stretched from the Mississippi to the Allegheny Plateau.

In 1672, the Count de Frontenac was appointed governor of this French colony, which was increasingly in danger. This ruler, although later celebrated by the American historian Francis Parkman for his military exploits, actually alienated many colonists by using his position for personal enrichment. He lost the trust of French-friendly Indian tribes by failing to fulfill his promise to support them in the war against the Iroquois. In 1682, Frontenac was recalled and left, leaving his successors an internally divided and poorly defended colony. However, new attacks by the Iroquois and the outbreak of war between England and France prompted the French government to return Frontenac to the post of governor in 1689. Under his command, raids were carried out (involving Indians and French) against the border settlements of New England and New York State, which were characterized by extreme brutality. towards the Protestant population. The Iroquois were pacified, but the enraged English colonists were burning with a desire for revenge. In 1690, an English fleet sailing from Massachusetts captured Port Royal in Acadia. The British attacked Quebec and Montreal, but these attacks were repulsed, and D'Iberville captured many of the forts built by the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1701, peace was concluded with the Iroquois, but by this time it became clear to everyone that the outcome of the Anglo-French conflicts in the North America was as much influenced by events in Europe as by the actions of the colonists. The early 18th century saw rapid population growth and economic expansion in the British colonies. Lack of land encouraged colonists to move west. During the War of the Spanish Succession, a dynastic quarrel between Bourbons and Habsburgs for the Spanish throne (1702-1713) - the British again captured Port Royal, which was returned to France in 1697, and attacked Quebec.In 1713, the war in Europe ended with the defeat of France; the Treaty of Utrecht was concluded, according to which England territories in the area of ​​Hudson Bay and Acadia, which from that moment received the name Nova Scotia, were ceded.The French, having lost all approaches to the lands in the river valley. St. Lawrence, except on the way past Fr. Cape Breton and Fr. Saint-Jean (modern Prince Edward Island), began strengthening their defense. On Isle Royale (Cape Breton), a well-fortified Fort Louisbourg was built, where an army of 1,400 people was stationed. Seeing this as a threat to their colonies in Nova Scotia and the fisheries in the Newfoundland area, the British increased pressure along the entire border zone. Fort Oswego, located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, challenged French territorial claims in the area and threatened trade routes linking the St. Lawrence Valley to the interior. To protect themselves from British invasions of New France through the lake. Champlain and the Richelieu River, the French built the fortifications of Crown Point and Ticonderoga south of the St. Lawrence Valley. In the far northwest, Pierre La Vérendry built a chain of fortified trading posts in the 1730s that stretched across the prairies to the Saskatchewan River; thus limiting the expansion of the Hudson's Bay Company to the west was set.

The French and Indian War with the British. During the 1740s and 1750s, sporadic warfare continued in North America, driven by the clash of different cultures, economic interests, and imperial ambitions. During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), the French fortress of Louisbourg on Ile Royale was captured by the British, but later, under the terms of the peace treaty signed in Aachen in 1748, it was returned to France (in exchange for a trading post in India). To counter French military influence in the area and create a naval base that could control the North Atlantic, the British fortified a harbor on the south shore of Nova Scotia, where they founded a new colonial capital, Halifax. In 1755, after the French and Indian War broke out, more than 10 thousand French who remained in the vicinity of Port Royal in Acadia were expelled from this province. The final stage of Anglo-French rivalry was marked by the so-called. the French and Indian War, which began in 1754 and continued as part of the Seven Years' War (which began in Europe in 1756). At the beginning of the war, the population of the 13 British colonies on the Atlantic coast was approx. 2 million people, while the French were only approx. in all of North America. 80 thousand people and most of them lived in the St. Lawrence Valley. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the war the French managed to maintain and strengthen their defensive lines. In 1754 they defeated the colonial forces commanded by Colonel George Washington and built Fort Duquesne in the heart of the Ohio Territory. In 1756, France sent significant military reinforcements to the St. Lawrence Valley under the command of an able young general, the Marquis de Montcalm. With a regular army of about 10 thousand people, Montcalm immediately took Fort Oswego from the British and captured several other British fortifications; he kept the British forces in constant tension all along the frontier. The era of French colonial rule in Canada was ending when in 1758 the British government launched a massive offensive by land and sea. Louisbourg capitulated, and in the spring of 1759, British troops under the command of General James Wolf embarked on ships, entered the St. Lawrence River and moved to the fortress of Quebec. After several unsuccessful attacks on the outer defensive lines of the city, the British landed near the city itself at night, climbing a steep cliff. On the morning of September 13, Wolf forced Montcalm to fight on the Abraham Plateau outside the walls of the fortress. Both commanders, Wolf and Montcalm, were killed in the battle, and Quebec surrendered. Governor Vaudreuil and the surviving soldiers retreated down the river to Montreal, hoping to recapture Quebec the following spring when reinforcements arrived from France. However, in 1760, it was English, not French, ships that arrived here first, and in September Vaudreuil signed a capitulation, thereby ceding all of New France to Great Britain.

Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .