How Did The French Colonies Make Money

Canadian Beavers
CA ANC NMC-26825

In the 16th century, the fish-laden waters off the shores of Newfoundland—an unexpected resource for early European navigators—became the focus of a lucrative industry. The whale, whose blubber when rendered represented a new source of energy, and the seemingly inexhaustible cod banks answered the needs of a swiftly growing European population. Information technology was during fishing trips that trading for hides and furs with the Ancient peoples began. These products, which produced an even more immediate profit than fish, generated income that formed the foundation of New French republic's economic system. Although furs, primarily beaver, were the colony's main export, three-quarters of the population lived past farming cereal crops. In the 18th century, Canada produced enough grain to begin exporting, and it was during this flow that trade developed amongst Canada, Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) and the French W Indies. Louisbourg became the trading hub for the three colonies as well equally for French republic. Since fur was the only raw material New France had to offer the mother land, the limits of the European market in this commodity eventually hampered the economic development of the colony.

The Fishery

By the 16th century, many French ships were crossing the sea each year to fish the cod-rich waters of Canada'south Atlantic declension. Producers of morue verte [table salt cod] fished on the high seas, gutting and salting their catch onboard ship. In the much more common sedentary fishery, which resulted in morue sèche [stale cod], the catch, taken just offshore, was cleaned and stale in buildings on the coast. During the 17th century, the French ran such operations in the Gaspé Peninsula, Acadia and on the largest scale, in Newfoundland. In 1660, the King established a fortified settlement and administrative headquarters on the southern part of the island, at Plaisance (Placentia), with the aim of supporting the cod industry, which was by this time a significant source of revenue for French republic. The labour, supplies and capital involved in these Atlantic fishing operations, together with the markets they supplied, remained primarily European.

Plan of the dwelling of Charles Mahier

Loan fabricated by Loys Cachery to Estienne Geffroy

Concession of state to Sieurs Bergier, Gabriel Gaultier, Boucher and assembly

Instructional study on the method for catching and drying fish

Plan of the enclosure at Plaisance (Placentia) in Newfoundland

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The Compagnie de la Colonie

Of the many companies that held fur monopolies, merely 2 were controlled by Canadians: the Communauté des Habitants, which existed for near 15 years in the mid-17th century, and the Compagnie de la Colonie. In 1699, faced with a prolonged slump in the beaver trade caused by over-production, the colony's merchants had two options: to lower the cost of the pelts they sold to the farmer-generals (financiers who collected in a certain district) of the Domaine d'Occident, at that fourth dimension holders of the monopoly for the buying of furs and their sale in Europe; or to take over the monopoly themselves. They chose the second solution, set up the Compagnie de la Colonie, and sent two delegates to French republic to negotiate transfer of the monopoly. An understanding between the two parties was signed on June nine, 1700, and ratified by representatives of Canada's aristocracy on behalf of the whole colony, in October, at the Château Saint-Louis in Québec. Weighed downwardly by debt, and unable to deal with the decline in the fur trade, the Compagnie de la Colonie was liquidated in 1706 and the monopoly was handed over to French merchants.

Agreement between the Compagnie de la Colonie du Canada and Louis Guigues

Receipt given by Charles Juchereau de Saint-Denys

Asking and holding permit for beaver pelts

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The Fur Trade

In the early days of the colony, fur-trading took place mainly in the St. Lawrence Valley, where Aboriginal people came to substitution their pelts for European goods. During the 1660s, considering the Iroquois were preventing other Aboriginal peoples from bringing their furs to their French allies, a growing number of men known equally coureurs des bois started travelling illegally into the W. In 1681, in an try to control the fur trade, the authorities began issuing congés de traite [trading permits]. These were sold or given to favoured individuals, who generally resold them to a trader or went into partnership with one. By the end of the 17th century, the fur trade was a highly organized activeness, and by no ways accessible to all. It required capital, experience, and the legal right to trade. Generally speaking, a trading trip would unfold in the post-obit manner. A marchand équipeur [merchant-outfitter] based in Montréal would sell goods to a voyageur, who would travel to the W to exchange these goods with Aboriginal people for furs. A professional person fur-trader, the voyageur would hire immature men to assist on both the outward and return trip, navigating the waterways using birchbark canoes.

Delivery made by Pierre Papillon

Edict from the Male monarch forbidding all the inhabitants of New France

Inventory afterward death of Jean-Baptiste Beauvais

Trading permit for Louis Denys de la Ronde

Formation of a fur-trading partnership involving Jean-Baptiste Gaultier de La Vérendrye

  The Fur Merchandise Document 1PDF Version 0.92 Mb

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  The Fur Trade Certificate 4PDF Version 0.65 Mb

The Monetary System

The coin that circulated in New France consisted of various types of money minted in France or elsewhere in Europe, such as the louis, the Spanish piastre and the Portuguese guinea. Withal, the official monetary unit was the livre, which was divided into sols and deniers; it was coin of account, meaning that it was used strictly for reckoning. Canada's money was worth 75 percent that of France until 1717, when the 2 became of equal value. In club to brand upward for frequent shortages of legal tender, the colonial administration issued monnaie de carte du jour [card coin], which it used to pay small sums owed to its suppliers, the colony'south soldiers and other Land creditors. These cards were reimbursed in coin by the Intendant, although cardholders did not always receive their nominal value. Other substitutes for cash included bills of commutation, which bearers could endorse and employ every bit a method of payment.

Design for 12 playing cards, 1714

Proclamation of the King apropos carte du jour money in Canada

Bill of substitution in the proper name of Robert Dugard

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  The Budgetary System Document 2PDF Version 0.94 Mb

  The Monetary Organisation Certificate threePDF Version 0.28 Mb

The Merchant Assemblies

Ruling permitting merchants of the towns of Québec and Montréal to gather daily, in a suitable location
CA ANQ-Q TP1 S35/2

In New France, all public assemblies required prior authority, and the correct to elect an individual who would speak on behalf of anybody had to exist duly approved past the authorities. The colony'south merchants received permission from the King to gather for the purpose of doing business and discussing questions of trade in a place that in France was called la place, l'échange or la bourse. They were also given the right to appoint a spokesman who, in an endeavor to promote their common interests, would represent them in dealings with the civil authorities.

  The Merchant Assemblies Document anePDF Version 1.10 Mb

The Travelling Vendors

Petition addressed to Charles-Jean-Baptiste de Fleuriau
FR CAOM COL C11A 46 fol. 51-53

Every summer, French vendors travelled to New France to sell their wares. Local merchants perceived this to be an unfair state of affairs, since the stallholders' expenses were lower than those of the local merchants, and they were able to attract clients past offering their appurtenances at vil prix [extremely low prices]. Although the stallholders were subject to sure restrictions adamant by the King, including a prohibition on trading with the Ancient peoples, the Canadians felt that their presence resulted in a loss of capital letter. Nevertheless, the Court of Versailles remained indifferent to their complaints.

  The Travelling Vendors Document 1PDF Version 1.23 Mb

Exports and Imports

Nearly all Canadian exports to French republic during the 17th century consisted of beaver pelts. In the following century, the proportion of furs and hides from other animals increased, and although furs were still the main consign particular, they were no longer the only one. Trade amidst Canada, Île Royale (Greatcoat Breton Island) and the French West Indies developed during the first half of the 18th century, and Louisbourg, on Île Royale, became its hub. Aside from fur, most of Canada's exports consisted of food products (flour, biscuits, peas, fish) and wood; Île Royale'south master export was cod, and those of the West Indies, tafia (rum), carbohydrate and molasses. Manufactured goods, wine, spirits and luxury items were shipped across the Atlantic from France.

List of ships that arrived in Québec from Europe

Statement of returns made for merchandise arriving in 1733

Trade imported from France

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The Cost of Wheat and Flour

Ordinance from Charles de Beauharnois de La Boische
CA ANC MG8-A6 i

Wheat was the master crop in New France, and bread formed the ground of the population's diet. From the 1670s on, the colony was producing enough wheat to run into its ain needs, and by the second decade of the 18th century, information technology started exporting wheat. This vital product was kept nether constant surveillance past the government. In years when the harvest was poor, the cost of wheat was regulated and its exportation restricted or prohibited; sometimes it was even necessary to import wheat from France. During the 18th century, if there was a shortage, wheat was requisitioned from the outlying areas, in order to ensure the survival of the urban population and the troops.

  The Price of Wheat and Flour Document 1PDF Version 0.74 Mb

The Ironworks of Saint-Maurice

Company agreement concerning the iron mines and ironworks of Saint-Maurice
FR CAOM COL C11A 110 fol. 100-103

In 1730, the Montréal merchant and seigneur of Saint-Maurice, François Poulin de Francheville, was granted permission by the King to mine the iron deposits on his seigneury at his ain expense. The ironworks, built near the town of Trois-Rivières, were the kickoff and simply fe manufacture enterprise in New France. In 1736, shortly after Poulin's death, the ironworks were taken over past a company that, despite a loan from the Rex, went bankrupt in 1741. The ironworks then became the property of the Crown, and began producing artillery pieces and objects of everyday use, such equally pots and stoves.

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Shipbuilding

Canada'southward shipbuilding manufacture got under way in Québec and the surrounding area during the last third of the 17th century. To commencement with, the focus was on small vessels intended for coastal navigation: rowboats, pocket-sized sailboats and bateaux plats [flat-bottomed boats]. In the following decades, seagoing ships of greater tonnage were also built. In 1739, the Rex established a shipyard in Québec for the construction of large vessels that would become part of the majestic navy. He dispatched the experienced shipbuilder, René-Nicolas Levasseur, to the colony to oversee the undertaking. On June 4, 1742, the first ship was launched: a 500-ton flûte (a ship fitted for state of war with cannons and used to transport material) named the Canada. After flourishing for about a decade, regal shipbuilding collapsed with the end of the French Government.

Licence equally king'due south shipbuilder in Canada granted

General inventory of the forest, munitions and utensils

  Shipbuilding Document 1PDF Version three.9 Mb

Maritime Trade

Maritime trade was vital to New French republic. The colony'southward being depended principally on the export of fur to France, and for its own provisions it depended heavily on a number of French products, including manufactured appurtenances, wine, spirits and luxury items. From the early 17th century until the Treaty of Paris, the traffic of goods beyond the Atlantic increased at the same charge per unit equally the colony's population. Only commercial shipping operations required major investments: the outfitting of a ship, the purchasing of goods, and insurance all gave ascension to expenses that only prosperous traders could afford. Although there were a few merchants from New France involved in this blazon of commercial exchange, it was dominated by traders from France. Between 1730 and 1747, for example, the visitor owned by Robert Dugard of Rouen did a large amount of business with New France: his import and export cargoes represented a full value of 6,000,000 livres, a huge sum at the fourth dimension.

Receipt for merchandise signed by the helm of the Centaure

Bottomry bond putting Guillaume Fouques

Inventory later death of Louis Le Ber

Insurance policy in the name of Robert Dugard

Bill of lading for the cargo of the ship the Centaure

Clearance for a ship leaving Québec for France

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  Maritime Trade Certificate iiPDF Version 6.69 Mb

  Maritime Trade Document 3PDF Version 0.63 Mb

  Maritime Trade Document iiiPDF Version 0.58 Mb

Smuggling

In the economic realm, French republic practised a policy of protectionism: the goal was to limit foreign imports and increase exports and then as to accomplish a positive trade rest. Under this system, the colonies were expected to supply the female parent country with needed raw materials and provide a market for its manufactured goods. This meant that all the products purchased, owned or sold by the inhabitants of New France had to be French, and that all commerce with the neighbouring English colonies was prohibited. Despite repeated bans, however, and heavy fines, smuggling between New France and New England was common.

Letter of the alphabet from the Governor General Charles de Beauharnois de La Boische

Ordinance declaring right and valid the seizure past Sieur Herbin

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Source: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/exploration-settlement/new-france-new-horizons/Pages/trade.aspx

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