France was one of the first countries to actively explore and populate new continents. Interestingly, some French colonies exist to this day, although in much smaller numbers.
In the 16th century, the French state, along with Portugal and Spain, began to equip expeditions to discover and colonize unknown lands. It is interesting that the era of the colonial empire can be divided into two stages.
French colonies of the 16-19th century
To begin with, it is worth noting that most of North America at one time was divided into separate colonies, which belonged to England and France. By 1713, the colonial empire reached its maximum size. Canada, Louisiana, Quebec - all these are former colonies of France.
The history of the development of new colonies is quite interesting. After part of North America was called New France, the first necessity was to develop a viable state here.
The number of Catholic priests in the colony grew more and more , who not only supported the French who arrived here, but also actively planted Christianity for the Indian tribes. Already in 1674, a diocese was established in Quebec, led by Bishop Francois de Laval. By the way, in 1663 he created a theological seminary, which became a real impetus to the development of the educational 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 was significantly behind in development from the English colonies. There were no schools for children, therefore, the population was not only illiterate, but also extremely superstitious. The gap between aristocrats and peasants only widened. There were no workers, lawyers, or researchers on the territory of the colonies. There were not even normal paths that would connect different parts of the colony.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the colonies of France were huge:
- the south of the modern province of Quebec (by the way, the population of this province in Canada to this day considers itself part of the French state, there are even two official languages);
- territories near the Hudson's 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, France lost most of its American colonies. In 1762, the Paris Peace Treaty was signed, in which the colonial empire abandoned its possessions in the Ohio Valley, on the east coast of the Mississippi, Canadian provinces and Nova Scotia. Under French rule, New Orleans remained .
And already in 1803 between the United States of America and the French state were signed documents on the sale of Louisiana. France has now also lost control of New Orleans, an important strategic city.
Another blow to the state of the colonial empire was inflicted at the beginning of the 19th century. In those days, France also owned the colony of Santo Domingo, on the territory of the Haitian islands. From 1791 to 1803 the uprising of African slaves lasted. By the way, today it is the only revolt of slaves known to history that ended in their victory. In the 19th century, the population nevertheless gained independence, and Santo Domingo turned into the first republic led by blacks.
Modern colonies of France
Without a doubt, a few centuries ago, France owned vast territories around the globe. The state was interested not only in large territories, but also in small islands, as well as those plots of land that are practically unsuitable for living. For example, once France owned the small islands of the Arctic and part of Antarctica.
But to this day, a small piece of the once huge colonial empire has survived. Overseas French departments are located in French Guiana, on the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, as well as in Reunion.