New France

Article Outline

Introduction; History; Life in New France in 1750

Town Life

Few seigneurs lived on their estates; most lived in the towns, along with officials, nobles, merchants, and artisans, and had military careers. Canada was basically a military garrison colony in which every man was a soldier. The officer corps of the colonial regular troops was composed, for the most part, of seigneurs and their sons. They sought a military career with its attendant honor and glory in order to bequeath an honorable name to their children. A Jesuit described the seigneurs as being as poor as church mice and as proud as peacocks.

The merchants sought wealth. They wanted to marry their daughters into the nobility and obtain commissions for their sons in the military. The artisans merely tried to practice their crafts without restraint.

Officials, nobles, and people of the seigneurial class wore the same clothing as their counterparts in France. However, luxury clothes such as silks, cotton, and damask had to be imported. When ships arrived from France in the summer, ladies were eager to learn about the latest fashions at the French court. On formal occasions, gentlemen wore a wig.

For the daughters of seigneurs and well-to-do merchants, an education was provided through the Ursuline schools. For the boys, the Jesuit College at Québec and the Sulpician College at Montréal provided as good an education as could be obtained in France. The Jesuits also established a school at Québec to train ships’ pilots and mapmakers. Its graduates impressed the Minister of Marine in France, who sought to lure them away from Canada to serve with the French navy elsewhere.

Religious Life

As settlement grew, the church turned its focus from converting the indigenous people to ministering to the society of the towns and farms. Eventually the number of settlers and clergy in New France became large enough to need a bishop. The bishop chosen was François de Laval, who challenged government officials on several issues, particularly the trading of liquor to the indigenous peoples. He had little success. The secular officials had their way, and the church remained subordinate to the state. There was, however, no religious strife in the colony. When Cardinal Richelieu established the Company of One Hundred Associates, he decreed that only members of the Roman Catholic Church could reside in the colony. The monarchy continued that policy but made an exception for the resident agents of the Protestant merchants of La Rochelle, who resided at Québec.

Education and health care were largely seen as the province of the church. The Ursuline congregation of nuns—women dedicated to the religious life—came to New France to establish schools for girls. The Jesuits did the same for boys, founding their college at Québec in 1635. The Sulpicians, an order of wealthy, well-educated priests, trained young men for the priesthood. Both the Jesuits and the Sulpicians held seigneuries that contributed to their incomes. The Sulpicians from 1663 held the seigneury of the Île de Montréal, and they supplied the fast-growing town of Montréal with parish priests.

By the 18th century, Canada was reasonably well served with hospitals at Québec and Montréal. These were staffed by nuns, with an attendant physician on call. Those who could afford it were expected to pay, but those who could not still received care.

For the helpless who had no family, both the church and the monarchy established Offices of the Poor to prevent them from becoming beggars. The church also established almshouses to care for those unable to care for themselves, including the mentally ill. They were staffed by nuns and funded by the monarchy.

Government

Administration

The Sovereign Council (renamed the Superior Council in 1703) consisted of the governor-general, the intendant, the bishop, an attorney general, a recording clerk, and five councillors (increased to 7 in 1675 and 12 in 1703). The king chose the councillors on the advice of the intendant, which made them an independent body, well able to dispute and check despotic acts by a governor-general. They were intended to be representatives of the settlers, although they were appointed, not elected. They were chosen from among those the intendant considered to be the “better qualified.” The council had both judicial and legislative functions. It was the highest court of law in New France and, with the intendant presiding, enacted laws. Judges in the lower courts also enacted many laws. There was no separation of legislative and judicial powers.

Politics

Although New France did not have an elected assembly as did the British colonies, the officials responsible for the colonists’ well-being had somehow to find out what laws were required. The necessary information was obtained through two institutions. One of these, long in use in France, was the ad hoc assembly. Assemblies would be formed at the parish level to determine when and how a bridge should be repaired, how to force a certain habitant to mend his fences, and so on. On orders of Louis XIV, an assembly was called at Québec every summer to discuss matters of general interest and advise the intendant on necessary legislation.

The other institution, developed in Canada, was the office of captain of militia. Every male aged 15 to 50 had to serve in his parish militia company and arm himself with a serviceable musket. Every parish had a militia captain appointed by the governor-general. These captains were always habitants rather than seigneurs, who would have deemed some of a captain’s duties beneath their dignity. They had to be men respected by their fellow parishioners, men whom the militia would obey in war. It was an unpaid office, but eagerly sought for the honor it conferred. In addition, these captains served as agents of the intendant.

When the intendant needed information such as the prospects for the current year’s harvest, whether there was enough wheat for the winter, or headcount for a census, the militia captain was required to provide it. When the habitants wanted legislation to rectify or prevent an abuse, they asked their captain to inform the intendant. The great bulk of legislation enacted by the intendant, the Superior Council, and the lower courts was enacted at the behest of the populace. When a serious crime was committed in a rural parish, it was the captain who made the preliminary investigation and reported his findings to the intendant, who then decided whether to prosecute. If a prosecution was begun, the captain had to seek out witnesses and suspects, summon them to court, and arrest them if need be.

Communications

There was no printing press in New France, mainly because there was no urgent need for one. In 1748 interim governor-general Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière appealed to the minister of colonial affairs to send a press to Québec. The minister replied that the king could not afford the expense, but that the colonists were free to set up their own press. No one stepped forward to do so. When the intendant, the governor, or the Superior Council wished to inform the people of a new edict, a town crier broadcast the news as he walked through the streets beating a drum. Edicts and official notices were also nailed to the doors of the parish churches and read out by the priest after Mass (the chief Catholic religious service) on Sunday.