History help please.?

Question

Can someone please give me some comparisons between the French and English Colonies?

Can you also tell me why the English presence in American was more likely to last than the French.

Help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Answer 1

The French clonial period for North America began in 1604-5, with Champlain and DeMonts at St.Croix island, at the mouth of the St.John River, then it's abandonment as the colonists moved across the Bay of Fundy to establish Port Royal, in the Annapolis Basin, near Annapolis Royal. This began the French colony of Acadia, which we now know as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Maine.

The English colony of Virginia and the French colony of Quebec began around the same time, in 1608.

The English colony of Massachusetts began in 1620, at Plymouth. From these beginnings, settlers poured into the new territories, many for the promise of land and farming, others for adventure, furs and to seek their fortunes.

The French were not so quick to send people to colonize their territory. Most of the people they sent away were to settle in the area surrounding the Bay of Fundy, or along the southern side of the St. Lawrence River. Even during Louis XIV (The Sun King)'s time, not many periods of peace happened, with small wars between the French and English being constant, and the English usually winning. This meant French expeditions to North America would be very risky. France settled for fortification of their areas instead, with the fortress of Quebec to be their main bastion, while Louisburg guarded the gateway to their possessions slong the St.Lawrence Seaway and further west, from their fortress on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia,(altough it wasn't built until 1713). Other fortifications for France were Port Royal/Annapolis Royal, which changed hands between the British and French 7 times, from 1613 to 1710, Fort Beausejour, guarding the little piece of land that connects Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and Montreal. After LaSalle and DeSoto explored the Great Lakes, and followed the river systems to finally emerge at the mouth of the Mississippi River, claiming all for King Louis (therefore "Louis" iana), various other small trading posts and forts popped up to enforce claim to the new territory. These early French colonists were mainly concerned with the fur trade, and their voracious appetite to make their wealth through this further depleted the animal life of their territories, while they ventured deeper inland. These fellows were called the "Voyageurs" and travelled in big, long canoes for many months, many dying along the way, to trade as far inland as Manitoba. They even intermarried with the local people, and created a new people called the "Metis".

The Engish colonies developed in a completely different direction. England ruled the waves, so sailing and colonizing ventures were much more secure. England and elsewhere in the British Isles was not constantly threatened by war on its own soil, as France was, so it developed a certain "surplus" population. These poor people, disenfranchised by a thing called "land enclosure" suddenly had no means to support themselves anymore, as wealthy landowners seized and fenced off all the previously free, common lands.

The poor people were rounded up, and sent away often from Plymouth and Southhampton, to these new lands. These people were originally feeling punished for nothing, but gradually they came to understand that it was actually a pretty good thing to be sent off to a new, better life as a colonist. British allied lands, such as the Dutch and various German states, also sent their extra people away, and the population of these English territories rose much faster than the French colonies. Soon extra land was running out, and people started to move further inland, making new colonies along the way, until they finally ran up against the weakly held French territories.

The English colonies also weren't so interested in the fur trade, and tended to kill their indians. They were mainly after land, to build their farms on, thus making their new lives.

The Indians understood this, and tended to side with the French in their many wars. The notable exception to this was between the Mohawk group (nation) of Indians, and the Iroquois and Hurons. These Indians had always been at war with each other, and the presence of the Europeans was simply seen as a new development.

The Mohawk didn't like the murderous and abusive British and American colonists, but they hated the Hurons much more.

The French were accepted by the Hurons, Micmacs (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick), and Iroquois as much more honest trading partners, who would give them what they wanted for their furs...guns and booze.

This extra force is how the French General Montcalm nearly cut the American colonies in half in 1757, taking Fort William Henry, and driving down through New York, only to be stopped by winter.

So, the best ways to describe why the English were most likely to win in north America were:

1.) English naval supremacy.

2.) Land enclosure on English and allied lands causing a much greater, rapid expansion of populations in the English territories.

3.) Indian resistance to American expansion being too little and too late.

4.) Lack of military support for the French colonies.

5.) Constant wars creating animosity and further need for more wars.

6.) Better trained, more professional British soldiers for the big battles, at Louisburg, Beausejour, Quebec, and Montreal.