1. -Government -Seigneurial System -Church
New France
-Government
-Seigneurial
System
-Church

2. Governmental Structure

3. Sovereign Council In charge of New France while king was in France
Had a lot of power because communication with France was difficult
New France and France sometime did not have communication with each other from more than 6 months
New France’s government was expensive and inefficient
The Royal Government was replaced by the British government in 1763

4. Governor General Sovereign council
Figurehead of the king in New France – living symbol of king’s authority
Had the most power in New France
Nobleman with military background
Responsible for: military planning, making a good relationship with First Nations people, seeing that other officials did their job

5. Comte de Frontenac (1622-1698) Governor General
Became Governor General in 1672
Was made to return to France in 1682 when he fought with the bishop and intendant
Returned to New France in 1689 to attack the British and expand fur trade

6. Sovereign Council The Bishop Represented Catholic church in New France
Ruled over the priests and nuns
Was in charge of hospitals, , churches, schools and missionaries
Chosen by the king
Made sure the communities were getting along

7. Francois de Laval (1623-1708) The Bishop Jesuit priest
Started living in Quebec in 1659
Became Bishop in 1674
Wanted to make First Nations people Christians

8. Intendant: Sovereign Council
Supervised the colony in issues of finance, and law and order
Nobleman
Communicated with the king about what happened in New France

9. Intendant Jean Talon (1625-1694) New France’s first intendant
Wanted to move colony away from being based in fur trade to being based in agriculture (farming) and industry, but population was too small
Encouraged population growth through marriage grants (money for getting married) and baby bonuses (money for having babies)
Introduced new crops (flax and hops), started lumber and shipyard industry, encouraged mining

10. Seigneurial System
-Structure
-Women
-France
-Famrland

11. Structure of the Seigneuries
New France built along St. Lawrence River

12. Structure of the Seigneuries
Long, narrow strips of land
Land passed on through generations
King owned all the land and allowed seigneurs to use it
Seigneurs hired habitants to farm the land

13. Structure of the Seigneuries
Duties of Seigneur
Divide land and give it to habitants
Build house and flour mill on land/seigneury
Help with building of church
Give Intendant information about land, money and population
Duties of the Habitant
Pay taxes to seigneur
Build a house and farm the land
Unpaid labour for seigneur a few days a year
Give some produce (fish, crops) to seigneur every year

14. Women in the Seigneuries
Women could have land
Encouraged to marry at 16 years old
If their husband died, the woman would inherit the land
Some women took control of the land
Others gave it to their sons

15. Compared to France
Rulers of New France tried to copy the systems of France
The seigneurial system in France only benefitted seigneurs – a lot of profit from cheap labour
In New France, seigneurs and habitants both benefitted
Seigneur had power and status
Habitant had freedom, wealth and land
Seigneurs in New France not as wealthy as seigneurs in France
Taxes were low and habitants could keep most of their produce
St. Lawrence river made travel easy

16. Obtaining Farmland
As more habitants came to New France, new land was needed and new seigneuries started
Many First Nations people moved because of fur trade – slowly started losing land
Many habitant men married First Nations women and worked as farmers or fur traders

17. The Church - In the Towns - On the Seigneuries
- Role in Education and Health Care
The Church

18. The Church
Roman Catholic Church was very important – almost everyone in New France was Catholic
Only Roman Catholics could emigrate to New France
Church business included: missionary work, education, hospitals and charity work
Church influenced the government through the Bishop
People of New France limited Church’s power and income by refusing to pay taxes

19. In the Towns Three main towns: Quebec, Montreal, Trois Riviéres
Located along St. Lawrence River
Quebec was military centre of New France

20. In the Towns
Montreal was started in centre of fur trade by 1660

21. On the Seigneuries Seigneuries provided habitants with a church
Churches were either wooden or stone
Each area supposed to have own priests, but there were often not enough priests
Priests performed services for people:
Spiritual service – baptism, marriage, funeral
Legal service – wills, business transactions
Government service – registered births and deaths, gave government announcements
Personal services – provided news and gossip
Church was centre of religious and social life

22. Role in Education Church was only source of education in New France
Taught children how to read and write Latin and French, about Catholic religion and math
Many children did not get an education – in Quebec, only boys who wanted to become priests received an education
Many boys were illiterate because they needed to work on farms
Girls often had better education than boys

23. Role in Health Care
Church was only organization that cared for sick people, people with disabilities, orphans, and the elderly
Nuns usually responsible for caring for the sick
Ursuline Nuns made colony’s first hospital in Quebec in 1639
1659 – Montreal’s first hospital