Governance

Colonial troops in America

 
The year 1671 would have a lasting impact on the fate of the military in French America, as the rivalry between the Ministers of the Army and Navy— Louvois and Colbert— led to a rupture between the forces responsible for the colonies. No longer would the formation of civilian militias suffice: the colonies needed troops.

Boris Lesueur, PhD in history, laboratory AIHP-Géode of the Université des Antilles, CIRESC

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Governors and Intendants in New France

In New France, the colonial administration was embodied by two main figures: the governor and the intendant.

Marie-Eve Ouellet, historian, associate professor, Université de Sherbrooke

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Samuel de Champlain (1580-1635)

Trained as a cartographer Henri IV’s army, Samuel de Champlain (c.1580-1635) took an active role in the foundation of the colonies of Acadia and Quebec, which he helped to make known through his numerous publications. His actions have since earned him the moniker “Father of New France.”

Eric Thierry, teacher and historian of French America.

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Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, who was born in Montreal in 1680 and died in Paris in 1767, is often presented by historians as the “father of Louisiana”. Given his wanderings and fields of action, he would better fit the description as a man of the Atlantic, with one foot in the American colonies and the other in France. 

Gilles Havard, research director at CNRS.

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