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  France in America: Chronology

Date

Events in France

Events In French America / Explorations Events In French America / Territorial Colonization and Development Events In French America / Conflicts and Diplomacy

Beginning of 16th century

   

Norman, Breton, and Basque sailors establish cod fisheries on banks of Newfoundland.

 

1515-1547

Reign of François I.

     

1524

 

Voyage of Giovanni da Verrazano along the North American coast (Carolina, New York, Narragansett Bay, and Nova Scotia).

   

1525

Battle of Pavie; François I taken prisoner.

     

1534

 

First voyage of Jacques Cartier to Canada.

   

1535

 

Second voyage of Jacques Cartier to Canada.

   

1541-1543

 

Voyages of Jacques Cartier and Jean-François de La Roque de Roberval to Canada.

Cartier and Roberval’s attempted settlement on the St. Lawrence River.

 

1555-1560

   

Attempted French settlement in Bay of Guanabara (Rio de Janeiro) under direction of Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon fails.

 

1560-1574

Reign of Charles IX; Wars of Religion begin (1562).

     

1562-1565

   

Jean Ribault et de Goulaine de Laudonnière leads three expeditions to South Carolina and Florida.

Spanish massacre of French in Florida, 1565.

1568

     

Dominique de Gourgues leads reprisal expedition against the Spanish.

1572

Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

     

1581

   

First mention of a French ship equipped for the fur trade.

 

1589-1610

Reign of Henri IV.

     

1600

   

Pierre Chauvin founds first fur trading post in North America, at Tadoussac.

 

1598

Edict of Nantes.

     

1603

 

Expedition of François Gravé du Pont to Canada, accompanied by Samuel de Champlain.

 

Feast of Tadoussac--Alliance between the French, the Algonquins, and the Montagnais begins.

1604

 

Expedition of Pierre Du Gua de Monts to Acadia, accompanied by Samuel de Champlain and Jean de Biencourt de Pourtrincourt.

Pierre Du Gua de Monts winters at Ile Sainte Croix, near border of present-day New Brunswick and Maine.

 

1605

   

Pierre Du Gua de Monts founds Port-Royal in Acadia.

 

1608

   

Samuel de Champlain founds Quebec.

 

1609

     

French-Huron alliance begins.

1610-1643

Assassination of Henri IV; reign of Louis XIII.

     

1618

Thirty Years War begins.

     

1624

Richelieu becomes head, King’s Council.

     

1625

   

First Jesuit missionaries arrive in Canada.

 

1627

   

Canadian commercial monopoly granted to Company of the One Hundred Associates.

 

1629-1632

     

Kirke brothers occupy Quebec for England.

1632

     

Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye: France recovers Canada.

1634

   

Founding of Trois-Rivières.

 

1635

Thirty Years War: France officially enters war against Spain.

     

1637

   

Founding of first réduction (reservation) at Sillery on the St. Lawrence River.

 

1639

   

Society of Our lady of Montreal founded for “conversion of the savages.”

 

1641-1645

     

Franco-Iroquois War.

1642

   

Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve founds Ville-Marie, which becomes Montreal.

 

1643-1715

Reign of Louis XIV.

     

1645

     

Peace of Trois-Rivières between the Mohawks, the French, and their Indian allies.

1648-1652

The Fronde.

     

1648-1650

     

Destruction of Huron lands by the Iroquois.

1650-1653

     

Franco-Iroquois War.

1653

     

Peace between the French and the Iroquois.

1654

     

British expedition seizes Acadia.

1654-1667

     

British occupation of Acadia.

1659

Peace of the Pyrenees with Spain.

     

1660-1667

     

Franco-Iroquois War.

1659

 

Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson reach western end of Lake Superior.

   

1661

Personal rule of Louis XIV (1661-1715) begins; Colbert appointed to King’s Council.

     

1662

   

Founding of colony of Plaisance at Newfoundland.

 

1663

   

Retrocession of Canada to French royal authority; Seigneurie of Montreal entrusted to Company of Saint-Sulpice.

 

1665

   

France begins to subsidize emigration to the Americas; arrival of Intendant Jean Talon; first Jesuit mission in the Pays d’en Haut.

 

1666

     

Expeditions of Carignan-Salières regiment against the Mohawks.

1667

     

General Peace of Quebec between the French, their allies, and the Five Nations; Iroquois migrations toward Montreal begin.

1668-1669

     

Franco-British struggle for control of Hudson Bay begins.

1670

     

French reoccupation of Acadia.

1671

 

At Sault Sainte Marie, French claim possession of Pays d’en Haut.

 

General alliance with the Indians in the Pays d’en Haut.

1672

   

Count Frontenac named Governor of New France.

 

1673

 

“Discovery” of the Mississippi by Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette.

Founding of Fort Frontenac.

French-Illinois alliance begins.

1679

   

René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle founds trading post at Niagara.

 

1680

   

Establishment of Fort Crèvecoeur on the Illinois River.

 

1681

   

Permit system implemented for fur traders in the Pays d’en Haut.

 

1682

 

Expedition of René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle to mouth of the Mississippi.

French claim possession of the Mississippi Valley, under name of Louisiana; building of Fort Saint-Louis in Illinois Country.

 

1684

     

Resumption of war between the French and the Iroquois; expedition of Joseph-Antoine Le Febvre de La Barre against the Senecas.

1685

Revocation of Edict of Nantes.

René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle leads expedition by sea to Louisiana, which fails to locate mouth of the Mississippi.

   

1687

     

Expedition of Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville against the Senecas.

1689-1697

War of the League of Augsburg (War of the Grand Alliance).

     

1689

     

Iroquois raid on Lachine, near Montreal.

1690

     

Franco-Indian raids at Corlar, Salmon Falls, and Casco; Admiral Phips sacks Port Royal, but fails to take Quebec.

1694-1697

     

Expeditions of Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville to Hudson Bay and Newfoundland.

1696

   

Suspension of trade in the Pays d’en Haut .

Expedition of Louis Buade de Frontenac against the Onondagas and the Oneidas.

1697

     

Treaty of Ryswick--Spain recognizes French authority in Saint-Domingue (Haiti).

1699

   

Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville founds Louisiana; establishment of Mission of Sainte-Famille at Cahokia by Seminary of Foreign Missions.

 

1701

   

Antoine Laumet Lamothe Cadillac founds Detroit.

Great Peace of Montreal between the French, their Indian allies, and the Iroquois.

1702-1713

War of the Spanish Succession.

     

1702

   

Founding of Mobile.

French–Choctaw alliance begins.

1703

   

Fort Saint-Louis (Illinois Country) abandoned; Jesuits set up Mission of the Immaculate Conception near the Kaskaskia River.

 

1704

     

French and their Indian allies attack Deerfield.

1709

     

British seize Port-Royal, which becomes Annapolis-Royal.

1711

     

Aborted attack on Quebec by Sir Hovenden Walker.

1712

   

Louisiana commercial monopoly granted to Antoine Crozat.

War against the Fox begins.

1713

   

Reopening of the Pays d’en Haut. 

Treaty of Utrecht: France cedes Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, and Acadia, but retains Ile Royale (present-day Cape Breton Island) and Ile Saint-Jean to England.

1715-1774

Reign of Louis XV.

     

1715-1723

Regency of Philippe, duc d’Orléans.

     

1716

John Law founds Banque générale.

 

Founding of Fort Rosalie (Natchez) and Fort Saint-Jean-Baptiste (Natchitoches).

 

1717

Creation of Company of the West by John Law.

 

Louisiana commercial monopoly granted to Company of the West, renamed Company of the Indies in 1719; administrative reattachment of the Illinois Country to Louisiana; founding of Fort Toulouse (Alibamons).

 

1717-1720

   

French migration to Louisiana.

 

1718

   

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founds New Orleans.

 

1719

   

Founding of Fort Chartres and village of Prairie du Rocher in the Illinois Country.

War against Spain; French capture Pensacola.

1720

Collapse of John Law’s system.

 

Founding of Louisbourg (Ile Royale); exploitation of Ile Saint-Jean begins; reorganization of Company of the Indies.

 

1721

   

Founding of village of Saint-Philippe in the Illinois Country.

 

1722

     

Pensacola reverts to Spanish authority.

1724

   

Promulgation of Code noir (slave code) in Louisiana.

 

1729

     

Natchez uprising.

1730

     

Expeditions against the Natchez and the Fox.

1731

   

Retrocession of Louisiana to French royal authority; virtual cessation of African slave trade to Louisiana .

Second expedition against the Natchez.

1731-1743

 

Explorations of La Vérendrye brothers in the Plains.

   

1736

     

First campaign of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville against the Chickasaws.

1738

     

Signing of durable peace accord with the Fox.

1739-1740

     

Second campaign of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville against the Chickasaws.

1744-1748

War of the Austrian Succession.

     

1745

     

British capture of Louisbourg.

1745-1749

     

British occupation of Ile Royale.

1747

     

Crisis of French and Indian alliance in the Pays d’en Haut.

Ca. 1750

   

Village of Ste. Geneviève founded in the Illinois Country.

 

1750

French and British diplomats fail to resolve dispute over Ohio Valley.

     

1754

     

Jumonville Affair launches Seven Years War in America.

1755

   

Deportation of Acadians begins.

French and Indian victory over the British at the Monongahela River, near present-day Pittsburgh.

1756

Official beginning of the Seven Years War in Europe.

   

Marquis de Montcalm leads French operations in North America.

1757

     

French and Indian victory at Fort William Henry.

1758

     

Fall of Louisbourg.

1759

     

Fall of Quebec; death of Louis-Joseph de Montcalm.

1760

     

Fall of Montreal.

1762

     

Secret Treaty of Fontainebleau cedes western Louisiana to Spain.

1763

End of the Seven Years War.

   

By Treaty of Paris, France cedes to Britain all territory east of the Mississippi (eastern Louisiana), as well as all Canadian possessions; France retains fishing rights on Newfoundland coast as well as islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon; Pontiac’s War begins.

1764

   

Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau found St. Louis.

 

1765

   

British garrison reaches Fort de Chartres in the Illinois Country; Acadian immigration in lower Louisiana begins.

 

1768

   

Anti-Spanish revolt at New Orleans.

 

1769

   

Effective establishment of Spanish regime in Louisiana.

 

1774-1793

Reign of Louis XVI.

     

1774

   

Quebec Act.

 

1776

     

American Declaration of Independence; Louis XVI decides to help “rebel” American colonists.

1777

     

Marquis de La Fayette in America.

1778

     

France commits itself officially on side of “rebels.” Treaty of Amity and Commerce and Treaty of Alliance signed with United States; France enters war against Britain.

1780

     

Expeditionary corps sent under leadership of Count Rochambeau.

1781

     

French and American forces defeat British at Yorktown.

1783

     

Treaty of Versailles.

1785-1788

 

Expedition of La Pérouse.

   

1789-1799

French Revolution.

     

1791-1804

     

Haitian Revolution.

1791

     

Slave revolt in Saint-Domingue (Haiti).

1789-1798

   

French émigrés in the United States.

 

1793-1794

Reign of Terror.

     

1791-1809

   

Emigration of the Saint-Domingue refugees to the United States, France, and circum-Caribbean; United States grants assistance to French refugees (1794).

 

1796

 

Secret French expedition to map Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

   

1797-1798

     

XYZ Affair.

1799

Napoleon Bonaparte becomes first consul.

     

1799-1800

     

Quasi-war between France and United States.

1800

     

Treaty of San Ildefonso--secret treaty by which Spain cedes western Louisiana to France; Convention of 1800 between France and United States.

1802-1803

     

Leclerc Expedition fails to reoccupy Saint-Domingue.

1803

     

Effective retrocession of Louisiana from Spain to France; France sells Louisiana to the United States.

1804

Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor Napoleon I.

Lewis and Clark Expedition begins.

Americans take possession of St. Louis.

Haitian independence declared.

Main Source: Gilles Havard and CécileVidal, Histoire de l’Amérique française (Paris, Flammarion, 2003).

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