The Society of New France, an Overview of Life in the New World

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died within the first year of life and childhood diseases were prevalent leading to more deaths. In France, obedience, discipline and punishment was managed by parents to encourage respect for authority, it was very strict. In New France, the one change seen was in society was a more relaxed approach to children, showing more kindness and affection. Much of this was inspired by Natives and church teachings.

The Church played a major role in shaping New France because of the involvement in health, education and religion. The Church’s role in New France was to provide spiritual, legal, government and personal services. Priests were expected to baptize babies, register births and deaths, record business transactions and spread the latest news. The Church had to care for the sick, disabled, elderly and orphaned as there were no institutions to do so. Education in New France was also mimicked after France. The church was in charge in maintaining schools in New France. Schools were private and demonstrated an egalitarian character by providing education for all children regardless of social-class or backgrounds. Unfortunately, many schools were based in urban centers so learning in rural areas was difficult. Girls were offered an education after female teachers were brought to the colony to teach in all girl schools. One of the main goals of the Church was to convert Natives to Christianity. Aboriginal children were also offered an education as a means to convert them to Christianity and convert them to the French culture. Boys and girls were taught much the same subjects, reading, writing, counting and religion. Girls learnt much less academic and more practical household duties and religious studies in an effort to prepare them for married life. Women in New France played a significant role in commercial life, operating businesses and working in trades in place of their husbands. Women in New France had more opportunities compared to those in France. As the population grew, European values started to take shape in New France, more closely linked to that of the Old World in France. Many of the opportunities women experienced began to diminish and the privileges of class and rank disappeared.

There were a number of groups of people that made up life in New France, each had their own role to play in the development of its society. Social structure was not solely established based on economic differences. A person’s social rank dictated their economic behaviour because social position demanded a specific way of life. Social position was achieved by birth or could be influenced if they didn’t act appropriately based on their rank. The higher the rank the more wealthy you were. To maintain a status you had to act the part whether you could afford it or not. Farmers lead simple lives and had no chance of moving up the status ranks. But farmers were not seen as the bottom of the social ranks. Finding reliable workers was an issue in New France, so African and Native peoples were employed as slaves. In 1709 slavery was legalized thought slaves needed to be provided with housing, fed, clothed and properly cared for. Discipline was allowed and slaves were treated as property meaning they could be bought and sold. Women and children were slaves too but restrictions permitted children from being sold before adolescence and females could not be sexually exploited. Males worked as labourers and females in domestic service. In New France, African slaves were worth more than Native salves but both were expensive and only the wealthiest could afford to buy them.

New France developed into an empire based on trade and Native alliances. Europeans became aware of the appealing resources offered in the New World. Europeans traded supplies with the Natives for fur pelts, which were fashionable in Europe but very expensive to buy. The French introduced many new things to the Natives, such as alcohol and weapons. The Natives also helped the settlers with knowledge of how to survive in the harsh winters. Initially fish and fur were what attracted Europeans to New France but eventually political and economic interests gave rise to further settlement. Colonization was modest in the beginning and society was slow to develop. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, France had explored and claimed more than half of North American land and had established alliances with the Natives. By 1750, most people in New France were born here and began to call themselves Canadians. A new culture was emerging that was distinct from the old world. New France was largely rooted with French influence and control but was a society uniquely different, making New France their own world.

Bibliography

Conrad, M., Finkel, A., & Fyson, D. (2015). History of the Canadian Peoples (Vol. 1). Toronto: Pearson.

Legare, F. (2004). Samuel de Champlain, Father of New France. Montreal: XYZ Publishing.

Magnuson, R. (1992). Education in New France. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.