American Colonial Life

PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS & WRITINGS: FRENCH EXPLORATION

Quebec City and Montreal (New France, 1608–1763)

• Samuel de Champlain, Voyages of Samuel de Champlain (1604–1632)
  – The founding texts of French North America. Champlain describes exploration, alliances with Indigenous peoples, and the founding of Quebec (1608).
  – Primary Source: Available in English translation (University of Toronto Press, 2012).

• The Jesuit Relations (Relations des Jésuites, 1632–1673)
  – Annual reports sent from Jesuit missionaries in Canada to France. They document Indigenous cultures, conversion efforts, and life in New France.
  – Primary Source: The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites (1896–1901, 73 vols.), online at http://puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/relations.

• The Charter of the Company of New France (1627)
  – Established the Company of One Hundred Associates to govern and populate New France.
  – Primary Source: French National Archives; English translation at the Avalon Project (Yale).

• Baron de Lahontan, New Voyages to North America (1703)
  – Insightful and often humorous travel narrative describing daily life, fur trade, and encounters with Native peoples.

• Pierre Boucher, A True and Genuine Description of New France (1664)
  – An early defense of New France’s potential, encouraging migration and investment.

New Orleans (Louisiana, 1718–1763 and after)

• Founding Charter of the Company of the Indies (1717)
  – Established John Law’s company, responsible for Louisiana’s colonization.
  – Primary Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), Gallica Digital Archive.

• Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville’s Letters (1718–1740s)
  – Reports by the founder of New Orleans on colonial administration, relations with Indigenous nations, and development along the Mississippi River.
  – Primary Source: Translated in Louisiana in French Archives, 1700–1743 (Mississippi Department of Archives & History).

• Marc-Antoine Caillot, A Company Man: The Remarkable French-Atlantic Voyage of a Clerk for the Company of the Indies (1729–1731)
  – A lively firsthand account of life in early New Orleans, translated by Erin M. Greenwald.

• Code Noir (1685, extended to Louisiana in 1724)
  – French royal decree defining the status of enslaved Africans and free people of color in the colonies.
  – Primary Source: French text and English translation available via Yale Avalon Project.

St. Louis and the Mississippi Valley (Illinois Country / Upper Louisiana)

• Letters of Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau (1763–1770s)
  – Founders of St. Louis writing about trade, settlement, and transition after France’s loss of Canada.
  – Primary Source: Missouri Historical Society archives, St. Louis.

• French Colonial Records of the Illinois Country (1699–1763)
  – Official French correspondence, land grants, and trade agreements with Native nations.
  – Primary Source: Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

• Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, Letters and Sketches: With a Narrative of a Year’s Residence Among the Indian Tribes (1841)
  – Jesuit missionary reflecting the continuity of French influence in the Mississippi Valley.

South America and the Caribbean (French Guiana, Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe)

• Charter of the Compagnie des Îles d’Amérique (1626)
  – Authorized colonization of the Caribbean islands by France.

• Jean-Baptiste du Tertre, Histoire Générale des Antilles Habitées par les Français (1667–1671)
  – Comprehensive eyewitness history of the French Caribbean, covering sugar, slavery, and colonial society.

• Pierre Moreau, Memoirs of the French Colonies in the West Indies (1689)
  – Early colonial report on governance and trade.

• Toussaint Louverture, Letters and Proclamations (1793–1802)
  – Revolutionary writings from the Haitian leader who helped end French slavery in Saint-Domingue.
  – Primary Source: Collected in The Haitian Revolution Reader (Duke University Press).

• The Code Noir (1685)
  – Royal decree regulating slavery in the French Caribbean and later Louisiana.

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RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Quebec and Montreal (New France)

• Champlain’s Dream by David Hackett Fischer – Sweeping, readable biography of Samuel de Champlain.

• The Jesuit Relations: Narratives of the Missions in New France edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites – Classic annotated edition.

• Canada: A People’s History by Don Gillmor & Pierre Turgeon – Richly illustrated overview with attention to New France.

• French Pathfinders in North America by William Henry Johnson – Academic yet accessible.

Louisiana and New Orleans

• Bienville’s Dilemma: A Historical Geography of New Orleans by Richard Campanella – Excellent on founding and geography.

• The World That Made New Orleans by Ned Sublette – Explores the cultural fusion of Africa, France, and the Caribbean.

• A Company Man: The Remarkable French-Atlantic Voyage of Marc-Antoine Caillot translated by Erin M. Greenwald – Firsthand account with commentary.

St. Louis and the Illinois Country

• Colonial Ste. Genevieve: An Adventure on the Mississippi Frontier by Carl J. Ekberg – Engaging microhistory of a French colonial town.

• French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times by Carl J. Ekberg – Accessible scholarly narrative.

French Caribbean and South America

• Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution by Laurent Dubois – Narrative history of Haiti’s independence movement.

• Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English and French West Indies by Richard Dunn – Foundational Atlantic World study.

• The French Atlantic Triangle: Literature and Culture of the Slave Trade by Christopher L. Miller – Advanced but insightful.

• Haiti: The Aftershocks of History by Laurent Dubois – Humanizing account connecting colonial Saint-Domingue to modern Haiti.

RELIABLE WEBSITES & DIGITAL ARCHIVES

• Library and Archives Canada – New France Archives – Original French colonial maps, letters, and Jesuit Relations.

• Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica Digital Library) – Digitized French colonial charters, Caillot’s memoirs, Code Noir, and missionary letters.

• Archives nationales d’outre-mer (French Colonial Archives, Aix-en-Provence) – Extensive digitized materials from French colonies in the Americas and the Caribbean.

• Yale Avalon Project – French colonial charters, Code Noir, and treaties.

• Library of Congress: France in the Americas Collection – Maps, travel accounts, and early correspondence.

• Missouri Historical Society – French Colonial Collection – Letters of Laclède, Chouteau, and records of early St. Louis.

• Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) – Digitized records from Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana.