>
Louis XIV not only influenced France and Europe, but he also spread French power abroad. By the 1680’s Louis was at his height, and France was the dominant world power. But to remain at such a zenith, France needed a colonial empire. Arriving late, maybe even fashionably, France began to build an imperial system.
Operating from Quebec, French fur trappers and merchants spread throughout the American Midwest. Rivers were navigated and Indian relations were negotiated. France, unlike Spain, England, and Portugal, was looking for natural resources, not necessarily silver and gold. With such itinerancy in mind, no major French cities were established outside of New France – Quebec. In the 1670’s Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit Missionary, and Louis Jolliet, a fur trader, were granted liberty to explore an Indian rumor concerning a great river.
Jacques Marquette, trained in France, was sent to present day Michigan, where he was instrumental in founding Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. While in the region, Marquette quickly learned many of the native languages, especially Huron. He also began to learn the region’s geography and trade routes. From Sault Ste. Marie Marquette helped establish another mission in northern Wisconsin. The regional Indians trusted Marquette’s congenial spirit, which aided Marquette in future expeditions.
Louis Jolliet was born in the New World, and lived near Quebec. His step-father was a successful fur trader throughout the Great Lakes region, where Jolliet grew to manhood. Jolliet’s constant contact with Indians gave him an uncanny perception into Indian culture. He learned many languages from an early age both in school, where he also trained to become a Jesuit, and daily life. His knowledge would profoundly affect his life as well as the New World. In May 1673, Jolliet became acquainted with Jacques Marquette near St. Ignace, another of Marquette’s missions, to discover any truth behind Indian river rumors.
Two canoes, five Metis Indians, Marquette, and Jolliet began to navigate along Michigan’s Upper Peninsula southward toward Green Bay, Wisconsin. Near Green Bay the expedition continued up the Fox River to its headwaters. At the swampy headwaters, the Metis guides encouraged the canoes to be portaged across a two mile marshy route to the Wisconsin River. A few years later in honor of the Indians’ encouragement a trading post was established and subsequently named Portage. The Wisconsin River lead Marquette and Jolliet directly into the large rumored river, the Mississippi after a month’s exploration. Further exploration continued toward Arkansas, within 400 miles of the Gulf of Mexico, until the seven men agreed to turn back. They were encountering Indians who had European goods, mostly Spanish. The return route diverted through Illinois via the Des Plaines and Chicago rivers, where an Indian confederation resided. At first sight, Marquette remarked poorly about the swampy land near the Chicago River’s estuary; however, a few years later European settlers would establish a minor trading outpost, which rapidly expanded into the key City of Chicago.
Ten years after Marquette and Jolliet published their findings other French adventurers explored the Midwest. Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle finished exploring the Mississippi River down to the Gulf of Mexico. La Salle claimed all surrounding land for France and called it Louisiane to honor Louis XIV. A major city would also be established in a horrible geographic region south of Lake Pontchartrain, along the Mississippi River, and northeast of the Gulf of Mexico – New Orleans. France hoped its new discoveries would link a vital river corridor between the North and South. Eventually, supremacy would be realized – so the theory went. France, however, never established a strong colonial system. New Orleans and Quebec would remain the only major French centers of note in North America. A financial crisis, English supremacy, and religious issues severely inhibited any further colonial growth in North America. By 1804, all but a few minor French outposts in the New World were gone.
France also tried to muscle into the already established East Indian trade. Portugal, Spain, the Dutch, and English all predated French involvement, but France undaunted tried anyway. Spain and Portugal’s power had almost completely vanished by Louis’ late reign. England was just beginning to spread influence over India, and the Dutch were the only trusted Europeans in Japan and China. France would create two trading cities, Pondicherry and Chandernagore, as well as inhabiting various islands throughout the Indian Ocean. France could have taken all of India, but Sir Robert Clive’s victory a generation later at Plassey closed the Indian door to France.
French foreign diplomats were the final way France spread power. Diplomats established strong relations with the Ottoman Turks, Morroccans, Persians, and Siamese. Both the Persians and Siamese sent elaborate embassies that dazzled French imagination. Such relations allowed France to establish forward bases throughout the East, notably in what would become French Indochina.
Louis did not begin French exploration/colonialism, but his power certainly afforded French ability. France would become one of the world’s great land owners during the 1800’s, boasting with her 20th Century ally, England, that they owned half of the world.
armchaircapitalist 