| |
Newsroom /
Art and Entertainment
/
Performing Arts
/
Cardinal Richelieu
Cardinal Richelieu
Cardinal Richelieu created The Company of The Hundred Associates to foster a sustainable, self-sufficient colony in New France.
hangzhou,
zhejiang,
China
(prbd.net)
10/03/2011
From its founding in 1604, New France's survival depended on the profitability of the North American fur trade, specifically beaver pelts. To spur the colony's development, the French government offered a monopoly on this trade to private interests who undertook to bring settlers to New France and to provide for them until they became established. However, successive monopolists ignored their obligations to recruit and transport settlers to the colony, focussing instead on maximizing their profits from the fur trade.
By 1626, the colony's growth had effectively stagnated. The Caen family of Rouen held the fur trade monopoly, and the "settlers" they brought out were the dregs of French society: plucked from gutters and prisons, they had no interest in labouring to clear land for homesteading. Trade (other than beaver pelts) was languishing, and efforts to convert the native peoples to Christianity had stalled - due to lack of support from the Caens. Late that year, the colony's moribund condition came to the attention of France's Chief Minister and dominant statesman, Armand Jean du Plessis Cardinal Richelieu.
Twilight of the Company
Cardinal Richelieu died in 1642. His handpicked successor to his various offices, Giulio Cardinal Mazarin, had no experience with the challenges of colonization, the political workings of the Hundred Associates, or the continuous intrigues of the free traders in Quebec who sought to break the Company's monopoly on the fur trade.
Increasingly rudderless, beset by internal squabbles and shrinking profits, the Hundred Associates relinquished their monopoly to a group comprised of the most powerful and influential residents of New France - the Communaute des Habitants - in 1645. The Communaute undertook to pay the costs of administering the colony's affairs, to bring out at least twenty settlers annually, and to pay the Associates a portion of the fur trade's profits each year.
The Company thus became little more than a sleepy holding company while the Communaute des Habitants focused in maximizing profits from the fur trade, to the detriment of the colony's development. In 1663, a new Chief Minister of France - Jean-Baptiste Colbert - revoked the Company's charter and brought administration for all aspects of life in New France under the Crown.
Richelieu Takes Control
Richelieu - brilliant, calculating, relentless, ruthless, and thoroughly unscrupulous - did not allow such problems to fester. He understood New France's potential and concluded it could only be realized if the French government assumed control of the colony.
To achieve this goal, some preparatory work was required. Richelieu began by abolishing the office of Admiral of France and replacing it with a new post - Grand Master and Superintendent of Navigation and Commerce. He promptly assumed that post, effectively becoming minister of the navy, of trade, and of the colonies. He then revoked the charter granting the fur trade monopoly to the Caens.
With these steps completed, Richelieu unveiled his solution to the Canadian problem. The Act for the Establishment of The Company of the Hundred Associates (Acte pour l'Establissement de la Compagnie des Cent Associes) was proclaimed on 29 April 1627.
The Company Changes Focus
Kirke captured Quebec on 19 July 1629, three months after the Treaty of Suze ended the French-English conflict. The Treaty restored France's North American territories to her, including any seized after the peace. England did return the Acadian colonies, but held Quebec hostage in an acrimonious dispute between the two countries' monarchs. Charles I had wed the sister of France's Louis XIII in 1625. The marriage was bitterly unhappy, and half of the bride's 2,400,000 livre dowry had not been paid. Remittance of the balance (plus interest) became the quid pro quo for the return of Quebec, and a standoff ensued.
Richelieu continued to view the Company of the Hundred Associates as the most effective vehicle for colonizing North America. However, the loss of both Quebec and most of the Company's capital necessitated a different approach. Richelieu and the directors decided that the company would leverage its remaining capital by sponsoring a web of subsidiary companies. Through these entities, "sub-contractors" could undertake smaller ventures aligned with the Associates' objectives regarding settlement and trade, and have a financial stake in the outcome. Between 1629 and 1632, subsidiaries successfully undertook the following ventures in Acadia:
* reinforced Fort Ste. Anne at Cibou (now Bras d'Or) on Cape Breton, revived that site's fur trade and founded a settlement;
* strengthened a small fortified trading post and settlement at Cape Sable Island (off the southern coast of Nova Scotia), and erected another post at the mouth of the Saint John River on the Bay of Fundy; and,
* established a fortified trading post and settlement on the island of Miscou, south of the Gaspe peninsula and northwest of Cape Breton.
These activities were critical to sustaining the French presence in North America. They also resulted in the construction of strategically located forts that could control the approaches to the St. Lawrence estuary, in anticipation of the restoration of Quebec.
Louis XIII finally paid the balance of his sister's dowry (with interest) and France regained Quebec under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 29 March 1632. Representatives of the Hundred Associates took control of the settlement on 13 July; on 22 May 1633 Champlain landed with one hundred and fifty settlers recruited by the Company.
In 1634, to avoid the costs of recruiting and transporting colonists, the Hundred Associates established the seigneurial system in Canada. Seigneurs were granted vast tracts of land and feudal privileges, in return for committing to bring colonists to Canada at their expense and to clear land. That year, two hundred additional settlers were sent out from France, including many artisans and families: three hundred more arrived in 1635. The influx during this period marked the beginnings of a sustainable population in the St. Lawrence Valley.
Disaster on the St. Lawrence River
The Associates' immediate priority was to bring settlers and supplies to Quebec. Most of the Company's initial paid-in capital of three hundred thousand livres was expended to acquire provisions, livestock and building materials, recruit four hundred colonists, and assemble a flotilla of twenty transport ships. The French government contributed a naval escort of four warships. The convoy, commanded by Admiral Claude Roquemont de Brison, sailed on 28 April 1628.
England and France had been at war since 1625 and, early in 1628, England's King Charles I authorized mercenaries to seize France's North American territories. Much of Acadia had since been captured, and three warships under the command of David Kirke were stationed on the lower St. Lawrence River to blockade Quebec. On 17 July, Kirke ambushed Roquemont's fleet near Tadoussac. Although outnumbered, the English warships were larger than their adversaries and possessed superior firepower. After a fifteen hour battle, the French surrendered. All of their ships were either captured or sunk, the precious cargoes they carried were lost, their passengers were taken prisoner, and the Company of the Hundred Associates suddenly teetered on the verge of bankruptcy.
Get some about terracotta warriors info, welcome to visit http://www.buyterracottawarriors.com/ .
|