26. FRENCH COLONIES. General His Colonization is one of the most char acteristic forms of human activity. It was only logical that France, one of the foremost coun tries imbued with a sense of initiative and enterprise, many of its citizens having a love of adventure, and combining harmoniously in their desire to °live') a prediliction for what is real with a love of the dreamy or ideal side of life, should become a great colonial nation. As a result, once navigators found themselves in possession of the necessary means, they started out to cyplore the world. In 1365, some Dieppe sailors settled on various parts of the Senegal and Guinea coasts, and in 1404, Jean de Bethencourt, a Norman, settled in the Canary Islands. From 1535 to 1550, Jacques Cartier made a series of voyages and expedi tions in Canada. He was succeeded by Cham plain who took possession of Acadia. About the same time (1625) Saint Louis du Senegal was founded and the French settled at Saint Dominica in the Antilles (1632). The colonies of Cape Breton, Canada And Acadia, attacked by the English under the lead of French Huguenots, were restored to France by the Treaty of Saint Germain. From 1664 to 1783 (Treaty of Versailles) the French were very active but had to contend with many vicissitudes and take part in numerous continental wars.
The English, from the moment of the de struction of the Invincible Armada (1588). awoke to a knowledge of their power. The India Company, of London and Plymouth, was founded, Barbados occupied, the enceinte of Madras traced, the Navigation Act passed (1651) and Jamaica conquered (1655). From this time onward, that is, from the middle of the 17th century, English and French coloniza tion made rapid strides, and great rivalry ex isted between the two countries which often resulted in war followed by the launching of great commercial enterprises. The history of this rivalry can be better understood by an examination of the different treaties arising out of the various conflicts and wars. The treaties of Nimegue and Ryswick were the out come of the struggle of Holland and France. The latter had Pondicherry restored to her in 1687, where Caron and Martin had done much useful colonization work. In 1713, by the Treaty of Utrecht, France allowed England to destroy the Dunkirk fortifications, a sure sign of its diminished force, and ceded the Hudson Bay and Dependencies, Acadia, Saint Chris topher and Newfoundland and adjacent islands, with the exception of Saint Pierre and Mique lon. The Iroquois were recognized as English subjects. In 1748 by the Treaty of Aix-la Chapelle, Cape Breton was restored to France in exchange for Madras. The Treaty of Godeheu in 1754 was an evidence of the with drawal of the India Company and its object was the restoration of the territory conquered by the French in Deccan. Meanwhile Mauritius was occupied and New Orleans founded as a result of the brilliant campaigns of Cavelier de la Salle in Louisiana. Dumas, la Bour
donnais and Dupleix, by armed force and clever diplomacy—which must always work to gether — brought French influence and power to its zenith in the Indian Ocean (1752). Vain efforts. A weaker power vanquished by a superior one. Quebec was lost. Clive and Coote took Pondicherry and Chandernagor. The Treaty of Paris (1763) severely condemned these set-backs. Canada was turned over to England by France, thus losing all the fruit of the heroism displayed by Montcalm and his lieutenants. Ohio, Louisiana to the east of the Mississippi, except New Orleans, was given to Spain in compensation for Florida and Senegal, except Goree, Saint Vincent, Dominica, Tobago, Granada and the Granadian isles.
On the other hand, France recqvered her Indian establishments, but dismantled and with out territory, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Belle Ile in compensation for Minorca, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Lucie. The Treaty of Versailles (1783) restored Senegal to France. The English colonies now became emancipated. We have now reached the period of the Great Revolution, followed by the magnificent cam paigns of the empire and the fall of Napoleon. For a while, France was all powerful and the emperor could be pardoned if he conceived a wonderful plan: that of taking India from the English and the conquest of Asia. But this dream met the fate of all similar schemes which, overriding the reasonable bounds of human desires, seek to dominate the world. It came to an end in the icy steppes of Russia. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 resulted in consecrating English power which was increased by the possession of Heligoland, Malta, the Ionian Isles, Cape Colony, taken from Holland, Mauritius, Saint Lucie and Tobago. The colonial situation of France in 1815 was the following: she had lost a large part of her empire. Saint Dominica was torn from her in 1803. Louisiana was sold. She retained Martinique, Guadeloupe, Cayenne, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a part of Senegal, the Reunion and a few markets in India, all that remained of the immense domain controlled by the India Company, which in Dupleix's time possessed 17 boats, 25 frigates and 750 vessels of various tees. During the 19th .century new efforts were made for the conquest of distant territory: Caille Sylvain, Roux and Gourbeyre explored Africa. Algeria was conquered under Louis Philippe, in despite of the colonial entente. The Marquesas, Tahiti, Wallis Islands and Gambier were occupied (1841-47). The second empire witnessed the development of French West Africa: war with the Moors, expansion in Guinea, on the Ivory Coast, in Dahomey and the Gaboon. Treaties were made in Madagas car. Cochin-China was occupied, agreements were reached with Cambodia and Siam; Me kong and the Tonkin were explored. Finally, New Caledonia was conquered and Tahiti organized.