the possessions of France in North America prior to 1763.

The territory in North America controlled and settled by France before the British won control in 1763. After this, part of the area became known as Quebec.

New France was the name given to all the new territories taken by the French since the XVIIth century. At one time, the territory of New France sprawled from Hudson Bay to the mouth of the Mississippi. It comprised Newfoundland and the whole of Labrador south to Maine. The name ceased to be used after the final conquest of New France by England in 1760.

This was the name for France's possessions in North America from 1534 (the year of Jacques Cartier's first expedition), to 1763, when France lost all these lands to Britain and Spain by the Treaty of Paris. Return to Theme

French colonies in North America; extended from St. Lawrence River along Great Lakes and down Mississippi River valley system. (p. 555)

New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763. At its peak in 1712 (before the Treaty of Utrecht), the territory of New France extended from Newfoundland to Lake Superior and from the Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. The territory was then divided in five colonies, each with its own administration: Canada, Acadia, Hudson Bay, Newfoundland and Louisiana.