Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain was a French explorer who helped colonize New France in the New World in the seventeenth century. He made over twenty voyages between Europe and the New World, founded the French settlement at Quebec, and wrote six books about his adventures.

Early life

Champlain was born in the seaport town of Brouage in France around 1567. Parish records are missing, so his exact birth date is unknown. Historians suggest that Champlain was raised as a Protestant (see Protestantism ) but he converted to Catholicism sometime before 1603. Not much else is known about his childhood.

Growing up in a seaport town, Champlain learned navigation and mapmaking as a youth. He fought as a sergeant in religious wars on the side of Protestant king Henry IV (1553–1610) until 1598. After that, he went on a voyage to the West Indies, now called the Caribbean, for over two years.

Acadia

In 1603, Champlain joined an expedition to the River of Canada, which was later renamed the St. Lawrence River. The expedition also explored the area that Champlain called Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia). Champlain realized that the areas they explored had valuable resources, especially animals. Investors from France could get animal furs in trade with Native Americans to sell back in Europe. Champlain learned from the local natives about the existence of the Great Lakes, which he thought might be a northwest passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

Back in France, Champlain was chosen to be the geographer on an expedition to Acadia led by Pierre du Gua de Monts (c. 1558–1628), to whom the French king had given a monopoly on fur trade in the region. (See Fur Traders and Mountain Men .) The voyagers spent their first winter at a fort they built along the Saint Croix River, near the future border between the United States and Canada. About half of them died, largely from scurvy, a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C.

For the second winter, the expedition moved its base across the Bay of Fundy to Port Royal (present-day Annapolis Royal). This was the main settlement for Acadia until 1607, when Henry IV canceled de Mont's trading privileges. Champlain spent three years sailing and mapping the region, including present-day Maine ; Cape Cod, Massachusetts ; and Rhode Island . The expedition returned to France in 1607.

Quebec

By 1608, Champlain had found investors to finance another expedition to the New World. Arriving in July, thirty-two voyagers built a fort at the settlement called Quebec City. Champlain would spend the rest of his life building the settlement into a profitable colony for France.

From before 1603, French explorers had been trading with the Algonquian and the Montagnais tribes. The Huron tribe to the west, in the region around Quebec, was an ally of the Algonquians and the Montagnais. To develop fur trading in the region, Champlain formed alliances with these tribes. In July 1609, Champlain and the other settlers joined the Hurons in a battle with the Hurons’ enemy to the south, the Iroquois confederacy. This began over 150 years of hostility between France and the Iroquois.

Champlain faced regular challenges over the next two decades as politics in France altered colonial authority in the New World. He spent much time in France negotiating with government officials and financial investors for the support he needed for his efforts. When he was around forty years old, he married twelve-year-old Hélène Boullé (1598–1654), the daughter of the secretary to the king's chamber. Exploring the New World in 1615, Champlain reached as far as Lake Huron, probably making him the first European to see it.

Back in France between 1616 and 1618, Champlain crafted a comprehensive plan for colonization of New France. Quebec would be a permanent customs station for trading in the region. Military posts would protect France's interests. Explorers would sail the Great Lakes searching for the Northwest Passage, and missionaries would work to convert the native tribes to Christianity to give France greater control over the area's resources. The plan received the governmental and financial support necessary to send Champlain back to Quebec in 1618.

Later years

Champlain worked hard over the next decade to explore New France and to establish profitable trade with native tribes. After war erupted between England and France in 1627, English vessels arrived at Quebec in 1629, forcing the undersupplied French settlers to surrender.

Champlain was back in Europe for the next four years. He worked during this period to get England to return Quebec to France. He also spent time writing about the adventures of his life.

After England and France reached peace in 1632, England returned Quebec to France, and Champlain returned in 1633 to command the area. He spent the final years of his life, often sick, in Quebec, dying there on December 25, 1635.