This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
French Help Invaluable In First Freedom Fight
On the eve of American independence France moved to aid the colonies. Louis XVI secretly sent one million livres in arms on May 2 1776, helping fund almost $13 million in foreign loans and gifts that sustained the struggle. French fishermen and traders shaped New France from Grand Banks to Quebec, with Champlain founding Port Royal and Quebec while pursuing peaceful Indian trade over settlement. The French approach favored commerce and alliances, avoiding displacement of Indigenous peoples as the English did.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
America
France
John Adams
Britain
Adams
Continental Congress
Paris
England
Americans
Louis XVI
New World
Columbus
Newfoundland
New France
Grand Banks
Europe
Soo
Canada
Francis I
Charles
Spain
Alexander VI
Portugal
Francis
Adam
Giovanni Verrazano
Verrazano
Jacques Cartier
el Dorado
Henry IV
New
Henry
Samuel Champlain
St. Croix Island
St. Croix
Port Royal
Champlain
Quebec
Jamestown
St. Lawrence