Building A New Society

 The seigneurial system in New France was a way of land management and settlement. Long rectangular properties with waterfront access is a tell-tale of the system, still visible today. Settlers would pay a yearly fee to their seigneur, who wasn't really that much better off than they were.

This beautiful clock dates to the 1700s. Below it is a Croix de Saint Louis.

Some furnishings and other items of the era.

This contemporary sculpture is a creative way of looking at one of the filles du roi. Catherine Moitie would settle in Canada and raise a family, having children who had more children. Each line represents a descendant of her. The millions of Canadians who count a fille du roi as an ancestor are their legacy.

This large illustration marks the path as we go along.

But France had an old rival making its own inroads in North America. England had been in a state of general conflict with the French for centuries in Europe. By the early 18th century, the United Kingdom was forming up, and had already been present in the Americas, with colonies along the eastern seaboard and what's now the Atlantic provinces- and beyond.

Trade from afar can be seen in items in this display case, such as fine china.

It was the beaver trade in particular and the fur trade in general that would be a prized resource for both Britain and France. First Nations traders saw their own opportunities.