jan 1, 1641 - Quebec is Established by the French

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In 1608, Samuel de Champlain returned to the region as head of an exploration party. On July 3, 1608, with the support of King Henri IV, he founded the Habitation de Québec (now Quebec City) and made it the capital of New France and its regions (which, at the time, were Acadia, Canada and Plaisance in Newfoundland). The settlement was built as a permanent fur trading outpost, where First Nations traded their furs for French goods, such as metal objects, guns, alcohol, and clothing. Several missionary groups arrived in New France after the founding of Quebec City, like the Recollects in 1615, the Jésuites in 1625 and the Supliciens in 1657. Coureurs des bois and Catholic missionaries used river canoes to explore the interior of the North American continent and establish fur trading forts. The Compagnie des Cent-Associés, which had been granted a royal mandate to manage New France in 1627, introduced the Custom of Paris and the seigneurial system, and forbade settlement in New France by anyone other than Roman Catholics. In 1629, Quebec surrendered, without battle, to English privateers led by David Kirke during the Anglo-French War; in 1632, the English king agreed to return the lands with the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve founded Ville-Marie (now Montreal) in 1642. In 1663, the Company of New France ceded Canada to the King, King Louis XIV, who officially made New France into a royal province of France. New France was now a true colony administered by the Sovereign Council of New France from Quebec City, and functioned off triangular trade. A governor-general, assisted by the intendant of New France and the bishop of Quebec City, governed Canada and its administrative dependencies: Acadia, Louisiana and Plaisance. The French settlers were mostly farmers and were known as "Canadiens" or "Habitants". Though there was little immigration, the colony still grew because of the Habitants' high birth rates. In 1665, the Carignan-Salières regiment developed the string of fortifications known as the "Valley of Forts" to protect against Iroquois invasions and brought along with them 1,200 new men. To redress the severe gender imbalance and boost population growth, King Louis XIV sponsored the passage of approximately 800 young French women (les filles du roi) to the colony. In 1666, intendant Jean Talon organized the first census and counted 3,215 Habitants. Talon also enacted policies to diversify agriculture and encourage births, which, in 1672, had increased the population to 6,700.

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