ECFC Parts 6-10

Part 6: I can’t come up with a good title​

While the French colonies in the Southeast were getting off the ground, the English and Scottish colonies were flourishing in the Northeast. As the stream of settlers continued into Nova Scotia, the Scottish settlers founded new towns like Saint John, New Falkirk, Pesacid, Riversbend and Naymche. By 1700 the population of Nova Scotia had grown to nearly 40,000 people, fueled by large emigration during the troubled times of the 1690s. Canada was also surging in population, growing from 25,000 in 1675 to 52,000 in 1700. With cold winters and abundant pastures, Nova Scotia and Canada were perfect for sheep farming, and soon wool was the primary export from those two colonies. The cold also killed any disease that would limit population growth, so fertility rates were sky-high and mortality rates were lower than back in Europe. Scottish colonists were spreading around the Bay of Fundy and south shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while English colonists were flooding the St. Lawrence river valley, with new settlements such as Williamstown, Chauenigan, Cheltenham and Riverbend. I can’t come up with anything to write next, so I’ll just stop it right here.

Part 7: Missions​

After losing their colony in Canada, France now had a colony up and running along the Florida Coast. By 1670, the colony had grown to over 11,000 French settlers (and presumably thousands of African slaves). They’d seized San Agustin from the Spanish and were founding new settlements like Marennes (named for a town in Saintonge, where many of the settlers came from), Baie-des-Crevettes (named for the abundant shrimp in the bay), Île-Saint-Simon (which secured the coast between Nouvelle-Charlesfort and Saint-Augustin), Fort Caroline (which had been a French Huguenot colony in the 1560’s, but was destroyed by the Spanish) and Port Saint-Lucie (the furthest south the French would settle for quite a while). French settlers lived off of growing tobacco (using African slaves, of course ‍) and growing Corn for food, although as previously malaria and yellow fever were constant challenges, as well as English and Spanish piracy.

In the meantime, the King gave another order: convert the natives. Ville-Marie had been founded as a religious mission, and many of the natives had been converted in the area, but make disciples of all nations, right? Thus, missionaries went off into the interior to make disciples of the natives, but also exploring as a side effect. The first mission of Saint-Denis was founded in 1662, being the first major inland settlement in La Floride. Aside from missionaries, a small garrison was brought there for defense, as well as farmers to grow wheat and grapes for the communion. A second mission, Saint-Pierre-des-Chutes was founded to the north near the unofficial border with the English colonies, which made the English just slightly uncomfortable. Priest Jacques Marquette explored further inland up the Rivière Saint-Jean, eventually reaching a large mountain range and making contacts with a tribe called the Salaguis.

In the meantime, the French had heard of a great river leading to the Gulf of Mexico, so what else to do but search for the mouth of the river? The French did reach a great river leading to the Gulf, founding an outpost called Fort Saint-Esprit at the mouth, which was the first French colony on the Gulf of Mexico. However, after further exploration it was determined that the Rivière Saint-Esprit musn’t be the great river, and more expeditions were sent out in the following years.

Part 8: 1700​

Alas, a new century had dawned upon the world. It was now the 18th century, and both the English, Scottish and French had been in North America for almost a hundred years. The English were thriving in Virginia, New England and Canada, the Scottish had their colony of Nova Scotia, while the French were growing wealthy off of the cash crops of La Floride. The French level of colonization dropped off after 1675, but a ship or two of colonists arrived each year (except for a few years of the 1690’s when France was struck by famine). Meanwhile, the English colonization continued at a steady clip, with the largest amount heading to Virginia, but the fastest population growth occurred in New England and Canada due to the lower mortality rates. The English were expanding down to Lake Pibago, with Fort Ticonderoga being a supply center between the Hudson River and St. Lawrence River.

Fur trappers continued to explore the Great Lakes, hearing from the natives about a quick passage from Lake Michigan to the Great River from a place called Chicago. British traders explored OTL’s Midwest, founding forts and trading posts along the way, while the French expanded more along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, establishing settlements such as Fort Bilocci, Baye Sainte-Rose and Saint-Germain. The French discovered the mouth of the great river, which they found was called the Mississippi, and they founded the fort of La Balize at the mouth. Despite repeated hurricanes, the fort was needed to control the mouth of what was discovered to be the longest river in North America. Anyway, border disputes between France and England continued, and each side attempted to secure alliances and partnerships with the natives and build forts and trading posts across the center of this vast continent.

Part 9: Exploration of the Interior​
In the 18th century, both the British and the French were exploring the interior of North America. The British influence over the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley was being secured, as the British established forts such as Fort Michilimackinac, Fort Bawitigong, Fort Lakesend, Fort Sandusty and Fort Gaminstigwea in the Great Lakes, and Fort Cumberland and Fort Kensington on the Ohio River. Explorer John Lawson played a big role in mapping the Ohio River valley, as well as finding passes across the Appalachians. Meanwhile, France continued to explore the southern part of North America, founding forts across the hinterland like Fort Jolliet, Fort Frontenac, Fort Ocmulqui, Fort Palluau and Fort Toulouse. Meanwhile, with the mouth of the Mississippi being under French control, they could explore up the river for places to settle. Further up the river along a large coastal lake, the French found a perfect place to found a trade center, and thus La Nouvelle-Orléans was founded. A series of outposts were constructed upstream along the Mississippi and rivers feeding into it, such as Baton Rouge, Natchitoches, Fort Rosalie and Fort De L’Assomption. The French forts generally had a small garrison (a few dozen men), a few priests and missionaries, and merchants to trade with the natives. In general, the British had more influence north of the 36th parallel, while the French had more influence south.

Part 10: This TL Is Back​

Ignore the two month hiatus, I will be occasionally doing updates to this TL. Anyway, allons-y!

Anyway, we’re back in the Early 18th century, and in the colonial era of North America. The population of French Florida is about 50,000, although 35% were African slaves, while the population of English Canada is 52,340 and the population of Nova Scotia is 40,000. It just so happened that as soon as the new century started, a new war had broken out. You see, in 1701, the Spanish King Charles “I’m really, really inbred” the 2nd died, likely due to complications from the aforementioned inbreeding, and the French king’s grandson Philipp was the heir to the throne. However, disputes over the Spanish and French crowns emerged, and the Habsburgs weren’t so ready to give up the Spanish throne, and thus the War of Spanish Succession had begun…

The war, while mainly fought in Europe, also saw fighting in North America, as the English sided with Austria against France. The war in North America took the form of Queen Anne’s War, a conflict over the control of the North American continent between the English on one side and the French and Spaniards on the other. Militias from Virginia fought French soldiers stationed in La Floride, and battles took place on the high seas.

In the end, not a whole lot happened, and the preexisting borders were largely maintained. In total, about 300 French colonists died during the war, as most of the deaths were either of soldiers or of allied native tribes. About 1,250 British colonists died, including 150 Canadians and 125 Nova Scotians. In the end, the North American Theatre of the War of Spanish Succession was basically a draw, with neither side coming out on top. Back in Europe, the result was a bit… complicated. Phillip kept his status as King of Spain, but in return had to revoke his claim to the French crown. Spain ceded its territory in the Low Countries and Italy to Austria.

EC/FC Parts 1-5

Part 1: The Fall of Québec​

The year is 1628, and England and France are at war. This wasn't a rare occurrence, as England and France had been enemies for centuries by this point, and this rivalry had manifested in the New World. England has established colonies around the Chesapeake Bay and along Cape Cod, while the French were further north along the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. In this particular year, English privateer David Kirke captured the city (this is the POD, as IOTL Kirke captured it a year later after the war had ended), with the French settlers being repatriated to France. After the war ended, England acquired the French colonies of Canada and Acadia. What was the French colony of Québec was renamed to Kirkestown after the man who conquered it, with that name later evolving into Kirkeston. The new English colony of Canada was granted the St. Lawrence River valley as far west as the place the French had called Montréal. What was French Acadia was now the Scottish colony of Nova Scotia, and Scottish settlers began to arrive in the region. Settlers from the British Isles began to move into what had been French Canada, with settlements being established along the St. Lawrence River, such as Three Rivers and Mount Royal. The early settlers in Canada came primarily from England, while in Nova Scotia is was primarily Scottish settlers (duh, Nova Scotia = New Scotland). During the English Civil War of the 1640s and 1650s thousands of settlers from the British Isles fled to North America, with many coming to Canada and Nova Scotia. The population of Canada in 1650 was 7,250 while the population of Nova Scotia was 3,500 (all population are approximations), with a massive natural growth rate (7-9 children on average, with 4-5 surviving to adulthood) and small but steady immigration. No French presence was left in Canada due to the aforementioned repatriation, but the French would not be gone from the colonial game for long...

Part 2: French Colony​

After losing the small colonies in the north to the English, the French looked to the coastline between English Virginia and Spanish Florida to colonize. In 1631, King Louis XIII authorized a new colonial expedition to colonize this land that had previously been attempted for colonization by the French on two separate occasions. The first one was Charlesfort in 1562, which had been organized by Huguenot admiral Gaspard de Coligny and founded by Jean Ribault, but the colony was a disaster and the colonists sailed back to Europe after only a year. The second attempt was made a few years later in 1564 by Huguenot explorer René Goulaine de Laudonnière as a safe haven for French Huguenots, but he forgot not to found his colony of Fort Caroline near the Spanish, and said Spanish destroyed the colony and slaughtered the colonists. Seventy years later, and the French were looking at this area for a new colony once again, and so on the 14th of July of the year of our lord 1632, 240 Frenchmen set sail from the port of La Rochelle for the new world. After two and a half months on the high seas, they found a great spot for a new colony, with a sheltered peninsula surrounded by barrier islands and two river mouths on either side, with abundant wood and good soils, calling their new colony Rochelle after the place they had departed from months prior, and thus on October 2nd, 1632, the colony of French Florida (Florida is used for the entire Southeastern U.S. of OTL, not just the OTL State of Florida). A simple fortification was built from the local pine trees, as well as basic housing, storage, fishing boats and a small chapel. The overall terrain of the area had a resemblance to the Landes region south of Bordeaux, a mix of pine woodlands and marshes. Initally, the colonists survived off of fishing in the sheltered waters around them, plus trading with the natives (whom they had decent relations with during this time period), with experimentation of different crops in the cleared fields around them.
The summer came, and it was a HOT one. Summers in the colony of Rochelle were about 15 degrees Fahrenheit/7 degrees Celsius hotter than in La Rochelle back home, and many Frenchmen were not comfortable in such sultry conditions. Despite that, a second settler party of 180 settlers, some of whom were repatriated from Canada during the war was sent out for Floride, landing at the meeting of two rivers along the coast, adopting the native name of Chatoca for their new settlement in 1633. Farms were laid out along the river that the natives called the Neuse, and deals were made with the Tuscarora natives. Still, the biggest challenge for the French colonists weren't the natives, but the intense heat and increasingly diseases such as yellow fever that would strike and kill large numbers of settlers. A "solution" was found, but I'll get to that at a later date (hint: it's not a good thing). In the meantime, French Nobleman Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière founded a religious mission of Ville-Marie to the southwest of the two colonies in order to proselytize to the natives of the region. The settlers were getting used to their new home, and starting to build a successful settlement in the region they called Neusequia (French: La Neusequie), a name adapted from the natives (basically the eastern part of OTL North Carolina).

Part 3: Compagnie de la Floride​

With the new French colony established on the Florida Coast, the crown gave control of the region to the newly chartered Compagnie de la Floride, or Company of Florida in English in 1635. The crown had several requirements for the company, such as making the colony profitable and recruiting 5000 settlers over the next 25 years to come to La Floride, or 200 per year, of which 1/3rd have to be women. During the first trades with the natives, the natives gave the captain of the settler party a plant and told him to smoke it. When he took a puff, a funny, yet good feeling, and thus Florida's tobacco industry was born. Wealthy French merchants and seigneurs bought land in and around the Neusequia colony, but eventually looked elsewhere. South of the existing colonies, new settlements such as Port Saint-Michel, Port Armand and Nouvelle-Charlesfort were established (although Nouvelle-Charlesfort is "New" because it was established on the site of the aforementioned Charlesfort). Initially, indentured servants and convicts were brought in to work the plantations, but the subtropical climate and diseases would take a toll quickly on them, with half dying within two years, not to mention that tobacco is very labor intensive. So, a replacement was found...

Ugh, you knew it was coming

In 1641, the first shipment of 50 African slaves was made to the port of Rochelle, marking the first appearance of the peculiar institution in La Floride, but it would be entrenched from there on out. Very early on, it was noticed that Africans were less affected by diseases such as Malaria and Yellow Fever than Europeans or Amerindians, and thus were less prone to die of said diseases. While Neusequia imported some slaves but mainly remained a white farming colony, the new southern colony of Armandia (French: L'Armandie) became heavily dependent on African slaves, especially in the coastal lowlands, and soon got an African majority population. The main crops grown on the plantations were tobacco, cotton, rice, indigo and sugarcane, all of which were labor intensive crops, while white farmers grew mainly wheat and corn as well as raising animals like cattle and sheep. The border with English Virginia was drawn along the Roanoke River, with the border west of there being unclear and vague.

Part 4: Colony of Canada​

The English and Scottish colonies of Canada and Nova Scotia were thriving by the 1650’s, with thousands of settlers living there and due to unrest back home (cough cough Cromwell) thousands more were arriving. The shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence was rapidly being settled with new settlements like Brellington, Wolf River, Mactan and Gaspay, settled by everyone from Anglicans to Puritans to Scotsmen to Germans. Canada’s population by 1675 had grown to 25,000, while Nova Scotia had grown to 11,500. Meanwhile, the British went out building forts around the Great Lakes region, including Fort Catarockway, Fort Odawa, Fort Toronto, Fort Niagara and Fort Stuart in order to solidify British control and make bases for the thriving fur trade. Speaking of the fur trade, most fur traders were of Scottish or Irish origin and would take canoe trips up into the Great Lakes, going as far as Lake’s End (which would evolve to Lakesend over time) to trade furs, before returning to one of the forts or the burgeoning settlement of Mount Royal. They would often marry or otherwise… umm… engage in relations with native women, forming a new racial group of mixed white-native people known as the Measca (coming from the Gaelic word for Mixed, as previously mentioned most fur traders were Irish or Scottish). Back in the settled region, the climate of Canada and Nova Scotia was ideal for growing wheat and barley, and the St. Lawrence valley quickly became one of the breadbaskets of the English Colonies (along with the Middle Colonies). On the Middle Colonies, the English still took New Amsterdam from the Dutch and still named it New York, so not much changes there. By 1675, Kirkeston had grown to 2,500 residents, being the largest city in the former French territories. 

Part 5: Emerging Classes​

Despite being a young and lightly settled colony, French Floride was already showing divisions within its society developing, namely between the rich landlords and the yeoman farmers.
The rich landowners were often of noble or aristocratic background and had lots of money upon arrival. Purchasing land along rivers on the coastal plain, they build lavish plantation houses, usually inspired by Roman Villas and various Châteaux across France, fueled by massive amounts of money from growing ca$h crops like Tobacco, Cotton, Indigo, Rice and Sugarcane. Of course with ca$h crops come slavery, and boy were the rich plantation owners into that. Early on it was figured that Africans were immune to tropical diseases like malaria and yellow fever, while Europeans and Amerindians would die (the cause was unknown at the time, but the result was clear, as 1/4th of the colony died of yellow fever in 1638). We all know how awful the conditions and treatment of slaves were, so let’s skip that and get to the yeoman farmers.
Most of the (white) settlers in La Floride weren’t aristocrats or nobles, but normal farmers, craftsmen, artisans and the like. In the 1660's, hundreds of unmarried women were sent over to be wives to the male settlers, who were overrepresented in the Floridien population up to that point. French farmers often preferred to settle further inland in the Piedmont where diseases weren’t as much of a problem. With the Indigenous populations being decimated by diseases, much open and fertile land was available, and with less disease in the interior and an extremely high birth rate (7-9 children per woman), the white population of La Floride began to soar, growing from 3,629 in 1650 to 11,159 in 1670. These class divides, as well as the slavery issue would become very important in the future, but I am tired and not in a mood to talk about it now. 

EC/FC: Repost

I am going to be reposting my moderately successful English Canada/French Carolina Alternatehistory.com timeline onto this blog, in case I ever get banned from that website. It details an alternate timeline where England conquers the French colony of Quebec in 1628 instead of 1759, with the French then colonizing the Southeastern U.S., and changes and effects around the world taking place from there. I have posted 53 updates to the original timeline over the past 13 months (not counting the ones I forgot to label, so it's probably more like 60 now), and I will be posting every update from here on out on both Alternatehistory and BlogSpot.

I'm on Blogspot!

Hi, my name is Gabingston, and I am now on BlogSpot!
On this blog, you will see reposts of my Alternate History scenarios and stories, as a safety measure in case I get banned from Alternatehistory.com in the future). I will be reposting the entirety of my moderately successful English Canada/French Carolina timeline from the aforementioned website onto this blog, so that even if I am banned from that site, I can continue the timeline on BlogSpot. I will also be running a blog reviewing pop music, which I will link once it becomes available.