17th Century
Two years after the French founded Annapolis Royal in 1605, the English began their first settlement, at Jamestown, Virginia to the south. By 1680 the French population was around 11,000, approximately one-tenth of the British population of the Thirteen Colonies at that time. La Salle's explorations gave France a claim to the Mississippi River valley, where fur trappers and a few colonists set up scattered settlements. The colonies of Acadia and Canada (New France) on the St. Lawrence River were based primarily on the fur trade and had only lukewarm support from the French monarchy. The colonies of New France grew slowly given the difficult geographical and climatic circumstances. The more favourably located New England Colonies to the south developed a diversified economy and flourished from immigration. From 1670, through the Hudson's Bay Company, the English also laid claim to Hudson Bay and its drainage basin (known as Rupert's Land), and operated fishing settlements in Newfoundland.
Read more about this topic: Military History Of Canada
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