Pierre du
Gua de Monts
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to My reflection
Introduction
Canada was first settled in by natives, but then along came the explorers, the colonizers, the fur traders and merchants to take over the land. The history of Canada goes far back but when it was well known, was during the time of New France. When the weather was far too cold, when there was nothing but open land, when there was talk over trading, that's when it all began.
Personal Information
One of the most common names in Canadian History is Pierre du Gua de Monts. De Monts was never known for his personal life. He was mostly known for his historic, uplifting accomplishments. He was born in 1558 in Saintonge, France (1). He was raised as a typical French nobleman and was about to play a roll in life that he could never have imagined at that age (3). Around the age of 20, de Monts was serving as a merchant for the exorbitant and robust King Henry IV (1). His bravery of fighting in the religious wars for his people had caught the authorities attention, making him good connections for the future (4). His connections had lasted him a year and he was granted the right to colonize and trade in 1604 (1). His aptitude mind and discerning ways gave him the opportunity of exploring out in the seas with Champlain and becoming Champlain's mapmaker (2). Unfortunately, while he was supporting Champlain's French colony he died in 1628 as an eminent, historic, senile man.
Personality
Pierre du Gua de Monts went through a lot of tough times in New France and even in France but, he always found a way of restoring confidence and thinking of something lavish and mind-blowing (2). During his earlier years, when he served as a merchant, he showed his audacious talents fighting for his religion (4). As he conferred his power of trading and the right to colonize, he was very picky about what merchants he had picked for the company he had put together (4). His rude selectiveness made the merchants that were left out exasperated and they had wanted to seek revenge on de Monts (4). On his voyage of exploration he showed a little more determination than Champlain (2). The harsh winds made Champlain believe that they weren't going to make it and he had decided to give up and go back (2). But the stubbornness of de Monts kept him and his whole crew in New France (2). His persistence in his work made his work ethic the best in the business (2).
Important Life Events
De Monts had visited New France for the first time with Pierre Chauvin de Tonnetuit in 1600. When he had come back he was still serving as one of King Henry's merchants. One of the greatest achievements of the 17th century was de Monts' trade monopoly in New France (1). De Monts was a hard worker and got rewarded with this special gift (1). His trading rights gave him the freedom of exploring New France with Champlain. This goal was achieved in 1604 when de Monts went on a voyage of exploration and colonization, with Champlain, Nicolas Aubry and 100 other men (1). When they had reached New France, they wanted to extend the expedition to Acadia. De Monts did so in 1604, when he led his crew to Rouen, St. Malo and La Rochelle (4). As his expeditions and trade routes expanded in New France, he had been shut down financially by the jealous merchants (4). As a result he had lost the monopoly in 1607 (2).
Accomplishments
The list of de Monts' accomplishments goes on and on. Not a lot of people know the fact that he successfully fought in the religious wars for King Henry IV as a merchant in his earlier days (4). Thus, the job as a merchant made him good connections at court (4), which had granted him the right to colonize in 1603 (1). This offer held up for ten years and this made him the talk of the first two decades of the 17th century (1). Along with the rights to colonize, he was named the governor of Acadia in 1603 (1), and he had become Champlain's map maker (2). His colonizing gave him the right to form a company with a handful of merchants (2). With Champlain he established the colonies of Ile Sainte-Croix and Port Royal in 1604 (2). He made one of the greatest impacts on exploring and colonizing in the 17th century (1).
Challenges/Difficulties
In New France the weather wasn't so easy to handle. The wind and snow ravaged all the islands making it so hard for de Monts and his crew to get around (2). On the other hand, that wasn't as bad as the cold and scurvy (2). It was so contagious, that it had killed half of de Monts' crew (3). Since the snow had demolished all their shelters they had to travel quite far to get tools to build another shelter (2). De Monts and his crew had nothing to eat but salt meat and frozen cider (3). When the weather improved, they set their sights on enforcing rights on the coast of Acadia but they ran right into the territory of the "Basque interlopers," who were a tribe looking for resources, and they had stopped de Monts dead in his tracks (4). With all the controversy going on about the harsh weather and the diseases the jealous merchants arrived and swiped de Monts off his feet (4). They had caused de Monts financial problems and the outcome was that he lost his whole trade monopoly in 1607 (4). The thought of freezing in the bare wind had scared de Monts, as he was never to return to New France again (3).
Importance to Future Canadians
The first two decades of the 17th century was the biggest time period for de Monts because he was making himself famous, not just in New France but in the world (1). The establishment of Port Royal was a big part of why France was actually in contention against Britain of getting Canada (2). If they didn't establish that part of the land then the land would have automatically had been given to Britain. Since Port-Royal got closed in 1607 it opened up places for people like Jacques Cartier to make a name for himself and own a piece of land(2). After a little while it was open to be re-established. Since de Monts had no further exploration routes he decided to support the French colony of Champlain's in 1608 and this had continued to grow for a number of years (4).
Conclusion
A lot of people have made a name for themselves in the history of Canada but not that many accomplishments as de Monts. He has deserved his place in our heritage.