History Browser

Families from France first settled in Acadie in the 1630s. In the early 1680s, Pierre Melanson and Marguerite Mius d'Entremont and their children moved from Port-Royal to found Grand-Pré ...

Grand-Pré National Historic Site of Canada commemorates Grand-Pré area as a centre of Acadian settlement from 1682 to 1755 and the Deportation of the Acadians, which began in 1755 and continued until 1762.

Under both the French and the British, the residents of Les Mines exhibited a strong spirit of independence, made possible in part because of the distance separating them from the authorities at Port-Royal/Annapolis Royal.

The French military medical services provided New France with its doctors. Physicians were very rare, while the lesser-qualified surgeons were more common. These medical professionals cared for civilian and soldier alike.

The tradition of raising the May pole in front of the Militia captain's house, which began in the era of New France, went on in French Canada until the middle of the 19th century.

Robert Cavelier de La Salle is shown taking part in a ceremony where he claimed Louisiana for France on 6 April 1682, after having descended the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Even in the wilderness, the ceremony was done in full regalia with all the formalities.

Eventually war erupted in North America between competing English and French colonies during the 17th century. In 1713, France ceded much of Acadia (now New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) to Britain and abandoned its claims to Newfoundland. They retained control of Cape Breton, where they built the fortress of Louisburg to protect their fishing and shipping interests.

A list of the most important military engagements, both inside and outside Canada, that had an effect on the country.

A series of journeys by French explorers into the interior of North America was followed by the growth of a strong French presence in Louisiana and Illinois. A strong military presence administered and oversaw the new regions.

The amount of artillery at Louisbourg led to the creation of an artillery company there in 1743. There was a school for artillery training at Quebec, which became the nucleus for a second company in 1750. Gunners wore distinctive uniforms and were considered elite soldiers.