New France: The Lost French Colony That Became Quebec, Ontario, and the Great Lakes States

Not a Modern Region

New France (Nouvelle-France) was a 17th–18th century French colonial territory, not a current Canadian province. At its peak (1712), it spanned:

• Canada (Canada): Québec, Trois-Rivières, Montréal — today’s Quebec & Ontario.
• Acadia (Acadie): Nova Scotia, NB, PEI, parts of Maine.
• Louisiane (Louisiana): Mississippi basin — today’s Midwest US (IL, IN, MI, WI, MN, MO, AR, LA, etc.).
• Plaisance (Newfoundland): Fishing bases.

End of Empire

Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded nearly all to Britain (Canada, Acadia, east Mississippi) and Spain (west Mississippi). Only Saint-Pierre & Miquelon remain French today.

Legacy

• Quebec’s Civil Code, language, culture.
• Place names: Detroit, St. Louis, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Des Moines, Eau Claire.
• Métis nation, Cajun/Creole cultures.