Authors: David Hackett Fischer
ISBN-13: 9780594000440, ISBN-10: 0594000440
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Date Published: October 2009
Edition: Bargain
A professor at Brandeis University, David Hackett Fischer is the author of several noted works that illuminate pivotal moments in American history, including Paul Revere's Ride and the 2004 National Book Award finalist Washington's Crossing.
In this sweeping, enthralling biography, acclaimed historian David Hackett Fischer brings to life the remarkable Samuel de Champlain -- soldier, spy, master mariner, explorer, cartographer, artist, and Father of New France.
Born on France's Atlantic coast, Champlain grew to manhood in a country riven by religious warfare. The historical record is unclear on whether Champlain was baptized Protestant or Catholic, but he fought in France's religious wars for the man who would become Henri IV, one of France's greatest kings, and like Henri, he was religiously tolerant in an age of murderous sectarianism. Champlain was also a brilliant navigator. He went to sea as a boy and over time acquired the skills that allowed him to make twenty-seven Atlantic crossings without losing a ship.
But we remember Champlain mainly as a great explorer. On foot and by ship and canoe, he traveled through what are now six Canadian provinces and five American states. Over more than thirty years he founded, colonized, and administered French settlements in North America. Sailing frequently between France and Canada, he maneuvered through court intrigue in Paris and negotiated among more than a dozen Indian nations in North America to establish New France. Champlain had early support from Henri IV and later Louis XIII, but the Queen Regent Marie de Medici and Cardinal Richelieu opposed his efforts. Despite much resistance and many defeats, Champlain, by his astonishing dedication and stamina, finally established France's New World colony. He tried constantly to maintain peace among Indian nations that were sometimes at war with one another, but when he had to, he took up arms and forcefully imposed a new balance of power, proving himself a formidable strategist and warrior.
Throughout his three decades in North America, Champlain remained committed to a remarkable vision, a Grand Design for France's colony. He encouraged intermarriage among the French colonists and the natives, and he insisted on tolerance for Protestants. He was a visionary leader, especially when compared to his English and Spanish contemporaries -- a man who dreamed of humanity and peace in a world of cruelty and violence.
This superb biography, the first in decades, is as dramatic and exciting as the life it portrays. Deeply researched, it is illustrated throughout with many contemporary images and maps, including several drawn by Champlain himself.
Notwithstanding the familiar rhyme "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue," a quarter of American teenagers in a recent survey thought that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World sometime after 1750. Without benefit of a national holiday to rival Columbus Day, French explorer Samuel de Champlain's name and exploits are surely unfamiliar to many more, young and old alike. Among historians, however, he is no obscure footnote. Even before Champlain's death in 1635, much ink was devoted to him in accounts of the founding of New France in North America.
Introduction: In Search of Champlain 1
A Leader in the Making 15
Explorer of Acadia 105
Founder of Quebec 227
Builder of New France 345
Father of French Canada 445
Conclusion 525
Memories of Champlain 533
App. A Champlain's Birth Date 569
App. B Champlain's Voyages: A Chronology 574
App. C Champlain's Brief Discours: Problems of Accuracy and Authenticity 586
App. D Champlain's Published Writings: A Question of Authorship 593
App. E Champlain's Traitte de la Marine: An Essay on Leadership 595
App. F Another Self Portrait? 600
App. G Champlain's Superiors: Viceroys and Generals of New France 601
App. H Trading Companies and Monopolies in New France, 1588 1635 604
App. I Indian Nations in Champlain's World, 1603-35 608
App. J The Battle with the Mohawk in 1609: Where Did it Happen? 614
App. K The Attack on the Iroquois Fort in 1615: Which Fort? What Nation? 615
App. L Champlain's Favored Firearm: The Arquebuse a Rouet 616
App. M Champlain's Ships and Boats 619
App. N Champlain's Weights and Measures 627
App. O Champlain's Money 632
App. P Champlain's Calendars 633
Notes 635
Bibliography 745
Map Sources 787
Index 801