La Floride: A French Huguenot Colony in North America
- Thread starter PGSBHurricane
- Start date
- The English tolerate the Huguenots more than the French Catholics at least. Most of whatever animosity emerges will be derived from competition for colonies rather than ideological hatred. Queen Elizabeth wanted to fund the Huguenots OTL and they helped in the French Wars of religion after all.
- As long as the Edict of Nantes is in effect, the French Catholics will be somewhat forced to tolerate the Huguenots for much of the 17th century if it comes down to it.
- About 80% of Europeans in La Floride are Huguenots. Most of the remaining 20% are a combination of Dutch and Protestant German farmers, with small numbers of French Catholics and Englishmen.
Fair point to all of that, though as you said, as long as the Edict is still in effect.
Looking forward to seeing what will happen and the ramifications.
The next update should be ready for Christmas. In the meantime, I will give you a small hint as to what it will be about.
Virginia
Probably English. The French are in Florida while the English tried to colonise that place as early as 1585
To be fair, Virginia was big at the time so it may not be exactly OTL Virginia.
I am almost done with the upcoming chapter, I am just working out some specifications.
Chapter Seven: Ventures in Virginia
Chapter Seven: Ventures in Virginia
With Little Egg Harbor a relative success, culminating in a second wave of settlers arriving in 1587, the English crown took colonization to the next level. The success invited potential investors because Little Egg Harbor showed that it could be done. Hence, the Virginia Company was created in April 1591, just two years after the English Armada, which itself was a counter to the Spanish Armada of 1588. The Virginia Company had two divisions, the London Company and the Plymouth Company. The first division, the London Company, was officially known as the Virginia Company of London since most of its shareholders were in London and was granted the responsibility for colonizing the American coast between 34°N and 41° N. The second division, the Plymouth Company, had its shareholders mostly in Plymouth and was tasked with colonizing the east coast of America between latitudes 38° and 45° N. Coincidentally, Little Egg Harbor was in the area of responsibility for both divisions of the Virginia Company. Business for Virginia picked up in 1594 when Sir Walter Raleigh, after being released from the Tower of London for having secretly married one of Queen Elizabeth’s ladies-in-waiting without her permission in 1591, heard of rumors of gold. Raleigh was already granted a royal patent to explore Virginia, he did so again. The southernmost boundary of Virginia at 34° N would put the English in conflict with the Huguenots who claimed their northernmost boundary at 35° N.
This conflict would begin in 1597 when he was chosen to yet again lead an expedition to Virginia. Unlike the previous expedition, this one would land in the lower part of Virginia, and the Native Americans this expedition had encountered seemingly had previous Europeans based on their higher levels of certainty. The most prominent tribe was the Secotan, one of many regional Algonquin tribes. Further south, the Huguenots established a trading post at the area they named La Vieille Ville (named for a neighborhood in Nice, France) following the Edict of Nantes in 1598 to signify their claims in the region. In response, the English set up a settlement in spring 1600 along the Neuse River off the Pamlico Sound, which was mistaken for the Chesapeake Bay at the time. It was named Elizabeth Town, for the reigning queen of England. The first arrivals were over 100 men with very few women on board the ship. From 1600 to 1603, as governor of Lower Virginia at Elizabeth Town, Raleigh created a modern defense system for the colony, including the construction of a new fort protecting the riverbank and interior from a potential invasion from the Spanish. Unfortunately, so much money was spent on defense that two-thirds of the colonists starved that winter. Four months after Queen Elizabeth I died and King James I ascended the throne, Raleigh returned to England and stepped down from his title of governor.
What Little Egg Harbor was to Upper Virginia, Elizabeth Town was to Lower Virginia. While neither would be the heart of English North America, both settlements were important stepping stones for future growth in the colonies. Unfortunately, the Plymouth Company could not quite find the same success as the London Company. What came under the jurisdiction of the Plymouth Company became known as New Plymouth (or unofficially North Virginia). Setting sail from Plymouth, England on May 12, 1603, the Richard arrived at the Canary Islands on May 31 before making their way to the Antilles by mid-July. Heading through Spanish and Huguenot-controlled waters, they evaded capture and sailed up the coast for two weeks until landing at present-day Pemaquid in late August. After exploring the area for six weeks, the ship arrived back in England in late November when a charter was granted. Over 120 men and boys set sail from Plymouth in March 1604, stopping in Newfoundland on May 1 before arriving at the colony at the end of June. Its president was George Popham and the colony was named after his uncle and primary financial backer Sir John Popham. However, their late arrival gave them no time to grow food and winter came unusually early, doing so in October. Of the original settlers, only 44 survived through the winter with most dying from the cold or various diseases. The Richard arrived on June 15, 1605, to pick up the survivors, half of whom went to Newfoundland and the other half returned to England.
At the same time, Lower Virginia was growing into one of the most prosperous European American colonies. From Elizabeth Town, colonists continued slowly moving northward and especially westward in order to find gold and silver. It was sped along after a flotilla of seven English ships was broken up by a storm in 1609, with one ship landing at the archipelago of Bermuda with over 150 passengers. It was claimed for the British crown and the survivors, intending to arrive in Elizabeth Town, were shifted north by the Gulf Stream by about 60 miles. They landed at the narrows of the Pasquotank River, which itself was off the Roanoke Sound. They named this settlement, James Town after the reigning English king. Some of the others eventually relocated to Plymouth Landing deeper within Roanoke Sound, which was named for the city the original flotilla sailed from. By the end of the 1610s, settlers had finally reached the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. At the same time, the settlers at Little Egg Harbor were gradually moving southward. Due to their proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, two notable colonial settlements founded in the area were Atlantic City and Ocean City (founded in 1604 and 1609 respectively). They were gradually moving closer to the Delaware Bay, which was explored by Henry Hudson for the Dutch as well as Cornelis Jacobsen Mey. Both Lower and Upper Virginia were known for glassware due to ships with supplies from central European craftsmen, leading to glass becoming the top export at the time.
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Before proceeding further, here are some of the names for their OTL counterparts:
Elizabeth Town = James City, NC
James Town = Elizabeth City, NC
Plymouth Landing = original name for Plymouth, NC
Roanoke Sound = Albemarle Sound
Ultimately, this TL won the race between itself and the Galloway TL to see which would be updated first. You guys probably will not see another update of this TL until 2022, so in the meantime, have a wonderful New Year.
Elizabeth Town = James City, NC
James Town = Elizabeth City, NC
Plymouth Landing = original name for Plymouth, NC
Roanoke Sound = Albemarle Sound
Ultimately, this TL won the race between itself and the Galloway TL to see which would be updated first. You guys probably will not see another update of this TL until 2022, so in the meantime, have a wonderful New Year.
Deleted member 147978
In the meantime, show us an another map of the current status of North America then.
I have another map coming for around 1620-1630 since plenty will have changed by then.
Just a little survey to make sure I'm up to speed and so that I can improve the quality of my writing in the future.
strawpoll.com
How plausible is this TL? - Online Poll - StrawPoll
What's your opinion? Vote now: Very plausible, Mostly plausible, Semi-plausible, Generally implausuble, ASB, Other (explain)...
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So far, the consensus seems to be mostly if not very plausible. Any concerns I should look out for? Is parallelism too much of an issue so far? In any case, a new chapter should be ready by Martin Luther King Day at the very latest. Also, here's a spoiler for those who might be interested:
Pilgrims
Sorry for the probable delay. I'm working out the plot so to speak and it should be ready to go soon.
Here's a surprise for those who were eagerly anticipating. I've decided to put my Galloway timeline on temporary hiatus in favor of this one and Southern-less USA 2.0 because I'm having more fun with those right now than with that one. Also...
Chapter Eight: Additional Early Colonial Development
Chapter Eight: Additional Early Colonial Development
The French were on the verge of a breakthrough in North America. Acadia became one of the first noted (Catholic) French colonies in the North American region. First settled at Fort Royal in 1605, it was abandoned, re-established, and destroyed by 1613, after which settlers moved to other nearby areas within Acadia. New France, or Canada, became the much more prominent colony of the French at this time. In 1608, Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons (A Huguenot) and Samuel de Champlain (a Catholic) founded the city of Quebec with 28 other men. Colonization was slow and difficult due to many settlers dying from harsh weather and diseases. Champlain allied with the Algonquin, Huron, Montagnais peoples in the area, who were at war with the Iroquois. These bonds were essential for the existence of the French fur trade. With the Huguenots, it was all a bunch of trial and error. Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons arrived in La Floride 1610, four years after Pierre de Chauvin de Tonnetuit arrived. This proved to be viable in the institution-building of La Floride. On the other hand, the Huguenots tried to carve out a new settlement about 85 kilometers to the northeast beginning in August 1607 but weak leadership and hostile Native American tribes nearby caused the colony to only last for only 14 months before it collapsed in on itself. To increase the efficiency of labor on plantations, labor from Africa was transported to La Floride beginning in 1606 although the practice would not yet be popular.
Spanish colonization in the New World was also underway. Mexico City was considered the heart of New Spain, given it was where the Spanish conquered the Aztecs in 1519 under the leadership of Hernando Cortez. It did not take long for settlers to slowly move north. The first major settlement north of Mexico City was Guadalajara, founded in 1531. Between 1540 and 1542, Spanish Conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado explored large swathes of the North American west, sailing up the Colorado River and eventually reaching the Great Plains. This led to a gradual expansion further north until the creation of the Kingdom of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in 1598 and the founding of its capital, Santa Fe, in 1610. The other major area of focus for Spanish colonization was none other than Florida. While there had been an effort to colonize their sphere of influence in the western half of the Floridian peninsula, it became more pronounced in 1606 with the creation of the Mission San Francisco de Potano. Soon, more missions sprung up across the region. Among the Huguenots in the region, there were fears of a potential Spanish invasion. There were some occasional skirmishes between the Spanish and French in Florida plus a few attempted invasions by the Spanish, but by 1616 it looked like the Spanish would not be successful in destroying French Florida given that they lacked the manpower and that their priorities primarily laid in creating missions in the west to block the Huguenots.
The English, like the French and Spanish, were busy at work with their colonization of North America. The most noted English explorer in this current era was Henry Hudson. Thrice did he engage in an expedition for the English to find the Northwest Passage to Asia, and once for the Dutch. In 1607, the Muscovy Company of London gave Hudson financial backing to find an ice-free passage to Asia. He made two voyages to the Arctic near the Svalbard archipelago before turning back without success. Hudson, fortunately, gained support from the Dutch East India Company to lead a third expedition in 1609. Hudson heard reports of two rumored channels across North America to the Pacific. One was located near latitude 62° N and another around latitude 40° N speculated by an English captain named John Smith. After landing at Newfoundland, he traveled down the Atlantic coast to a river discovered by Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524 before turning back 150 miles in. The river was named for Hudson. Finally, after word got out about his discoveries, the British East India Company and the Muscovy Company jointly funded the fourth voyage. He sailed from London in April 1610 with the ship Discovery. He traversed the coast sailing through an inlet that was described as a potential entry point to the northwest passage. After it opened up, he soon discovered he was in a huge bay. The harsh winter and no outlet in sight caused Hudson’s crew to cast him overboard in June 1611 and he was never heard of ever again.
Back in England, religion was a major source of internal tension. The official religion was the Anglican Church or Church of England. This was solidified when the Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy 1558, declaring Elizabeth the head of the Church of England and the state of England and requiring anyone taking office to swear allegiance to the Queen. Separating from Catholicism, King James I ordered the translation of the Bible into English in contrast to the traditional Latin, which was published in 1611. In much of the 17th century, there was a conflict within the Anglican Church and politics swung back and forth between the Puritans who sought greater Protestant reforms and conservatives who aimed to keep closer to traditional Catholicism. A group of Puritans, known as Separatists, decided that the only solution to cleanse the Anglican church of Catholic influence was to separate entirely from the Church of England and form their own congregations, which were done in secret. However, they were caught and then persecuted and hunted down until their safety was in jeopardy. In 1607, Francois de Coligny of the French Huguenot colony of La Floride secretly invited the Seperatists to their colony and a group came over in 1608. By 1610, La Floride had between 9,000 and 10,000 Huguenots and up to 1,500 others from which the Separatists were part. In 1617, though, the hot climate, disease, and their children becoming too French led them to decide to leave, but where would they decide to go?
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