INTRODUCTION

Ambiguity characterised the French presence in the Americas. Whether in the vastness of North America or on the small islands in the Caribbean Sea, the magnitude of the disproportionate numbers of French men and women in the colonies and the geographical extent of the territories claimed by France became apparent between 1670 and 1730. In only one major colony did the French comprise more than half the total population in 1730. Although the number of French in the Americas tripled during the six decades after 1670, fewer than 74,000 lived there in 1730. Nearly as many Amerindians and more than twice as many Africans as Europeans inhabited these colonies. French colonial populations included three major components: Amerindian, European, and African, but each developed along very dissimilar lines. From Newfoundland to South America, Amerindian populations experienced massive declines that began long before 1670 and continued long after 1730. The French population, on the other hand, grew slowly after 1670 by natural increase, while African populations increased rapidly from forced migration. The relative distribution of these three populations in each colony was so different that it precluded the formation of any single model of French colonial development. In addition, each colonial population developed quite differently from the previous demographic histories of their constituent parts.

Appendix I shows the estimated population of the French Americas by ethnicity and region from 1670 to 1730.