New France a permanent benefit to the French. New France New France () was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spain in 1763 under the Treaty of Paris (1763). At its peak in 1712 (before the Treaty of Utrecht), the territory of "New France", also sometimes known as the "French North American Empire" or "Royal New France", consisted of five colonies, each with its own administration: Canada, the most developed
Global silver trade from the 16th to 18th centuries to then use it as a means of purchase; that currency was so widespread that even the United States accepted it as valid until the Coinage Act of 1857. As the Spanish need for silver increased, new innovations for more efficient extraction of silver were developed, such as the amalgamation method of using mercury to extract silver from ore. In the two centuries that followed the discovery of Potosí, the Spanish silver mines in the Americas produced 40,000 tons of silver. Altogether, more than 150,000 tons of silver were shipped from Potosí by the end of the 18th century. From