French colonization of the Americas From 1851 to 1951 it was the site of a notorious penal colony, Devil's Island ("Île du Diable"). Since 1946, French Guiana has been an overseas department of France. French colonization of the Americas The French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued on into the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America. Most colonies were developed to export products such as fish, rice sugar, and furs. As they colonized the New
The People of New France The People of New France The People of New France ("Brève histoire des peuples de la Nouvelle-France" in French) is a book of Canadian history during the 17th and 18th Centuries written by Allan Greer and published by the University of Toronto Press in 1997 and by Boréal in 1998 for the French version, as part of the "Themes in Canadian History" series. Unlike works of history that focus on the political histories of government officials and the clergy, Greer focuses on the day-to-day reality of living in French colonial Canada. One 2007 review of the book describes the treatment