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Québec, 1745
Your Majesty King Louis XV,
Despite all our efforts, the population of New France is not increasing as rapidly as that
of the English
colonies. Last year, our population reached about 55,000 people. Three
out of four live in the countryside. The others live in the
colony's
three towns: Québec, Trois-Rivières and Montréal. Québec is the capital and main town, with 4600
inhabitants; 3700 people live in Montréal. Only the fur traders have a
nomadic
way of life; the rest of the population is
sedentary.
The population is still concentrated in the St. Lawrence Valley between Vaudreuil and Île
aux Coudres. Our territory of Louisiana, with only 4000 inhabitants, is developing even more
slowly.
Many fewer colonists than expected have settled here. The people of France find it too cold.
In addition, this
colony
offers fewer opportunities to make money than other more commercially active
colonies.
As you already know, French peasants are attached to their villages and reluctant to leave their
land.
Nearly 80 years ago, when King Louis XIV reformed the government of New France, there was
only one woman for every six men in the colony. Jean Talon solved this problem by sending over
young women from France, known as the Filles du Roi [literally the King’s Daughters]. Today, the
population has increased thanks to large families (with an average of seven children per family).
However, even though the air is clean and there are fewer epidemics here than in France, one out of
every four children still dies before the age of one. For those who survive childhood, the life
expectancy is about 50 years.
Your faithful and devoted intendant,
Gilles Hocquart