Champlain's Dream
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In this sweeping, enthralling biography, acclaimed historian David Hackett Fischer brings to life the remarkable Samuel de Champlain -- soldier, spy, master mariner, explorer, cartographer, artist, and Father of New France. Born on France's Atlantic coast, Champlain grew to manhood in a country riven by religious warfare. The historical record is unclear on whether Champlain was baptized Protestant or Catholic, but he fought in France's religious wars for the man who would become Henri IV, one of France's greatest kings, and like Henri, he was religiously tolerant in an age of murderous sectarianism. Champlain was also a brilliant navigator. He went to sea as a boy and over time acquired the skills that allowed him to make twenty-seven Atlantic crossings without losing a ship. But we remember Champlain mainly as a great explorer. On foot and by ship and canoe, he traveled through what are now six Canadian provinces and five American states. Over more than thirty years he founded, colonized, and administered French settlements in North America. Sailing frequently between France and Canada, he maneuvered through court intrigue in Paris and negotiated among more than a dozen Indian nations in North America to establish New France. Champlain had early support from Henri IV and later Louis XIII, but the Queen Regent Marie de Medici and Cardinal Richelieu opposed his efforts. Despite much resistance and many defeats, Champlain, by his astonishing dedication and stamina, finally established France's New World colony. He tried constantly to maintain peace among Indian nations that were sometimes at war with one another, but when he had to, he took up arms and forcefully imposed a new balance of power, proving himself a formidable strategist and warrior. Throughout his three decades in North America, Champlain remained committed to a remarkable vision, a Grand Design for France's colony. He encouraged intermarriage among the French colonists and the natives, and he insisted on tolerance for Protestants. He was a visionary leader, especially when compared to his English and Spanish contemporaries -- a man who dreamed of humanity and peace in a world of cruelty and violence. This superb biography, the first in decades, is as dramatic and exciting as the life it portrays. Deeply researched, it is illustrated throughout with many contemporary images and maps, including several drawn by Champlain himself. The Barnes & Noble Review Notwithstanding the familiar rhyme "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue," a quarter of American teenagers in a recent survey thought that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World sometime after 1750. Without benefit of a national holiday to rival Columbus Day, French explorer Samuel de Champlain's name and exploits are surely unfamiliar to many more, young and old alike. Among historians, however, he is no obscure footnote. Even before Champlain's death in 1635, much ink was devoted to him in accounts of the founding of New France in North America.
Introduction: In Search of Champlain 1A Leader in the Making 15Explorer of Acadia 105Founder of Quebec 227Builder of New France 345Father of French Canada 445Conclusion 525Memories of Champlain 533App. A Champlain's Birth Date 569App. B Champlain's Voyages: A Chronology 574App. C Champlain's Brief Discours: Problems of Accuracy and Authenticity 586App. D Champlain's Published Writings: A Question of Authorship 593App. E Champlain's Traitte de la Marine: An Essay on Leadership 595App. F Another Self Portrait? 600App. G Champlain's Superiors: Viceroys and Generals of New France 601App. H Trading Companies and Monopolies in New France, 1588 1635 604App. I Indian Nations in Champlain's World, 1603-35 608App. J The Battle with the Mohawk in 1609: Where Did it Happen? 614App. K The Attack on the Iroquois Fort in 1615: Which Fort? What Nation? 615App. L Champlain's Favored Firearm: The Arquebuse a Rouet 616App. M Champlain's Ships and Boats 619App. N Champlain's Weights and Measures 627App. O Champlain's Money 632App. P Champlain's Calendars 633Notes 635Bibliography 745Map Sources 787Index 801
