Martha B. answered 08/14/19
Multilingual Language and Social Studies Tutor with BA in Linguistics
The French had a made contribution to the evolution of North America. Besides setting up colonies in Canada and the are of the later Louisiana Purchase, areas where forms of French are still spoken today, the French were traders in the early American colonial period. They had intricate trade routes across the North America, using rivers to trade with native peoples. The French were less likely to come to the New World for religious freedom, and did not set up as many long-term colonies with families. Therefore, they had better relationships with native peoples and were less apt to commit genocide intentionally or inadvertently with disease. This trading relationship continued into the conflict that is called the French and Indian War in the US, and was a source of frustration for the British who saw their ability for trade and conquest shrink because of France's loose occupation. Creole and Quebecois people today are examples of French language and culture persisting into the modern age in North America.