Hey you. Yeah, you. You wanna learn some knowledge? Yeah you do. Well, today, I’ll be talking about our latest and probably final humanities project, which combined Shakespeare and Colonization. How is that possible, you say? Well, prepare to find out!
Project Overview
So, our main project this term was to study Shakespeare, specifically the Tempest. We were also supposed to perform said play. Sound simple enough, right? Oh, wait, we also had to perform it as a Tableau, which is pretty much when the stage goes black, and every time a background appears, the actors freeze into poses on screen with some narration to hopefully tell a story. A bit harder, eh? But wait, there’s more. We also had to set this entire thing in New France. Yeah. Not that easy now, eh? What is New France, you ask? Well, that’s exactly what I’m going to discuss next.
New France
New France, the topic for our Tableau, took place after our latest unit, the Age Of Exploration. New France, as the name suggests, was an area colonized by France, which is now modern-day Canada. We then proceeded to learn all about New France in order to be experts and to be able to actually explain why the heck we were basing our Tableau in New France. Here’s all the stuff we learned:
The Discovery
So, New France was discovered by coincidence, as most good things are. The French explorers were searching for trade routes when they came across North America and Canada. However, there were already people living in New France. The French colonized the area and called it, as you may or may not know, New France.
Life In New France
As New France prospered, the New French began to develop their own way of life. Everyone had their specific roles in the community. At the top are the sovereign council, which consists of 3 officials. The governor, who ruled over all of New France, the Bishop, who ruled over religion, and the Intendant, who maintained law and order, while also keeping track of the economy.
Under them are the clergy and seigneurs. The clergy consisted of priests and nuns. Priests, otherwise known as “Black Robes”, went on missions into the remote lands and tried to convert the Natives. Nuns were a big part of education and health in New France. Meanwhile, seigneurs protected the inhabitants, who gave them a portion of their crops and earnings for protection.
At the bottom were the inhabitants, the filles du roi, and the couriers du bois. The inhabitants were pretty much peasants, who were pretty much regular country folk. The filles du roi were women who had come from France, who had come to marry the inhabitants and reproduce (ewwww). The couriers de bois were explorers, who had explored lands unknown. They sometimes also fought alongside their First Nations allies in battles. Couriers de bois sometimes took country wives, who were First Nations women they had allied themselves with. These country wives were helpful as they knew the land better than any French Colonizers.
Fur Trading Companies
The fur trading companies were businesses who had enlisted help from the First Nations people to get furs to make hats for sale in Europe. The 2 Biggest companies were the Hudson Bay Company And the North West Company. The Hudson Bay Company operated (surprisingly) in and around the Hudson Bay. They traded furs with the First Nations in the area for as little as 1 bead per 1 pelt. The North West Company operated pretty much everywhere the Hudson Bay Company didn’t, which was a pretty wide area. The NWC consisted of a few groups. The Wintering partners operated around the Fort Williams Area, while the Montreal partners operated around the Montreal area. The voyageurs made runs in between the 2 areas. The 2 major companies battled for a while, but the HBC eventually won and the 2 companies merged.
The Fall Of New France
The end of New France came at the hands of, guess who, the English. The English pretty much saw what the French had going for them, and thought to themselves, “Hey, I want some of that!”. So, they did what most people have done throughout history, and went to war. Many wars happened, but at the end, you know it, The English came out on top. The English winning the war is one of the reasons we speak English in most of Canada.
Rising Action
So, in the days leading up to the performance, our 5 groups were each given a section of the History of New France. Our group, consisting of Grace, Jackson, Anika and myself, were given Act IV. We were also supposed to integrate the Fur Trading Companies into our performance. Also, as you may know, we weren’t allowed to pose, so we made all of our backgrounds really animated to hopefully help tell the story better.
Showtime!
Below is a video of our performance. I hope you enjoy.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oWCMY6vHVaM
Welp. I guess that’s it. Our final unit was a refreshing breath of fresh air from all of the comics and art, and what a better way to cap off a great year than with a performance. And with that, I will leave you.