Equinoctial France

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French colonial effort in Northern Brazil

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Equinoctial France (French: France équinoxiale) was the contemporary name given to the colonization efforts of France in the 17th century in South America, around the line of the equator, before "tropical" had fully gained its modern meaning: Equinoctial means in Latin "of equal nights", i.e., on the equator, where the duration of days and nights is nearly the same year round. The settlement was made in what is now known as the Bay of São Luis and lasted for 3 years.

The French colonial empire in the New World also included New France (Nouvelle France) in North America, extending from Canada to Louisiana, and for a short period (12 years) also included the colony of Antarctic France (France Antarctique, in French), in present-day Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All of these settlements were in violation of the papal bill of 1493, which divided the New World between Spain and Portugal. This division was later defined more exactly by the Treaty of Tordesillas.

## History

[edit]

Tupinambá "Louis Henri" was sent on a visit to Louis XIII in Paris in 1613, in Claude d'Abbeville, Histoire de la mission.

The establishment of France Équinoxiale commenced in 1612, when a French expedition departed from Cancale, Brittany, France, under the command of Daniel de la Touche, Seigneur de la Ravardière, and Admiral François de Razilly. Carrying 500 colonists, it arrived on the northern coast of what is today the Brazilian state of Maranhão. De la Ravardière had discovered the region in 1604 but the death of the king, Henry IV postponed his plans to start its colonization.

The colonists soon founded a village, Saint-Louis, in honor of the French king Louis IX. This later became São Luís in Portuguese,[1] the only Brazilian state capital founded by France. On 8 September, Capuchin friars prayed the first mass, and the soldiers started building a fortress. An important difference in relation to France Antarctique is that this new colony was not motivated by escape from religious persecutions by Protestant Huguenots (see French Wars of Religion).[citation needed]

The colony did not last long. A Portuguese army assembled in the Captaincy of Pernambuco, under the command of Alexandre de Moura, was able to mount a military expedition, which defeated and expelled the French colonists in 1615, less than four years after their arrival in the land. Thus, it repeated the disaster spelt for the colonists of France Antarctique, in 1567. A few years later, in 1620, Portuguese and Brazilian colonists arrived in number and São Luís started to develop, with an economy based mostly in sugar cane and slavery.

French traders and colonists tried again to settle a France Équinoxiale further North, in what is today French Guiana, in 1626, 1635 (when the capital, Cayenne, was founded) and 1643. Twice a Compagnie de la France Équinoxiale was founded, in 1643 and 1645, but both foundered as a result of misfortune and mismanagement. It was only after 1674, when the colony came under the direct control of the French crown and a competent Governor took office, that France Équinoxiale became a reality. To this day, French Guiana is a department of France.

## See also

[edit]

* History of French Guiana
* History of Brazil
* Antarctic France
* French colonisation of the Americas
* List of French possessions and colonies
* French invasions in Brazil

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Marley, David (1998). Wars of the Americas: a chronology of armed conflict in the New World, 1492 to the present. ABC-CLIO. p. 101\. ISBN 0-87436-837-5.

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French overseas empire

Former|

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Former French colonies in Africa and the Indian Ocean

North Africa|

* Algeria
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* Tunisia

West Africa|

* Côte d'Ivoire
* Dahomey
* Sudan
* Guinea
* Mauritania
* Arguin Island
* Niger
* Senegal
* Four Communes
* Upper Volta
* Togoland
* James Island
* Albreda

Equatorial Africa|

* Chad
* Gabon
* Middle Congo
* Ubangi-Shari
* Cameroons

Comoros|

* Anjouan
* Grande Comore
* Mohéli

* Somaliland (Djibouti)
* Madagascar
* Isle de France

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Former French colonies in the Americas

French North America|

* Acadia
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French Caribbean|

* Dominica
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* Saint-Domingue
* Haïti, Dominican Republic
* Saint Kitts & Nevis
* Saint Lucia
* Saint Vincent
* Tobago
* Virgin Islands

Equinoctial France|

* Berbice
* France Antarctique
* Inini

* French colonization of the Americas
* French West India Company

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Former French colonies in Asia and Oceania

French India|

* Chandernagor
* Coromandel Coast
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* Pondichéry
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* Yanaon

Indochinese Union|

* Cambodia
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Mandate for Syria
and the Lebanon|

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Oceania|

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* France–Asia relations
* Louis XIV's East India Company

Present|

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Overseas France

Inhabited territories

| Overseas regions1|

* French Guiana
* Guadeloupe
* Martinique
* Mayotte2
* Réunion

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Overseas collectivities|

* French Polynesia
* Saint Barthélemy
* Saint Martin
* Saint Pierre and Miquelon
* Wallis and Futuna

Sui generis collectivity|

* New Caledonia

Uninhabited territories

| North Pacific Ocean|

* Clipperton Island

|

Overseas territory (French Southern and Antarctic Lands)|

* Adélie Land
* Crozet Islands
* French domains of Saint Helena
* French national domain in the Holy Land
* Kerguelen Islands
* Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands

Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean|

* Bassas da India3
* Europa Island3
* Glorioso Islands2, 3
* Banc du Geyser
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* Tromelin Island4

* 1 Also known as overseas departments
* 2 Claimed by the Comoros
* 3 Claimed by Madagascar
* 4 Claimed by Mauritius

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French colonial conflicts

16th century|

| North America|

* South Carolina (1562)
* Florida (1562–65)
* Florida (1568)

|

South America|

* Brazil (1531)
* Brazil (1555–67)
* Brazil (1590–04)

|

17th century|

| Africa|

* Morocco (1629)
* Senegal (1659–77)
* Djidjelli (1664)
* Algiers (1682)
* Algiers (1683)
* Algiers (1688)

|

Americas|

* Beaver Wars (1609–1701)
* Brazil (1612–15)
* North America (1627–29)
* West Indies (1635–59)
* Carib Expulsion (1660)
* Texas (1685–89)
* King William's War (1689–97)
* Santo Domingo (1691)

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Asia|

* Siam (1687–90)

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18th century|

| Africa|

* West Africa (1758–63)
* Morocco (1765)

|

Americas|

* Queen Anne's War (1702–13)
* Chickasaw Wars (1721–52)
* Dummer's War (1721–25)
* Natchez revolt (1729)
* King George's War (1744–48)
* Nova Scotia (1749–55)
* French and Indian War (1754–60)
* North America (1778–83)
* Caribbean (1778–83)
* Haitian Revolution (1791–1804)
* Santo Domingo (1795–1809)

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Asia|

* Burma–France relations (1729–56)
* India (1746–48)
* India (1749–54)
* India (1756–63)
* Vietnam (1777–1820)
* East Indies (1778–83)
* East Indies (1793–1801)
* Egypt and Syria (1798–1801)

|

19th century|

| Africa|

* Indian Ocean (1809–11)
* Algeria (1830–47)
* Algeria (1835–1903)
* Morocco (1844)
* Salé (1851)
* French conquest of Senegal (1854)
* Tunisia (1881)
* Madagascar (1883)
* Ivory Coast (1883–98)
* First Franco-Dahomean War (1890)
* Second Franco-Dahomean War (1892–94)
* Second Madagascar expedition (1895)
* Menalamba rebellion (1895–1903)
* Voulet–Chanoine Mission (1898–1900)

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Americas|

* West Indies (1804–10)
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* Mexico (1838–39)
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* Intervention in Mexico (1861–67)

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Asia & Pacific Ocean|

* Moluccas (1810)
* Java (1811)
* Philippines (1844–45)
* Tourane (1847)
* Franco-Tahitian War (1844–47)
* Tourane (1856)
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* Cochinchina Campaign (1858–62)
* North Vietnam (1873–74)
* Tonkin Campaign (1883–86)
* Sino-French War (1884–85)
* North Vietnam (1886–96)
* Second Opium War (1860)
* Japan (1863–64)
* Korea (1866)
* Leewards War (1888–97)
* Franco-Siamese crisis (1893)

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20th century|

| Africa|

* Wadai War (1906–11)
* Casablanca (1907)
* Morocco (1911–12)
* Zaian War (1914–21)
* Volta-Bani War (1915–16)
* Kaocen revolt (1916–17)
* Rif War (1920–26)
* Kongo-Wara rebellion (1928–31)
* Malagasy Uprising (1947–48)
* Tunisian independence (1952–56)
* Algerian War (1954–62)
* Cameroon War (1955–64)
* Suez Crisis (1956)
* Ifni War (1957–58)
* Bizerte crisis (1961)

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Asia|

* Boxer Rebellion (1901)
* Holy Man's Rebellion (1901–36)
* Vietnam (1916)
* Vietnam (1917–18)
* Vietnam (1918–21)
* Syria (1919–21)
* Cilicia (1920–21)
* Syria (1925–27)
* Vietnam (1930)
* Vietnam (1930–31)
* Vietnam (1940)
* Franco-Thai War (1940–41)
* Indochina (1945)
* South Vietnam (1945–46)
* First Indochina War (1946–54)

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Pacific|

* Ouvéa cave hostage taking (1988)

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