Charles de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois (; 12 October 1671 – 12 July 1749) was a French Naval officer who served as
Governor of New France from 1726 to 1746.
Biography
Son of
François IV de Beauharnais, Charles had two brothers who also impacted the history of
New France
New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
.
Claude de Beauharnois was a French Naval officer who spent time commanding ships that maintained supply lines to the colony and
François de Beauharnois was
intendant of New France for a time.
The governor worked well with frontier traders, explorers, and missionaries. His term saw a great expansion in the number of western forts with the leadership of people like
La Vérendrye, and the linkage of Canadian and
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
colonies. Exploration was pushed west to the Rocky Mountains by La Vérendrye and his sons.
Despite a generally peaceful and prosperous administration, he was blamed for the fall of
Fortress Louisbourg in 1745, and was recalled in 1746, returning to France to following year.
Beauharnais was one of three governors-general of Canada known to have owned
enslaved people. During his tenure, he owned 27 people, among them two Africans and a number of
Meskwaki and
Inuit
Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
.
Legacy
Many places carry his name including the town of
Beauharnois, Quebec and
Fort Beauharnois,
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
.
References
External links
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Beauharnois, Charles de la Boische, Marquis de
Beauharnois, Charles de la Boische, Marquis de
Beauharnois, Charles de la Boische, Marquis de
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
Beauharnois, Charles de la Boische, Marquis de
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
Military personnel from Orléans
18th-century Canadian politicians
French slave owners
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