What geographic factors worked against creating a unified French empire in North America?
1 Answer
The Great Lakes and the flow of the Mississippi, Ohio Rivers.
Explanation:
The capital of the French empire in North America was Quebec. The Quebec was separated from the rest of the French Empire by the Great Lakes. There was little land transportation between the northern province of Quebec with the rest of the French Empire in the Ohio, Mississippi river valleys, and New Orleans on the Gulf Coast.
The water transportation was not reliable. The Great Lakes freeze and are difficult to transverse in the winter. The Rivers provide transportation basically in only one direction. Boats could float down the rivers but only light canoes could move back up the rivers. This meant that there was no economic commerce between the parts of the French Empire in North America. Only the fur traders in their canoes provided a source of income.
With the war against England the water transportation the French Empire relied on was disrupted. The English fleet dominated the oceans leaving the French Empire of North America completely isolated and vulnerable. The seven year war which started in North America ( the Ohio River Valley) ended with the lose of the French Empire of North America to the English.
