The French definitely had a closer relationship with most of the Native American tribes, than the English. This is true, because the French settlers adjusted their everyday way of life and behavior to the Indians. The English however maintained an uneasy balance of power with the Natives, and offered them little tolerance. Therefore, the French had the closest relationship with the Indians, as apposed to the English’s almost non-existent relationship.
The French established close, direct ties with natives deep inside the continent. Among the first people to get through to Indian societies were the French Jesuit missionaries. They made some of the first contacts between the two peoples, and even converted them to Catholicism by the thousands without challenging most of their social customs. French fur traders had to form partnerships with the Indians in order to function. For them to have a successful partnership, they had to virtually become a part of native society, living among the natives and at times even marrying Indian women. The French and the Indians learned to adjust to each other so that they could interact comfortably without challenging most of their social customs.
The English, unlike the French, hugged the coastline and traded only with the Indians of the interior through mediators. By doing this, they separated themselves from the natives. They put forth very little effort to blend English society with the society of the natives. The English even attempted to isolate themselves from the Indians and create enclosed societies that would be entirely their own. Because of actions like this, a relationship between the English and Indians had little chance to develop.
The French Empire in America covered a vast territory of land by the mid-seventeenth century. But the French were not, of course, alone in on their land. They shared their land with great and powerful Indian inhabitants, and their relations with the natives were crucial to the...
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