"Portrays the attempt of the monarchical
administration of France to make good its hold on the North American continent." - Publisher's advertisement, 1895
In 1893,
Parkman gained access to "certain
indispensable papers relating to the rival claimants to Acadia, La Tour,
and D'Aunay." Completely revising the work to
incorporate these materials, The Old Regime in Canada became three
books published in two volumes, deriving its title "from the third
and principal of the three sections into which the book is divided."
THE FEUDAL CHIEFS OF CANADA:
Claude and Charles de la Tour; Claude de Razilly; Charles de Menou d'Aunay
Charnisay; La Tour and the Puritans of Boston (1643-1645)
CANADA A MISSION: Jesuits
at Onandaga; Le Moyne; Holy Wars of Montreal (1642-1661); Hertel at Long
Saut; Laval, Argenson, Avaugour, Dumesnil, Mezy; The Brandy Quarrel
THE COLONY AND THE KING: Royal
Intervention; Tracy, Courcel, and Talon (1661-1665); Mohawk towns burned;
Marriage and population; Canadian feudalism (seignior and censitaire, gentilhommerie
and noblesse); Trade and industry; Priests and people; Morals and manners.
Originally published in 1874, this special PDF edition
faithfully preserves the landmark 1895 revised edition in its entirety.
Parkman was a meticulous researcher, and diligently footnoted every fact
and passage. Each of these footnotes appears on the same page on which
it is referenced (there are hundreds of important footnotes which have
been deleted from subsequent editions).
Early Spanish adventure (1512-1561: Florida): Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon's first colony;
Jean Ribaut; Rene de Laudonniere; Pedro Menendez de Aviles massacres the
French colonists; de Gorgues attacks the Spanish, 1583.
"Few passages in history," writes Mr. Parkman in the Preface, "are more striking than those which record the efforts of
the earlier French Jesuits to convert the Indians."
"This volume embodies the exploits and adventures of the
first European explorers of the Valley of the Mississippi; the efforts
of the French to secure the whole interior of the Continent; the attempt
of La Salle to find a westward passage to India; his colony on the Illinois;
his scheme of invading Mexico; his contest with the Jesuits; and his assassination
by his own followers." - Advertisement for
the Twelfth Edition (Little, Brown, and Company, 1883)
Early
life of Frontenac; Arrival at Quebec (1672); Perrot; Duchesneau; Le Febre
de la Barre (1682-1684); Mission to Onandaga (1684); Denonville and Dongan;
War against the Senecas (1687); Iroquois invasion; War with England; Return
of Frontenac; Sorties against the English; Massachusetts attacks Quebec
(1690); Sir William Phips; Defence of Quebec; the Mohawk expedition; War
in Acadia (1690-1694); Pirates; York and Pemaquid; French and English Rivalry;
Frontenac attacks the Onondagas; Peace of Ryswick; Death of Frontenac;
Family of Frontenac. 
In addition to biographical sketches of prominent
figures, the book covers broad issues of the first half of the eighteenth,
such as: royal successions and influence, French schemes of conquest in
America, colonial trade and politics, piracy, church politics, and Indian
issues. 
Quite possibly the greatest war story ever told. Too few Americans
are familiar with the French and Indian War, and how close France came
to winning it. After three generations of conflict between French and British
settlers of North America, the war (started by George Washington in the
wilds of Virginia) ended in a massive musket volley outside the walls of
the fortress city of Quebec.
Originally published in 1884, this special PDF edition faithfully
preserves the landmark 1897 edition in its entirety. Parkman was a meticulous
researcher, and diligently footnoted every fact and passage. Each of these
footnotes appears on the same page on which it is referenced (there are
hundreds of important footnotes which have been deleted from subsequent
editions).
Introduction: "Indian Tribes East of the Mississippi;"
French and English settlements in North America; The French and Indian
War; English take possession of the western posts; Pontiac's conspiracy
to destroy the English forts and settlements; the siege of Detroit; Forest
garrisons ruined; Fight of Bloody Ridge; Michillimackinac; Battle of Bushy
Run; the Paxton Men; Riot in Philadelphia; Bradstreet's army on the Lakes;
Ruin of the Indian Cause; Death of Pontiac.
With
the confidence of Parkman's family and friends, Farnham examines the historian's
educational background, personal life, interests, and accomplishments.
Parkman endured many years of incapacitating pain which made his research
and writing nearly impossible. The biographer concentrates on Parkman's
admiration for Frontenac, La Salle, Wolfe, and Montcalm and relates this
high regard to Parkman's views on honor, dignity, and "manliness."
His views on patriotism, scholarship and women's suffrage are quoted from
pamphlets and letters. Appended are a full bibliography of Parkman's writings,
his only poem "The New Hampshire Ranger," and Theodore Parker's
criticism of The Conspiracy of Pontiac.