AHC: French Settler Colony in OTL American South

So as the title says your challenge is to find a way for France to be the country that colonizes what where in OTL the southern English colonies (+ Florida) with a POD no earlier than the discovery of America.
 
How does that lead to the rest of the American south being colonised? Florida was fairly disconnected from that region by massive swamps and is more a gulf region.

Considering that the settlement was in The Jacksonville area, it's hardly the gulf.
 
Huh, I really need to look these things up before I pick at the idea. Why'd they settle there specifically?

French Protestants looking to start a new life. If it weren't destroyed by Spain, you might see more French Protestants settling in the region, especially if they got their hands on tobacco seeds
 
Verrazano sailed up and named a lot of stuff off of the eastern seaboard - needless to say these didn't stick. If France decides it can do more after his explorations....
 

NothingNow

Banned
French Protestants looking to start a new life. If it weren't destroyed by Spain, you might see more French Protestants settling in the region, especially if they got their hands on tobacco seeds

Yeah, but the Spanish were pretty wary of letting anyone settle the region, considering how often St. Augustine got attacked already. So yeah, Fort Caroline was attacked by the Spanish settlers, and every inhabitant of the fort got put to the sword.

If they had set up shop further north, like around Savannah and Tybee Island (which is actually towards the north end of the Guale Missionary province, but effectively uncontrolled) they might last a while, since that's a bit of a trip just to kill a bunch of heretics.
 
If they had set up shop further north, like around Savannah and Tybee Island (which is actually towards the north end of the Guale Missionary province, but effectively uncontrolled) they might last a while, since that's a bit of a trip just to kill a bunch of heretics.

Yes, but to attack a bunch of pirates it's worth it. A major motive for the earliest French settlements in the American southeast was piracy, aimed at the Spanish for the vast amounts of gold they were exporting. Obviously, this attitude is going to put them into trouble no matter what-the fact that the French settlers were Protestants is just an excuse for the Spanish to be extra brutal.

In order for the early French colonies to succeed, a lot of things have to go right for them. They must be able to defend themselves against other Europeans: The Spanish, of course, but the English (who IOTL were helpful to the early settlements) could also be a problem. The colony must not starve, and simultaneously it must not piss off the local Native Americans by stealing food. Finally, there must be some economic incentive to get settlers to come-fur, tobacco, or sugarcane could work.

If the French manage to create a colony that survives, it's numbers could be fed by the wars of religion-Huguenots might decide to try their luck in the new world rather than fight endless wars in France. The Huguenot colony could remain loyal to the king as, overseas, they'd have de facto freedom of worship but a need to be protected from the Spanish and English. The crown of France could see the economic benefits of the colonies, and so keep protecting them. Though it may also decide to create some more 'reliable' Catholic colonies to counterbalance Protestant influence in the New World, and so do more to encourage immigration to the colonies-thus creating a populous French colony in the southeast.
 
Top