French explorers and traders established many settlements along the Mississippi River in the 1500s and 1600s as they searched for a northwest passage to Asia. These settlements included parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. New Orleans became an important port city and the center of French culture in North America in the 1800s, introducing creole languages that blended French and African influences. The French also introduced grand opera and other cultural influences that helped spread the French language throughout the region.

1. French Settlements
FRENCH INFLUENCE ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

2. Trading Fur And Language In the 1500s, Robert La Salle and Robert
de Champlain were looking for a shorter
route to the Indies by travelling through
the northwest passage.
Traders, explorers, trappers and
missionaries streamed in the valleys where
the St. Lawrence river as well as the
Mississippi finished into.
This route was revered for its importance in
the fur trading economy.

3. Up And Down The Mississippi
Due to the occupation of the French of the key
river routes in the Mississippi river, multiple
settlements were established on the river’s shore.
Settlements included states like: Louisiana,
Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska,
Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Wyoming, Montana.

4. Louisiana: Americas France
New Orleans, being a key port,
became one of the biggest and
important cities of the 1800’s.
With the navigation of different
merchants and distinct types of
economic activity it soon became
influential of the French presence in
America.
A creole, African influenced, French
was also introduced by the people
from Martinique, Haiti and
Guadeloupe.
Canal Street 1864

5. Grand opera French Opera House
1859-1919
The French brought other things other than
their language and conquest.
In 1808 it introduced the grand opera and
their culture to the America.
Further introduction of the French language
is dispersed by the influencing French artistic
facet.