Back to 1609

Time PoliceCSI Division You have been assigned to go back to 1609,

to research the deaths that occurred during the early-settlement of New France (1604-1608).

These deaths put a damper on colonizing the New World as many feared living there. It is your job to travel to New France in order to determine the cause/origin of this disease referred to as the “Distemper of the Land”.

““The Distemper of the The Distemper of the Land”Land”

Case # 209384

New France 1604-1609

Preparing your voyageBefore you leave to explore New

France, you decide to research the colonization efforts and the disease that plagues the area.

First impression Images such as the following one, were

created to show the wealth of the colony and increase the desire for people to colonize New France.

What is wrong with this picture?

Image taken from The Colonial Dream - Canada’s illustrated history

Facts of New France The disease, which was only prevalent in

winter, was not unknown to the French colonists.

“On top of this came cold and snow and frost so hard that wine froze in the casks, and had to be shared out by weight…Soon unknown diseases broke out, like those already described by Captain Jacques Cartier” (Lescarbot 1604)

Why were they not able to cure the disease if it was already known?

Facts of New France Samuel de Champlain participated in three

major colonization attempts between 1604-1609 (Ste-Croix, Port Royal, Quebec). All of which were affected by the disease.

Marc Lescarbot, Histoire de la Nouvelle France 1609

Facts of New France Why were there three colonization

attempts? What happened to the first 2 attempts? Why did they choose these sites in the first

place? Do the settlements have something in

common?

Facts of New France The goal of colonization was to establish a

permanent trading colony in New France. In doing so, Samuel de Champlain introduced many European plants and animals to New France.

What did Samuel de Champlain bring over? Would the crops and animals survive? What effect could this have on the local

environment?

Part 1: Identifying the Part 1: Identifying the DiseaseDisease

Based on the writing of Champlain and Cartier

Identifying the disease After the first casualties in 1604, Champlain

ordered an autopsy to be performed on his men. The result lead Champlain to believe that it was the same disease encountered by Cartier 70 years earlier.

“The heart was found all white and shrunken, surrounded by a potful of water like date juice, the liver good, but the lungs all blackened and corrupted” (Cartier 1535)

Identifying the disease“The sickness broke out among us

with extreme and unusual symptoms, for some lost all their strength, their legs became swollen and inflamed with sinews shrunken black like charcoal, in others the legs were spotted with purple blood. The disease would rise to the hips, shoulders, arms and neck. And all their

mouths so infected that the gums rotted down to the roots of the teeth, nearly all of which fell out.”

(Cartier 1535)

Why was there no known cure? If Cartier knew of the disease 70 years before

Champlain why was there no cure?

Cartier’s expedition survived due to the aid brought by the local Iroquois tribe.

Jacques Cartier never recorded in writing the native cure or the cause of this disease that claimed 25 of his sailors in 1535.

Unfortunately for Champlain, the Iroquois tribe who came to Cartier’s aid in the 1500’s had gone by the 1600’s.

However, back in France… In the gardens of the Chateau Fontainebleau,

the “Tree of Life” (white cedar), brought back from Cartier’s expedition, continued to grow.

The tree that saved Cartier might have been brought back to France, but its medicinal properties were quickly forgotten.

Identifying the disease According to the writings of Samuel de

Champlain, we know the following on the disease:

“It attacks those who take proper care of themselves as well as the most miserable people”

“Only eight of the original twenty eight inhabitants remained alive, and

even then, half of us were very week”

The distemper of the Land

“ During the winter a certain disease broke out among many of our people, called the distemper of the land, otherwise the scurvy, as I have since heard learned men say”

Scurvy

ScurvyThe disease that plagued Cartier now

has a more familiar name: scurvy.

But what is the cause?

Potential Causes Following are the causes of the disease

according to Champlain and Lescarbot

“Illness caused by the vapors that rose from the soil and infected the air outside”

“Eating too much salty food and vegetables, which heat the blood and spoil the interior parts”

Boredom and depression affect the health of men

Identifying the disease Using the data discussed and the facts

provided to you, what could be the cause of the disease affecting Champlain’s efforts to colonize New France?

a) Bacteria

b) Virus

c) Dietary deficiency (poor nutrition)

Scientific side notesRead the scientific extracts provided to

you, and discuss with your colleagues whether the source of a disease is a bacteria, virus or a dietary deficiency.

Guiding questions Why does the disease only seem to be

prevalent in winter?

Why does it attack both people who take care of themselves as well as people who don’t?

Do you know what the disease is called?