INTRODUCTION xiii 



As a knowledge of the French treaty rights in Newfoundland waters 

 is necessary to an understanding of the Convention of 1818 between the 

 United States and Great Britain, the origin, development, and termina- 

 tion of the French treaty rights in Newfoundland waters will be briefly 

 considered before passing to a detailed examination of the rights of the 

 United States under the Treaty of 1783 and the Convention of. 1818. 



French Fishing Rights in Newfoundland 



Newfoundland was valuable to France, for more reasons than those 

 which made it valuable to Great Britain. As fishing grounds the island 

 would be a source of profit to France as well as Great Britain, and exclu- 

 sive possession of it would, by preventing competition, increase its value. 

 The fisheries were regarded for centuries as the nursery of the navy, not 

 merely to sustain the position at home, but to render secure the posses- 

 sion of distant colonies. These reasons were common to Great Britain • 

 and France in their struggle for the control of the American continent. 

 Newfoundland controlled the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 and as France could only reach Canada by passing between Newfound- 

 land and Cape Breton on the south, or by passing through the Straits 

 of Belle Isle between Newfoundland and Labrador on the north, the 

 position of Newfoundland was of strategic importance. 



For the present purpose it is sufiicient to say that, from the dis- 

 covery of Newfoundland, French fishermen frequented the Grand Banks 

 and the shores of Newfoundland in quest of fish, and although France 

 renounced its exclusive claim to the French shore in the year 1904, it 

 still retains the right to fish within Newfoundland waters upon terms 

 of equality with British fishermen. In the century succeeding the dis- 

 covery of the island in 1497 by John and Sebastian Cabot in behalf of 

 England, French fishermen visited Newfoundland in great numbers. 

 Great Britain claimed the island -by right of discovery. Sir Humphrey 

 Gilbert took formal possession of it for England in the year 1583, and 

 England seems always to have claimed sovereignty, although its title 

 was questioned by France and it seemed likely on various occasions 

 that France would make good its claim. The restoration of Charles II 

 was a fortunate event for Louis XIV, and he lost no time in taking full 

 advantage of it. In 1662 the French occupied and fortified Placentia, 

 and from that date untU the Treaty of Utrecht, in 17 13, the larger and 

 more profitable part of the island was in the exclusive possession of 

 France. Had Louis XIV succeeded in his continental wars, Newfound- 

 land would have been ceded in full sovereignty to France, but the vic- 

 tories of Marlborough on the continent enabled Great Britain to dictate 



