Cultural impacts of French Brazil *in France*?

[nagachate]

For sure my favorite "alternate colonization" owing to me being Brazilian and very fond of France, what might be some impacts of French colonization of all of Brazil(just to make it broader than Rio+Maranhão)? I remember reading about how parrot feathers became fashionable in France at the height of French involvement in Brazil at the expenses of Portugal, red ink from Brazil-Wood also became much more popular and avaible.

Most French explorers in Brazil were from Brittany and Normandy, the city of Rouen specifically was majorly invested in Brazil, even holding a Brazil-themed festival in an island that they turned into a "micro cosmus" of Brazil, with animals and plants brought from Brazil and even friendly natives, during the festival they also staged a battle betwen pro-French natives and pro-Portugal ones, and a naval battle betwen France and Portugal(the French of course won), all to convince the King, who had been invited to the festival, to invest in their enterprise.

That is all to say, how could French cuisine(particularly curious about this one), fashion, and even thought, considering Brazil iirc inspired Rousseau's "good savage" and French antartique served as a refuge for Huguenots, be impacted by a stronger and lasting French domination of the eastern coasts of South America?

 

[Umbric Man]

You'll see France still wanting to assert hard control over Brazil, ESPECIALLY if profits from plantations and gold mining start coming in and begin attracting colonists by the truckload. They may be willing to let the Huegenots move in for sake of populating the claims, but they'll still face restrictions, considering the lack of welcome Huegenots had in Canada to where they simply headed over to New York to founded New Rochelle and the bishops in Canada taking religion REAL seriously. This also jels with the idea that French will begin moving there in bigger numbers than to Canada (deemed unhealthy and dangerous at the time), as most French migration went to the warm Caribbean with its sugar plantations - here in Brazil you also have warm wearher but also endless land and ability to OWN farms and homesteads and expand them into full plantations.

Assuming France has its North American claims and the broad strokes of OTL happen there, but with less settlers in Canada due to Brazil's attractions, it may end up in a Louisiana-esque situation of a lot of Anglos eventually moving in and probably anglicizing Montreal downward completely with settlers like northern Louisiana, while Trois-Rivieres-to-Quebec becomes overall anglicized in mainstream ways of life yet keeping a lot of its French blood and cultural quirks a la New Orleans and Acadiana.

As for ties? France famously threw away any concerns over its Canadian, Acadian, Creole, and Cajun colonists at the negotiating table and didn't seem to care on cultural connections till the 20th century due to how overall small the settler populations were. If Brazil's French begin multiplying exponentionally you may see a sort-of parent-child relationship idea develop a la Britain and Spain being mother countries to Anglo and Hispanic America, with France the standard of excellence and Brazilians emulating it when possible, even with the quite different climes and economies. On the other hand, such major plantation systems that'll surely develop can much more readily emulate the French aristocratic rankings and put the Canadian seignural system to shame with the fabulous wealth they'll inevitably develop. You may see some of the Brazilians trying to intermarry and mingle with the existing French aristocracy. And as you said, the exoticness of Brazil was already a thing in OTL - it'll EXPLODE in a French Brazil scenario.

 

[rfmcdonald]

I think it important to note that the pool of potential migrants in France is not static. Especially if you start a tradition of migration between France and the Americas early, a half-century before Canada, I think that you might easily be able to provide enough migrants to populate Brazil and New France.

 

[nagachate]

And as you said, the exoticness of Brazil was already a thing in OTL - it'll EXPLODE in a French Brazil scenario.

I personally have a soft-spot for culinary alternate history, i am of the idea that art and cuisine are great ways of understanding the 'zeigeist' of a period. Starting with Brazil, France already has the cassoulet, make it with black beans and you get the Brazilian Feijoada, so i imagine this dish will still come to be. A few elements of Brazilian cuisine i was wonder might make to France are: corn-flour based couscous, manioc/yuca and its derivatives, like tapioca and yuca-wine(cauím), tropical fruits like the pineapple and the cashew, i personally would love to see cashew-wine become mainstream in France as it was compared to the wine produced in southern France in the 1500s, also wonder how coffee might develop down the line(assuming France keeps Brazil untill...1820s ish? i dont want to deal with the effects of french Brazil in history in this thread).

 

[Arkenfolm]

I personally have a soft-spot for culinary alternate history, i am of the idea that art and cuisine are great ways of understanding the 'zeigeist' of a period. Starting with Brazil, France already has the cassoulet, make it with black beans and you get the Brazilian Feijoada, so i imagine this dish will still come to be. A few elements of Brazilian cuisine i was wonder might make to France are: corn-flour based couscous, manioc/yuca and its derivatives, like tapioca and yuca-wine(cauím), tropical fruits like the pineapple and the cashew, i personally would love to see cashew-wine become mainstream in France as it was compared to the wine produced in southern France in the 1500s, also wonder how coffee might develop down the line(assuming France keeps Brazil untill...1820s ish? i want to deal with the effects of french Brazil in history in this thread).

I don't know if any of those more exotic drinks would become common. Brazil has a wine industry (highlands of Minas Gerais south to Uruguay) and I'd expect the local colonists to plant vineyards which they'd make wine and brandy from (not sure of the statistics, but it seems outside of sacramental wine, producing brandy and other liquor was more common in Latin America). Brazil's most famous drink is caipirinha, a cocktail made from cachaça. Cachaça is basically the same as most French Caribbean rums--it's made from cane juice and not molasses so has a very distinct taste (I'd describe it as "tropical" for lack of a better word). Let's keep in mind one of the Brazil's biggest industries was sugarcane. So given OTL tastes in France, the French Caribbean, and Brazil, it's pretty hard to beat wine and rum.

Could see some sort of exotic fruit brandy becoming popular in France TTL as an apetif/digestif, maybe a competitor with calvados (cashew apple brandy vs apple brandy?) that gets associated with wherever the main port trading with Brazil. Maybe a similar thing with a coffee-based liqueur like Kahlua.

 

[nagachate]

I don't know if any of those more exotic drinks would become common. Brazil has a wine industry (highlands of Minas Gerais south to Uruguay) and I'd expect the local colonists to plant vineyards which they'd make wine and brandy from (not sure of the statistics, but it seems outside of sacramental wine, producing brandy and other liquor was more common in Latin America). Brazil's most famous drink is caipirinha, a cocktail made from cachaça. Cachaça is basically the same as most French Caribbean rums--it's made from cane juice and not molasses so has a very distinct taste (I'd describe it as "tropical" for lack of a better word). Let's keep in mind one of the Brazil's biggest industries was sugarcane. So given OTL tastes in France, the French Caribbean, and Brazil, it's pretty hard to beat wine and rum.

Could see some sort of exotic fruit brandy becoming popular in France TTL as an apetif/digestif, maybe a competitor with calvados (cashew apple brandy vs apple brandy?) that gets associated with wherever the main port trading with Brazil. Maybe a similar thing with a coffee-based liqueur like Kahlua.

You're right, but one can dream of a traditional native drink becoming more prominient, the indians of Brazil had a tradition of what i can only describe as proto-liquors, mixing yuca-based alcohol with honey and fruits, pineapple being specially strong(edit: this "pineapple liquor" was called "Nanaí"), to give flavor. Kinda playing into the likely more native-friendly police of French colonialism in the Americas(not that it would be an utopia but at least they proved to be more cooperational than the Iberians many times).

Also i liked the apetif/digestif thing, that's a good niche for exotic liquors to fill.

 

[Guilherme Loureiro]

also wonder how coffee might develop down the line(assuming France keeps Brazil untill...1820s ish? i want to deal with the effects of french Brazil in history in this thread).

First coffee trees(bushes?) in Brazil were booty from the occupation of Cayenne in 1807(EDIT: 1808-9), the French had an experimental farm/botanical garden there(forgot its name), and coffee was one of the things grown - also, the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Gardens were established using the Cayenne one as a model.

Don't know when exactly the French started growing coffee in French Guyana, though.

 

[nagachate]

Don't know when exactly the French started growing coffee in French Guyana, though.

1720s i belive

 

[Guilherme Loureiro]

1720s i belive

Hmm. It took some 30 years from the first coffee trees to coffee becoming Brazil's most important export(1837). Ceteris paribus, this means coffee would become really important around the 1750s.

However, things wouldn't be equal; Brazil in the early 1800s had already seen the decadence of the gold-mining industry, here it would be in its peak(although close to its decadence; I think peak gold extraction was reached in 1754). So, coffee growing would take some time to really establish itself.

 

[holycookie]

For sure my favorite "alternate colonization" owing to me being Brazilian and very fond of France, what might be some impacts of French colonization of all of Brazil(just to make it broader than Rio+Maranhão)?

in this case, france won the dispute with portugal in the 16th century for control of brazil. I don't know how the size of the country will be, but it will be bigger than OTL Brazil

I remember reading about how parrot feathers became fashionable in France at the height of French involvement in Brazil at the expenses of Portugal, red ink from Brazil-Wood also became much more popular and avaible.

this and much more, this colony will have several resources that will make france experiment with different fashions using different furs and skins (the imperial harpy will be an animal that will draw attention in my opinion). From local products like feathers, gold to productions like sugar. As a whole, France will be much, much richer.

Most French explorers in Brazil were from Brittany and Normandy, the city of Rouen specifically was majorly invested in Brazil, even holding a Brazil-themed festival in an island that they turned into a "micro cosmus" of Brazil, with animals and plants brought from Brazil and even friendly natives, during the festival they also staged a battle betwen pro-French natives and pro-Portugal ones, and a naval battle betwen France and Portugal(the French of course won), all to convince the King, who had been invited to the festival, to invest in their enterprise.

as a whole colonization will be similar to that of portugal with a large part of the population being a mix of indians and euuroues at first, with slaves coming later. Culturally, the colony will be much more active

That is all to say, how could French cuisine(particularly curious about this one), fashion, and even thought, considering Brazil iirc inspired Rousseau's "good savage" and French antartique served as a refuge for Huguenots,

Well, the French cuisine will contain a huge variety of new fruits, nuts (there are several types in the region), meat, fish and seafood. Knowing the creativity of the French people in relation to cuisine, things will come out that have never been seen before. I think maybe royalty like fish like Pirarucu due to physical imposition and unique taste. Mandioca flour and other things along those lines may become popular with the lower class in France (in the colony, mandioca flour will be consumed a lot). in fashion, probably the use of animal parts found in the colony will be used a lot. Gold will also be more accessible for nobility in this timeline as well.

be impacted by a stronger and lasting French domination of the eastern coasts of South America?

Well OTL Portugal sent few people at otl to the new world in the 16th century. With Brazil only receiving 100 thousand Portuguese in 1700. Due to the large population of france, even if immigration to the colony is very low, the colony will develop and expand faster than otl. If only 0.57% (a very, very low immigration) of the population of France immigrated in the 16th century, it would be about 93,440 Frenchmen (almost the same as two centuries of Portuguese immigration to Brazil). As a whole, the colony is larger and more developed than OTL colonial Brazil. When gold and diamonds are found, there's gonna be a massive gold rush and actually make the French crown pay attention to the colony.
French would have the money and bureaucracy to make sure the colony develops, so them eventually gobbling up all of the South American Eastern Coast is not unreasonable, especially once they realize the Plata is a decent river for transporting goods to the rest of Brazil and the land good for agriculture. This also impacts on a greater expansion of France in Europe, so France's TTL will be greater, perhaps managing to reach the Rhine River and control part of Italy (probably up to Milan). The French navy will also be larger and more developed with the country having a greater maritime culture.

 

[Kurd Gossemer]

Basically, the changes are immense.

Brazil was always a major source of revenue of money for Portugal, first with sugar, then cattle, then the Drogas do Sertão, then gold and diamonds. Portugal wasn't able to fully use those gained resources to it's maximum potential (most of the gold the Portuguese acquired ended up going to Britain due to the commercial treaties between them) but it was still able to have control over them as well as the massive territories of the colony.

With a wealthy (both materially and population wise) country like France, this becomes even more pressing, the French would have the capability of sending in enough settlers to populate the colonies enough that we could see them doing like the luso Brazilians otl and expanding the colony borders via actually controlling the territory with their population or "Uti Possesis", so expect French Brazil to gobble up Uruguay, Northern Argentina and parts of Paraguay as well as the usual areas of expansion as cattle and sugar drives the population forward.

Already reaping the revenue of cattle, sugar and (sadly) slavery selling, the french would have way more money to spend, meaning they wouldn't be as broken as otl and could've have more success in the 17th century, so probably a few more territories as well as a strong navy to defend their possessions in the new world and Africa.

Then gold gets discovered in Minas Gerais around 1693 and diamonds not soon after and the changes really come.

Essentially, there's gonna be a massive gold rush from peasants and nobles to the colony to take advantage of the findings, France is gonna strengthen it's navy to ensure the diamonds and gold reach the home country and the coffers are gonna be overflowing.

This is super important as the war of Spanish Succession is just right around the corner in about 8 years, more than enough for France to modernize their colonial administration and taxation to ensure maximum profit. So when the war actually starts, France is in a massively advantageous position of both having the money and the navy to keep themselves going, instead of a settled peace, France wins hard TTL.

Channel Islands, Spanish Netherlands, the Catholic parts of the United Provinces, German territory, Milan, Savoy, Genoa, Corsica and Sardinia are all France's new additions as well as getting a Bourbon on the throne of Spain.

With the new territories to digest and the wealth of the New World coming in(the Minas Gerais mines only stopped bringing in grand amounts of gold in the late 18th century), France can sit back, enjoy it's position as the top dog of Europe and continue to populate their new world colonies.

Essentially, having Brazil's resources at it's disposal means France will have a easier time reaching it's goals it wanted otl

 

[funnyhat]

This also jels with the idea that French will begin moving there in bigger numbers than to Canada (deemed unhealthy and dangerous at the time)

It was the other way around : Canada was a relatively healthy place to settle, being located outside the malarial zone. Natural growth there was substantial. It was the Caribbean colonies and Louisiana that were considered unhealthy, due to tropical disease, and natural growth there was very slow.

However, Canada was not a place to get rich, and the government did not want the population to be that large, anyway, as too much human settlement would disrupt the fur-bearing animal population and alienate the local allies. In the Antilles, plantation agriculture was extremely lucrative, and there were no concerns about over-settlement. Many more colonists came there, but often either died or returned to France after making their money.

Brazil may have been in between these two : warm enough to grow cash crops, but (at least in temperate regions) a healthier place to settle than the Antilles. Parts of Brazil might resemble the Antilles and others more like Canada.

 

[Kurd Gossemer]

It was the other way around : Canada was a relatively healthy place to settle, being located outside the malarial zone. Natural growth there was substantial. It was the Caribbean colonies and Louisiana that were considered unhealthy, due to tropical disease, and natural growth there was very slow.

However, Canada was not a place to get rich, and the government did not want the population to be that large, anyway, as too much human settlement would disrupt the fur-bearing animal population and alienate the local allies. In the Antilles, plantation agriculture was extremely lucrative, and there were no concerns about over-settlement. Many more colonists came there, but often either died or returned to France after making their money.

Brazil may have been in between these two : warm enough to grow cash crops, but (at least in temperate regions) a healthier place to settle than the Antilles. Parts of Brazil might resemble the Antilles and others more like Canada.

So basically like OTL Brazil? North and northeast is more tropical and more black and mulatto while the south of the country is definitely white, with the other regions being a mixture of everything

 

[holycookie]

So basically like OTL Brazil? North and northeast is more tropical and more black and mulatto while the south of the country is definitely white, with the other regions being a mixture of everything

I think so, the percentage and absolute numbers of each group will depend on the size of the colony and how the French manage it. At otl Brazil received half of the 12 million enslaved Africans brought to the New World (5.5 million), depending on how the French manage the plantations there may be even more slaves going to the colony, the same if the colony controls the pampas with a good immigration greater number of whites (due to the size of France and the possible control of the pampas).
If immigration is at the same rate for France as it was for Portugal (1.5% from the 16th to the 17th century) the immigration that for the Portuguese colony generated 45 thousand settlers, in the case of the French colony this would generate about 245 thousand settlers. With the immigration from 17th to the 18th century, which had a percentage of 5% of the population going to brazil, in otl this generated about 55,000 settlers (100,000 in 2 centuries, this was before finding gold in brazil) for the French colony a 5% immigration would generate 925 thousand new settlers (1 million and 170 thousand settlers in two centuries).

 

[Kurd Gossemer]

I think so, the percentage and absolute numbers of each group will depend on the size of the colony and how the French manage it. At otl Brazil received half of the 12 million enslaved Africans brought to the New World (5.5 million), depending on how the French manage the plantations there may be even more slaves going to the colony, the same if the colony controls the pampas with a good immigration greater number of whites (due to the size of France and the possible control of the pampas).
If immigration is at the same rate for France as it was for Portugal (1.5% from the 16th to the 17th century) the immigration that for the Portuguese colony generated 45 thousand settlers, in the case of the French colony this would generate about 245 thousand settlers. With the immigration from 17th to the 18th century, which had a percentage of 5% of the population going to brazil, in otl this generated about 55,000 settlers (100,000 in 2 centuries, this was before finding gold in brazil) for the French colony a 5% immigration would generate 925 thousand new settlers (1 million and 170 thousand settlers in two centuries).

So the south, southwest (until the coffee plantations start popping up) and center east will certainly be white majority, not to mention a bigger white population on the north and northeast, from sheer numbers even if they don't have the immunity to malaria and such

Also makes me realize, Spain is not gonna just sit down and wait for french settlers to flood the lands they(in paper) are owners of, we might a see much more aggressive approach on the Plata River and especially in the Amazon to try and keep the French settlers out... But considering the results of French colonists performing in the conflicts against the British, their sheer numbers(because France would absolutely love to gain any edge over their Spanish rivals) and the fact Spain was going through several military and economical problems due to overexertion and having to deal with multiple rivals, they won't be successful in the same way they were against the Portuguese, which already was not that grand . So like I said, bigger Brazil with Uruguay, parts of Paraguay and the Northern parts of Argentina are falling, only stopping when the bourbons get on the Spanish throne and the French colonists are Not allowed to flood the viceroyalties, officially

 

[hirsch91]

Would a French Brazil still import African slaves on the same scale as Portugal did bearing in mind that France had much larger population base? Of course slavery was profitable but France had a population of above 18 million people in the 17&18 centuries. They could have deported the 1.5-2 million Huguenots there. AFAIK they were considered highly productive. Deporting the Huguenots and having them work in the sugar plantations/ gold mines seems a much more profitable approach than fighting multiple wars against them that cost the lives of millions of French. And given the potential of Brazil, ie the arable land and the gold, there'd be plenty of French willing to move to there.

 

[holycookie]

So the south, southwest (until the coffee plantations start popping up) and center east will certainly be white majority, not to mention a bigger white population on the north and northeast, from sheer numbers even if they don't have the immunity to malaria and such

Yes, it is very likely that this is the case, with some of these whites having native grandparents or great-grandparents but due to immigration, the physical characteristics would be very French. A group that if it exists will cause great chaos in South America are the bandeirantes (or something similar). At otl they even launched attacks as far as Quito, with these attacks being carried out by groups and private initiatives without authorization from the crown. If they exist the same will happen, but on a larger scale then the viceroyalty of plata, peru and maybe even some attacks to the viceroyalty of New Granada. Therefore, Spain will have to deal with constant looting and attacks after riches and slaves.

Also makes me realize, Spain is not gonna just sit down and wait for french settlers to flood the lands they(in paper) are owners of, we might a see much more aggressive approach on the Plata River and especially in the Amazon to try and keep the French settlers out... But considering the results of French colonists performing in the conflicts against the British, their sheer numbers(because France would absolutely love to gain any edge over their Spanish rivals) and the fact Spain was going through several military and economical problems due to overexertion and having to deal with multiple rivals, they won't be successful in the same way they were against the Portuguese, which already was not that grand . So like I said, bigger Brazil with Uruguay, parts of Paraguay and the Northern parts of Argentina are falling, only stopping when the bourbons get on the Spanish throne and the French colonists are Not allowed to flood the viceroyalties, officially

I think it's likely that instead of being a calmer area like it was at OTL, it's going to be a region that, like the Caribbean, will have constant battles. With the french colonists and explorers attacking in particular the Plata region to produce cattle and the viceroyalty of Peru after slaves and gold. Honestly, I think that Spain will have a new world that is much more turbulent and bloody than OTL. Maybe instead of trying to control europe, spain will focus on keeping control of the new world. This new world will have many more violent battles.

Chaos will really ensue when gold is found in brazil, the colony of portugal went from 300,000 people to 3.6 million in less than 100 years. if the colony has a similar growth of 12x (That would be counting the slaves that in the period were +- half of the population, the population went from 100 thousand to 700 thousand Portuguese and +- 1 milion white people born in the colony with the rest being blacks, mix, and natives). The population of the French colony would be around 7 million not counting slaves, mix and natives. Counting slaves, natives and mix people, the population of the colony would reach +- 14 million, obviously without immigration from groups other than the French. The colony would be with these numbers alone the twelfth largest population in the world (above Prussia and below Korea). For comparison the usa in the otl in 1800 would have 5 million, the french colony would have x2.8 more population than the usa/british colony.

To give you an idea of the problem that the spanish people will have, otl La Plata had 450 thousand spanish people, chile had 800 thousand spanish people and Peru had 1.3. million (the entire Spanish empire together had 24.5 million inhabitants, and France had about 21 million.) This colony will be the jewel in the French crown (unless India is conquered by the French).

Ps: If the colony had the same growth as the Portuguese colony that rose from 45 thousand in 1600 and today has 216 million (to be exact 216,136,073), the French colony would go from 245 thousand to more than a billion people (to be exact country's population would be 1,176,740,841). The world would be francoponic or a big, big part of it would be.

 

[Guilherme Loureiro]

Also makes me realize, Spain is not gonna just sit down and wait for french settlers to flood the lands they(in paper) are owners of, we might a see much more aggressive approach on the Plata River and especially in the Amazon to try and keep the French settlers out... But considering the results of French colonists performing in the conflicts against the British, their sheer numbers(because France would absolutely love to gain any edge over their Spanish rivals) and the fact Spain was going through several military and economical problems due to overexertion and having to deal with multiple rivals, they won't be successful in the same way they were against the Portuguese, which already was not that grand . So like I said, bigger Brazil with Uruguay, parts of Paraguay and the Northern parts of Argentina are falling, only stopping when the bourbons get on the Spanish throne and the French colonists are Not allowed to flood the viceroyalties, officially

In OTL, Portuguese settlement in the Amazonic Region was incentivized by the Spanish Crown from the 1620s, because the French, staging out of São Luís, and later on, Cayenne, were pushing aggressively towards the Amazon Basin; in the 1620s, they were sending expeditions down the Araguaia River, IIRC. Here they can't use the Portuguese as a shield to cover the backdoor to Peru, so they'll have to divert efforts down the Peruvian jungle, if only to get early warning outposts.

As for the Plata Region, things also change; I'd expect the Spanish to take an active interest in the Jesuitic missions there, as well as the Vice-Royalty of the Plata to be created much earlier than the 1770s.

 

[Kurd Gossemer]

Yes, it is very likely that this is the case, with some of these whites having native grandparents or great-grandparents but due to immigration, the physical characteristics would be very French. A group that if it exists will cause great chaos in South America are the bandeirantes (or something similar). At otl they even launched attacks as far as Quito, with these attacks being carried out by groups and private initiatives without authorization from the crown. If they exist the same will happen, but on a larger scale then the viceroyalty of plata, peru and maybe even some attacks to the viceroyalty of New Granada. Therefore, Spain will have to deal with constant looting and attacks after riches and slaves.

I think it's likely that instead of being a calmer area like it was at OTL, it's going to be a region that, like the Caribbean, will have constant battles. With the french colonists and explorers attacking in particular the Plata region to produce cattle and the viceroyalty of Peru after slaves and gold. Honestly, I think that Spain will have a new world that is much more turbulent and bloody than OTL. Maybe instead of trying to control europe, spain will focus on keeping control of the new world. This new world will have many more violent battles.

Chaos will really ensue when gold is found in brazil, the colony of portugal went from 300,000 people to 3.6 million in less than 100 years. if the colony has a similar growth of 12x (That would be counting the slaves that in the period were +- half of the population, the population went from 100 thousand to 700 thousand Portuguese and +- 1 milion white people born in the colony with the rest being blacks, mix, and natives). The population of the French colony would be around 7 million not counting slaves, mix and natives. Counting slaves, natives and mix people, the population of the colony would reach +- 14 million, obviously without immigration from groups other than the French. The colony would be with these numbers alone the twelfth largest population in the world (above Prussia and below Korea). For comparison the usa in the otl in 1800 would have 5 million, the french colony would have x2.8 more population than the usa/british colony.

To give you an idea of the problem that the spanish people will have, otl La Plata had 450 thousand spanish people, chile had 800 thousand spanish people and Peru had 1.3. million (the entire Spanish empire together had 24.5 million inhabitants, and France had about 21 million.) This colony will be the jewel in the French crown (unless India is conquered by the French).

Ps: If the colony had the same growth as the Portuguese colony that rose from 45 thousand in 1600 and today has 216 million (to be exact 216,136,073), the French colony would go from 245 thousand to more than a billion people (to be exact country's population would be 1,176,740,841). The world would be francoponic or a big, big part of it would be.

That could have a cascading effect of forcing Spain to send more settlers from places like Naples, Parma, Catholic Flanders and Catholic Germans(although given Spain's military, administrative and economic ills, it would be difficult but not impossible), of course it wouldn't prevent them losing more territory but it would give them a tighter grip into the region. But more likely, Spain loses more of their south American territories to the French colonists.

 

[Kurd Gossemer]

In OTL, Portuguese settlement in the Amazonic Region was incentivized by the Spanish Crown from the 1620s, because the French, staging out of São Luís, and later on, Cayenne, were pushing aggressively towards the Amazon Basin; in the 1620s, they were sending expeditions down the Araguaia River, IIRC. Here they can't use the Portuguese as a shield to cover the backdoor to Peru, so they'll have to divert efforts down the Peruvian jungle, if only to get early warning outposts.

As for the Plata Region, things also change; I'd expect the Spanish to take an active interest in the Jesuitic missions there, as well as the Vice-Royalty of the Plata to be created much earlier than the 1770s.

The problem is getting a loyal population to settle what's essentially jungle filled with diseases, they could try and set up some military outposts but they already were having difficulties about keeping the Portuguese out that a more numerous and more rich France while not completely dominating the Amazon, could result in them getting more territory than the Portuguese and using the Amazon river for better communication between the alternate Manaus and Belém.

I also agree with the Jesuits parts, Spain would've done like them and armed natives in the south of Brazil in a attempt to stop the settlers, it would most likely fail but they would still be more interested in the Plata than they were otl due to having to secure their main transportation method of silver from the river, so peraphs La Plata would be more settled and better defended with Buenos Aires becoming a bigger city earlier.