The first French empire (1604-1791) is typically considered a failed empire. Beginning with the first French exploratory expeditions in the South Atlantic in the mid-16th century, this course examines the social, economic and political history of French imperial expansion during the Ancien régime in order to consider the meaning of success, as applied to empire during this period. The focus is on the development of the two colonial centres of the French New World: New France and the French Caribbean.