By no means were the French in North America defenseless. They began to prepare for what they considered an inevitable confrontation with the British colonies. In a section of the memoir entitled "The Importance and Necessity of Preserving Canada and Louisiana," Galissoniere set the tone and direction for the French effort. His views were heeded by the French authorities, and orders soon arrived to prepare the line of fortifications.
Indeed, the memoir concludes: "In fine, nothing must be spared to strengthen these colonies, since they may, and are to be considered as the bulwark of America. Since they [Canada and Louisiana] cannot be abandoned to their actual strength alone, without being delivered over in some sort to the English, who, by the wealth they would draw thence, to the exclusion of other Nations, would most certainly acquire the superiority in Europe."