Phases of the Fur Trade Notes

Phase 1
1. Early Fur Trade
  1. Competition Affected:
    1. Environment
      1. More trapping of beavers and other animals
        First Nations relied on beavers and other animals for food
        Near extinction of beavers
        Balance of food chain affected
      2. New Settlements formed
        European settlement caused extinction of Beothuk
    2. New Technology
      1. guns
      2. new types of traps
        Instead of wood traps, they got metal traps
      3. traded beaver pelts for new useful tools (pots pans, knives etc.)
        Replaced wood, rock, bones for making tools
    3. Way FN used land
      1. new focus on trapping for trade
      2. No longer just using land to support needs for food, clothing etc.
      3. Reduction in available land for First Nations
    4. Family Life
      1. New way for First Nations to support family - due to competition for fur trade
      2. disease could affect families - death
      3. Dying from guns
      4. Metis babies- from French marrying First Nations - change family dynamic
  2. Started with cod fishing
  3. Came a shore to trade with First Nations
    1. Traded furs for iron goods, knives etc.
2. 1500-1603
Phase 2
1. Expansion Inland
  1. Coureurs de Bois took over middlemen for French after Ouendat defeat
2. 1603-1670
3. Interactions between groups
  1. French
    1. Needed First Nations as trade partners
      1. Better access to furs
  2. British
    1. Fighting French, Kichespirini, Ouendat, Mi'Kmaq
      1. Defeated Ounedat - no longer middlemen for French
  3. Metis
    1. Born from French and First Nations
    2. French wanted a strategic partnership with First Nations, so married them
  4. First Nations
    1. Kichespirini, Ouendat, Mi'Kmaq allied with French
    2. Haudenosaunee and Anishnabe allied with British and Dutch
    3. Ouendat out as middlemen opened door for new middlemen
    4. Pressured to convert to Christianity
    5. Made First Nations reliant/dependable on Fur Trade and Europeans
4. France dominated
  1. Quebec and Montreal main shipping centres
    1. Unloaded trade goods in Quebec and loaded furs to head back to France
    2. along St. Lawrence
5. French-Haudenosaunee War
  1. Started because of fur trade
  2. Haudenosaunee allied with British and Dutch
  3. French allied with Ouendat, Mi'kmaq, Innu, Kichespirini.
    1. Ouendat were "middlemen" between French and First Nations
    2. Kichespirini allied with French for guns and protection
  4. British needed to challenge French domination in fur trade
  5. Ouendat defeated
  6. Truce agreed upon in 1701
Phase 3
1. Rival Networks
  1. HBC vs. NWC
2. 1670-1760
3. Britain established HBC in 1670
  1. to compete directly with French in fur trade
  2. Britain gave merchants monopoly
    1. Gave HBC land called Rupert's Land
      1. Land surrounded Hudson's Bay
        Easy access to furs - without transporting too far- easy access back to Britain
  3. Needed Cree and Nakoda as middlemen
    1. between Hudson's Bay forts and First Nations to West
4. French began creating fur trade forts
  1. in Great Lakes region
  2. Hired Voyageurs to transport furs - essential link in French fur trade routes
  3. Metis emerge
    1. French strategy to develop partnerships with FN groups
    2. Scottish Metis working for HBC also emerged
5. Economic competition
  1. HBC now competing with French
    1. Driving fur traders and companies/merchants to expand to new territories and include more groups of people (FN)
    2. More people involved in fur trade - making money
      1. more people from Europe immigrating to North America for job and business opportunities in Fur Trade
        Not just businesses in fur trade, but ones that support fur trade (shops, builders, clothe makers, etc.)
        Just like people from all over Canada moving to Alberta to make money from oil industry
        Creates business and job opportunities that support oil industry - engineers, construction workers, airline industry, Tim Hortons, etc.
Phase 4
1. The Drive West
2. 1760-1821
3. New France becomes British Colony
4. North West Company (NWC) takes over French trade routes
  1. throughout St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes region
  2. Owned by British merchants
    1. depended on Canadian and Metis workers
5. Economic Competition between HBC and NWC
  1. Competition between HBC and NWC led companies to move west to find new supplies of fur and FN partners
6. Pemmican trade started
  1. made of dried beef, animal fat and berries
  2. fur network gets larger - Voyageurs, traders and shippers were traveling further - needed food that travelled well
    1. Pemmican could last up to 30 years!
7. Territorial Expansion
  1. Fur trade moved west - so did people working in fur trade
    1. Cree, Nakoda, Anishnabe moved with European companies west
  2. forts created out West
    1. Forts created are now Canadian towns and cities - some major cities
      1. Fort Garry = Winnipeg, Fort Edmonton = Edmonton, Fort William = Thunder Bay, Fort Calgary = Calgary
      2. Because people came for business/job opportunities, and settled there for good
Phase 5
1. Monopoly in West
2. 1821-1870
3. HBC and NWC merged into HBC
  1. competition led to fighting, shootings, hostage taking
  2. Britain stepped in to end conflict
4. Fur Trade declines - end of fur trade
  1. Buffalo began to disappear
  2. Beaver disappearing
  3. **European demand for furs falls
5. Britain sells Rupert's Land to Canada
  1. Sold in 1869 - two years after Canada formed

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Phases of the Fur Trade Notes

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	Created by Craig Fell almost 7 years ago