THE FUR TRADE (1670-1780)
In 1697 England and France were at war in Europe. Both sides used the war to try to gain control of the fur trade in North America. Each side sent out raiding parties to try to capture the other company's trading posts.
One of the most valuable trading posts was York Fort; the French were eager to capture it. Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville got his chance on a return trip from France. D'Iberville was the commander of the Pelican, a 44-gun ship. His ship was part of a fleet on its way to Hudson Bay. The fleet had been trapped in the ice. The Pelican broke free from the ice and so it went ahead.
When the Pelican was close to the trading post, a group of soldiers were sent ashore to scout out the fort and see how hard it would be to capture. Meanwhile, d'Iberville remained on board the Pelican. In the distance he saw the masts of some other ships. Thinking it was the rest of the French fleet, he set off to meet them. It wasn't until his ship got close to the other ships that he realized that there were not French. Rather, they were enemy ships.
Who Competed for the Furs?
Who were they? / Who did they work for? / How did they connected to the land?Hudson Bay Co
Middlemen
Voyageurs
Metis
Respond pg 119.
Economic Competition became a central feature of the fur trade during from 1670-1760List some examples of how this competition built connections among diverse peoples
List some examples of how it created conflict among diverse peoples.
Based on your list, would you say economic competition made coexistence easier of harder to achieve among diverse people?
How did geography affect Britain's choice of a fur trade territory for the Hudson’s Bay Co. Consider that Britain defined Rupert's Land as the territory containing rivers that drained into Hudson Bat. Why was the connection between rivers and the bay important?