Chapter 4

Competition for Trade

Cause and Effect

Page 76

Partners in Trade
In the beginning the Fur Trade was a

PARTNERSHIP between European traders

and First Nations hunters and trappers
Each group wanted something from the
other:
FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE WANTED:
Metal goods: pots, knives, axes,

copper wire, and guns

Blankets, cloth, and thread
EUROPEANS WANTED: FURS (especially

beavers)

The Barter System

The exchange of goods for other goods rather

than money.
First Nations had been trading amongst
themselves for thousands of years

The Beaver
The most popular European fashion trend at

the time was the beaver felt hat.

Only wealthy Europeans could afford the hats
until the fur trade in Canada began.
With plenty of furs, the hats became more
affordable
The inner layer of beaver fur is fine and
smooth and can be made into felt, which the
hats were made of.

Three Key Players

First Nations:
Men hunted and trapped; women prepared

the pelts
Used canoes to transport the furs to the
trading posts
Merchants:
Financed and organized the fur trade
Purchased trade goods in Europe and
brought to Canada to exchange for furs
Made very large profits
Coureur de Bois:
French traders who travelled with the First
Nations to bring furs back to the St.

Role of First Nations

Showing how to find food
Teaching them how to make

medicine & how to dress for the cold

weather
Transportation: canoes, snowshoes,
toboggans
Knowledge of the region (guides)
Translators and negotiators

Role of First Nations:

Women
Preparing furs
Making pemmican
Working in the forts
Working on the road paddlers and camp

workers
Interpreters, negotiators, guides

Think it through
Page 80 Number 2

The French Fur Trade

Recall:

The French used a monopoly to organize the fur

trade (gave monopolies to merchants)

The King set up the Sovereign Council to govern
the colony
They formed a strong trading and military
alliance with the Wendat
FRENCH COUREURS de BOIS WENT TO THE
FIRST NATIONS TO TRADE FOR FURS THEY
DIDNT WAIT FOR FIRST NATIONS TO COME TO
THEM

Important Figures in New France / of the

Fur Trade:
Jean-Baptiste Colbert established the
French mercantile system between France
and New France (New France sent
natural resources to France France
sold New France finished goods)
Jean Talon attracted colonists to

New France; saw the size of the

population double
Governor Frontenac encouraged
more coureurs de bois to move into
the interior after many Wendat

The Great Peace of Montreal

Who?

The Haudenosaunee, 1300 delegates from over

40 First Nations, the French

What?
A meeting between these groups where they

established an agreement to end all fighting

When?
Summer of 1701

Where?
Montreal

Why?
These groups had been at war for 60 years

How?
All groups signed a peace treaty

Transportation Needed: For

Success!
French fur traders relied on

boats to transport goods

Water routes were fast and
convenient
France controlled trade along the St.

Lawrence River and on the Great Lakes

so only they could use these waterways
The French could follow the rivers and
lakes as far west as the Rocky Mountains
***French Advantage
British traders in Eastern USA

Birch Bark Canoes A Canadian Tradition

Birch Bark Canoes built by First Nations

(Eastern Canada) were:

Well suited for travelling on lakes and
rivers
Light weight meaning that they moved
through water quickly
Easy to carry over a PORTAGE (overland
route between 2 waterways)
Sturdy could last on long journeys

Area Controlled by the French

Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River

Think it through
Page 85, Number 2

The English Fur Trade

Hudson Bay Company has one goal: to

make money
They built their forts along the shores
of Hudson Bay
Its location had 3 advantages:
1. Close to abundant furs of

northern forests; furs are thicker

2. Many rivers flowed into the bay
3. Large supply ships could deliver
heavy supplies directly to English
forts while the French had to ship
supplies to Montreal then journey

The English system could get furs

back to Britain in 1 year, whereas it

took the French 2 years to get furs
back to France

Extra Info: The English Fur

Trade
Hudsons Bay Company could send and

receive supplies easier than French they

could travel out of Hudson Bay directly to
Atlantic Ocean
French had to use St. Lawrence River
Supplies had to be shipped to Montreal then
out to Ocean to go to France (or Across Ocean
into St. Lawrence River then sent by canoe
to Coureurs de Bois)

Life at a Hudsons Bay

Company
Page 87

Area Controlled by the British

Ruperts Land & the Hudson Bay

The NorWesters
In 1779 the Northwest Company forms in

Montreal as competition to the HBC

The Voyageurs were coureurs de bois and
Metis who were now interested in making
money
They worked for the Northwest Company
They extended the fur trade further into the
interior building posts to rival the HBC

Annual Cycle (New)

Trading posts of the Western interior were

very far from Montreal. (Too far to make the

trip there and back in one summer)
Instead canoes came from both directions and
met in the middle at Fort William (on Lake
Superior)

Life of a voyageur (New)

Many spoke French and First Nations

languages
Good relations with First Nations peoples
In 1821, HBC bought the North West Company
Voyageur helped spread the French language
across Canada

Fierce Competition between

British and French Fur Trade (New)
Each company wanted to be closer to

the Fur Trappers.

They both offered higher prices for
furs.
Alcohol began being traded for furs.
Relations between the First Nations
Trappers and Rival traders worsened

Negative Impacts on First

Nations
Working for the fur trade
Focused their lives on hunting/trapping

furs or working at the trading posts

Following the fur
Beaver supplies shrank. First Nations
moved to find more this displaced
people from their traditional territories

Negative Impacts on First Nations

Continued
Depending on European goods
Lost traditional skills and ways of life
Hunting the buffalo
Buffalo herds were completely

disappearing because of overhunting

Loss of Language
French and English became the MAIN
languages many First Nations people
lost their traditional languages.

Disease and Alcohol:

The invisible enemy

First Nations had no immunity to European

diseases like: smallpox, measles, influenza,

and whooping cough
Smallpox epidemics killed 3 out of every 5
people on the Prairies
Trading alcohol for furs also became popular
American whiskey traders would come from

Montana to trade for buffalo hides

The whiskey was basically poisonous and
many died

Think it through
Page 93, Number 2, 2a, 2b

Fort Whoop-Up and the Whiskey

Trade
Page 95
List 3 impacts the Whiskey Trade had on First

Nations

Think it through
Page 96, #1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 3