Fur Trade In American Culture

2180 Words9 Pages
The Native Americans had managed to establish a way of life and had found a way to survive in their new found land and homes, but with the arrival of the Europeans and the white man into their lands and their endless for expansion, soon changed all of this. The first contacts were relatively peaceful and both sides found a common ground, trade. The establishment of the fur trade drastically changed the Natives lives. The beaver and fur trade established great commerce and trade with the Natives. The fur trade was one of the earliest and most important industries in North America. The fur trading industry played a major role in the development of the Canada for more than 300 years. Native tribes entered into allegiances with the European settlers from different countries and found themselves at war with their enemies for gift diplomacy. The French at the St. Lawrence River established an alliance with the Huron and the Algonquians in a pit against the 5 nations Iroquois, who had allied with the Dutch and then British. However this was to be short lived and led to the near extinction of an entire diversely widespread race. The earliest contact came in 1534, when Jacques Cartier planted a…show more content…
The French no longer needed them; they had succeeded in establishing themselves and maintaining a lifestyle, able to survive on their own. They also had no need for fur anymore and if need be had learned everything they needed to acquire their own. The French were expanding vastly into their territory and disrupting their way of life. The frontier was as far west as Edmonton and the Rockies. The fur trade contributed to the development of British and French empires in North America. They built trading posts in the wilderness, and settlements grew up around many of these posts. Some of these settlements later became such major cities as Detroit, Montreal, Quebec, and Winnipeg
Open Document