canada goes west
DESCRIPTION
Canada goes West. Why Bother?. $$$$ - the fur trade is a money making machine ! Exploration of the West was more of a ‘business plan’ – people wanted to exploit the land for profit, not to settle it Canada is essentially founded on the whims of fashion Coats Trim Blankets Hats. 1763. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Canada goes West
Why Bother?
• $$$$ - the fur trade is a money making machine!• Exploration of the West was more of a ‘business plan’ –
people wanted to exploit the land for profit, not to settle it
• Canada is essentially founded on the whims of fashion– Coats– Trim– Blankets– Hats
1763
• Loyalists have moved to Canada• Immigration from Europe starts to increase
• There is lots of land to the west that has not been explored…
• Europeans needed to use established trading patterns– Death could result otherwise
• The conflict between Iroquois and Huron had roots in trade even before Europeans showed up
Hudson’s Bay Company
• 1669 - Started by two coureurs de bois (Radisson and Groseilliers)
• They wanted to start a fur trade based on the Hudson Bay
• New France/France did not want to back them– So they asked Charles II and he agreed• He called the area “Rupert’s Land” after his cousin
North West Company
• Made up of American and Scottish businessmen
• They moved to Montreal after 1763– They took over trading networks that the French
had– They kept the French employees
• Formed officially in 1783
• Unlike the HBC, the NWC dealt directly with the aboriginal people
• NWC would intercept furs on their way to HBC
• This forced HBC to build inland posts– Competition had begun!
Voyageurs
• You can travel by water (mostly) all the way from Montreal to the Rockies
• There are a few parts where you need to “portage” (travel over land)– Had to carry 36+ kg, and the canoe
NWC
• The NWC was successful because the cost of running business was cheaper
• But in the end, the HBC was too great to overcome– In 1821 the two companies merged into the HBC
Interior Exploration
• Fur traders did a lot of mapping and exploring– Even though their goal was economic
• Aboriginal peoples helped Europeans in the area
• (Page 272) – Explorer routes
Alexander Mackenzie
Simon Fraser
David Thompson
James Cook
George Vancouver
Franklin