When did fur trade start in New France?
3 min read
Asked by: Julie Clifton
The fur trade started because of a fashion craze in Europe during the 17th century. Europeans wanted to wear felt hats made of beaver fur. The most important players in the early fur trade were Indigenous peoples and the French. The French gave European goods to Indigenous people in exchange for beaver pelts.
When was the fur trade established in New France?
The fur trade was a complex and multifaceted venture that shaped the economy, politics, and social life of New France from the birth of the colony in 1600 to its final defeat in 1763. As the commercial raison d’être of the colony, the trade determined patterns of settlement, mobility, labour, and resource extraction.
What time period was the fur trade?
Native Americans traded along the waterways of present-day Minnesota and across the Great Lakes for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in the mid-1600s. For nearly 200 years afterward, European American traders exchanged manufactured goods with Native people for valuable furs.
When did the fur trade start and end?
The fur trade began in the 1600s in what is now Canada. It continued for more than 250 years.
When did fur trade end?
1701
In 1701, the French and their allies reached a truce with the Haudenosaunee, known as the Great Peace of Montreal. This effectively ended the Beaver Wars over the fur trade.
When did the fur trade start in North America?
The fur trade in North America began with the earliest contacts between American Indians and European settlers. Within a few years of their arrival to North America in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, French, English, and Dutch fur traders were competing to develop trading relationships with American Indians.
What did the French trade for fur?
The French traded iron tools, kettles, wool blankets and other supplies for the furs to make hats, while Native peoples exchanged furs for goods from around the world.
When did fur trappers head west?
The fur trade west of the Mississippi River began in the mid-1700s. At first, the Europeans and Americans involved in the trade did not intend to hunt and trap the beaver and other fur-bearing animals themselves.
How many animals were killed in the fur trade?
The number of animals killed for their fur is nothing short of overwhelming: 100 million per year, including foxes, mink, coyotes and chinchillas. If rabbits are in- cluded, that number is estimated to be over a billion.
How did the fur trade affect France?
The fur trade helped create and maintain alliances and social relations between Europeans and Native groups. Native groups linked buying and selling with other social relations. They viewed exchanges as gifts rather than trade. Gifts created special bonds between societies and reinforced social alliances.
How many beavers were killed during the fur trade?
Two hundred plus years of the fur trade killed off beaver populations—40 to 60 million beavers basked in North America in the 19th century before hunters massacred them for hats and perfume.
Is there still a fur trade?
The fur trade lives in the 21st Century. Trappers still trap, businesses continue to profit, humans continue to wear fur for both style and warmth.
How much was a beaver pelt worth?
With beavers, the work starts as soon as you get out of the truck. Pelt prices for beaver should be about what they have been in the last few years: $10 to $15 for a good prime blanket. Raccoon – Like beaver, they take more effort to prepare than other pelts. Expect the usual $10 to $15 for a good, big, heavy pelt.
