The French Fur
Trade
By: Maddy Kalb
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Table of Contents:
Explorers………………… page 3
Establishing Colonies…… page 4
Relations with Indians…… page 5
Trade………………………page 6
Expansion of New France....page 7
Leading to War……………page 7
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Explorers
Columbus w as o ne o f t he first e xplorers t o s ail w est, that
happened i n 1 492. N ext c ame a long t he F rench g overnment,
it w as c ommanded g iovanni d e v errazzano, i n 1 524. H e
came t o s outh c arolina b ut h e d oesn’t f ind m uch. T hen c ame
Jacques C artier, i n 1 534 h e s ailed t o t he “ new w orld”. He
mapped a long S t. L awrence R iver. H e’s e xploring b ut n ot
find a nything t hat b ig. H owever, i n t he 1 500’s F rance is a
mess, s o t hey a re i n n o p osition t o e stablish p ermanent
colonies. F inally, i n 1 608 t he f irst p ermanent f rench settlement
was s tarted b y S amuel d e C hamplain, h e i s k nown as t he
“Father o f N ew F rance”
Images o f S amuel d e C hamplain ( left) a nd Jacques Cartier (right)
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Establishing C olonies
Quebec i s a b ig c olony t hat w as e stablished i n C anada.
Early o n, t he F rench m ade a s trong r elationship w ith t he
Natives w ho l ived b y t he G reat L akes. S oon, t hey s tarted to
trade. T hey a lso d eveloped m ilitary r elationships. T he main
reason t hey a re t here i s t o g et b eaver f ur. T he f rench rely o n
good r elationships w ith t he n atives. T he F rench a lso help t he
natives f ight t heir e nemies, t he I roquois. T his a ll t ook place
one y ear a fter J amestown. N ext t he f rench e mpire quickly
expands. A b ig r oles i n t he e xpansion a re C atholic J esuit
missionaries. M ostly a long r iver, t hey w ant n atives to
convert t o c hristianity.
Map of the New France Colonies
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Relations w ith N ative A mericans
The p eople o f N ew F rance h ad r eally g ood r elations w ith t he
Huron N ative A mericans. T his i s m ostly b ecause t hey knew
that w ithout t hem, t hey w ouldn’t g et a ny f ur, w hich was
very i mportant t o t hem. T he f rench a nd t he n atives would
trade o ften a nd b ecause o f h ow c lose t hey g ot, t hey b ecame
war a llies. W hen t he N atives w ere i n a b attle w ith another
tribe, t hey w ould h elp t hem b y f ighting a nd g iving them
supplies.
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Trade
The f rench m ainly r ely o n t he n ative a mericans t o t rade The
main r eason t hey s tayed in N ew F rance w as t he f ur t rade.
Beaver f urs w ere v ery i mportant t o t he f rench. T hey t raded
fur a nd t hey g ave t he n .a. E uropean g oods l ike g uns and
alcohol, g uns, m etal c ooking u tensils, a nd c loth.
Fur Trade
The F rench c olonist r elied o n t he r elationship w ith t he Native
Americans b ecause t hey k new t hat t hey h ad f ur. T hey
traded o ther e uropean g oods f or a nimal p elts. T hen they
shipped t he f urs t o F rance a nd m ade c oats a nd h ats with
them.
Beaver Pelt
The m ain f ur t hat w as t raded w as f rom t he b eaver. B eaver
skins w ere s oft, b ut t hey w ere a lso w ater r esistant s o they
were g ood w hen b oating o r h unting. A lso, t hey w ere very
tough, t hey c ould l ast a l ong t ime.
French Trappers
The F rench t rappers w ere u nlicensed i ndependent t raders.
That m eans t hat t he g overnment d id n ot p ermit t hem to
trade a nd t hey d id i t b y t hemselves.
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Missionaries
The C atholic a nd J esuit m ade m issionaries. T his m ade a bout
half o f t he N ew F rance T he w anted N atives t o c onvert over
to c hristianity. F ather C huck M arquette w as a m ain p erson
that r eally t ried t o c onvert n ative p eople. T here a re n ot a lot
of n atives w anting t o c onvert. T hey w ere s till i mportant a s
explorers a nd g eographers.
Expansion of New France
New F rance h ad a v ery s low e xpansion. T his i s b ecause bad
weather, t hreats o f i roquois, n o c ash c rops o r m inerals, sugar,
tobacco. S everal r easons w hy i t g oes s low. I n 1 702 t he
population c ompared t o b ritish a re c razy. H owever, i n 1750,
the p opulation h as g rown a l ot. S till l ess t han t he B ritish
though. T hey d eveloped D etroit, a nd e specially, N ew
Orleans.
Leading to War
There w ere t hree m ain w ars t hat s tarted i n E urope, a nd then
one s tarted i n t he N ew W orld. T hat w as c alled t he French
and I ndian W ar. I t w as f ought b etween t he B ritish and t he
French. T he N ative A mericans w ere a llies t o t he F rench,
they p layed a b ig p art i n t he w ar. T he w ar l asted from 1 756
to 1 763, w hich i s a pproximately s even y ears.
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