More Subjects
Analysis Paper II: Fur Trade
Shemia Headen
Class
Date: 24 March 2019
[Institutional Affiliation(s)]
Author Note
Analysis Paper II: Fur Trade
In North America, fur trade was among the earliest and most prominent industries between the 16th and 18th century, playing a significant role in the economy of the region for nearly three centuries. Fur trade started in the early 1500s between Europeans and Indians who would exchange beaver fur for goods such as weapons and tools. Beaver fur would be used to produce highly popular felt-hats. Trading fur with knives, kettle, and gifts also helped forge friendly relations between the Indians and French and Dutch traders, and with time the demand in Europe saw a significant surge. The paper will examine the most significant factors which drove the development of the Atlantic World fur trade in the 16th-18th century. Among these factors, the special nature of the fur derived from beavers, the political ambitions of the French, and Indian eagerness to promote trade in exchange for valuable equipment would be particularly explored owing to their greater significance in driving this trade.
In colonial times, the rise of the fur trade was heavily based on supply and demand factors. In Europe, the requirements of the aristocracy produced a stable demand for fur, which was seen as fashionable, functional and even majestic, especially depending on the specimen from which it was derived. As beaver felts were found to make strong fabrics after processing, thereby producing quality hats, they began to be seen as reflective of social identity indicating one’s wealth, social rank and profession CITATION Eri11 \p 21 \l 1033 (Dolin, 2010, p. 21). The material, shape, and color of the fur carried a particular meaning. The raw material for the felt could be obtained from any fur, but the beaver's fur produced an exceptionally pliable, dense and waterproof felt which maintained its shape. This created a rising demand among professional hat makers to produce felt hats derived from the beaver. As European stocks began to deplete from competition and overhunting, while demand for beaver fur began to surge, “the exponential growth in the trade of beaver hats was a mortal blow to the European beaver. As demand grew, an extinction problem first coursed through Europe, with the circle of death eventually reaching Russia”CITATION Eri11 \p 22 \l 1033 (Dolin, 2010, p. 22). This particularly drew traders to the North American beaver and enter into business with Indian traders who were more than pleased to enter into a transaction.
By the 16th century, Beavers had become nearly extinct in the British Isles. Furthermore, Europeans desired pelts from beaver fur that were already treated and ready to use. However, that required catching and skilling beavers and tanning them through a labor-intensive process. The Indians had mastered the processing and trapping process which further added value to the material they exported. This especially attracted the attention of the French to look further within North America in order to obtain processed pelts by the Natives. Subsequently “as word spread that the Europeans were here to trade, inland Indians started packing up their furs and making annual excursions to the coast, while coastal Indians, acting as middlemen, also obtained pelts from the interior tribes to trade to the fishermen”CITATION Dol10 \p 10 \t \l 1033 (Dolin, 2010, p. 10). Initially, what began as a side-product besides fish trading, took center stage by the end of the 16th century. The relatively cheap European wares were highly valuable, easy to transport, and made them a huge profit, while they were happy to collect and process beaver furs for the French in exchange. Furthermore, the French King Henry the 4th believed that trade would support his treasury and strengthen his empire, driving him to seek a French monopoly over fur trade in the region.
However, with time the French-led fur trade began to be characterized by strife and instability. Monopolies were rescinded and granted time and again, with businesses coming and going. A number of organizations and free-lance traders competed for the furs, all the while when the Indians saw this trade as an opportunity to forge diplomatic and social bonds among individuals. Although the Fur Trade continued with the French, it gradually began to be dominated by the Dutch who had built a market of their own. The Indians provided them with high-quality pelts that brought them several tons of gold each year without exertion or labor, while the Indians were happy to forge greater trading bonds with the Dutch, providing them what they wanted. Wampum played an important role to facilitate this transaction because “In exchange, the Dutch gave the Indians a variety of European goods, including knives, metal pots, glassware, and duffels—coarse, durable, and usually colored pieces of woolen cloth. The Dutch would trade European goods to the Indians of Long Island in exchange for wampum, and then use it to trade for furs with other Indians.” CITATION Dol101 \p 28 \l 1033 (Dolin, New Amsterdam Rising, 2010, p. 28). Wampum had a significant impact on driving the fur trade which "drew the beaver out of the interior forests," while the Indians could improve their status and standard of living at a little cost.
To conclude, there were several important factors that contributed to the Atlantic Fur trade between European colonial powers and the Indians, key among which were French colonial ambitions that drove them to establish monopolies in the Fur Trade. This was supplemented by the high demand of processed beaver pelts in Europe and the dwindling supplies within Russia and Europe itself. At the same time, the Indians' need for European goods and tools, and forging trade and diplomatic bonds, created a win-win situation for everyone. As a consequence, the new generation that emerged in North America had access to all the European goods and was no longer reliant on traditional weapons and tools. The trade further sustained the economic systems within the colonies, while the transport of Beaver fur and pelts into foreign markets across the Atlantic also contributed to the shipment industry. It was critical for the colonization of America since it was beaver pelts that helped host countries to subsidize settlements in places such as Plymouth and Massachusetts. The need for beavers dive explorers further west into America, and although, America would have colonized anyway; the process was significantly sped up by the fur trade.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Dolin, E. J. (2010). As Fine a River as Can be Found. In Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America (Reprint ed., pp. 3-13). London: W. W. Norton & Company.
Dolin, E. J. (2010). New Amsterdam Rising. In Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America (Reprint ed., pp. 24-37). London: W. W. Norton & Company.
Dolin, E. J. (2010). The Precious Beaver. In Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America (Reprint ed., pp. 13-24). London: W. W. Norton & Company.
More Subjects
Join our mailing list
© All Rights Reserved 2024