Fur Trade In The 1500's

Throughout the centuries of North American history many types of trades have helped the economy develop. One of the most lucrative means of trade was the fur trade which began, and thrived, in the 1500’s. Trading furs for profits or for other goods in North America began when fisherman bartered their fish for other goods. As fur trading became more popular large, convenient entrances opened such as the opening through the Hudson Strait and the Hudson Bay, which allowed for further, larger trade throughout the northern lands. The location of the exchange network in the Hudson area led to a high consumerism which would eventually be known as the Hudson’s Bay Company, the oldest department store chain in North America. The systematic exploitation

As the prime target of fur, the American beaver, decreased tremendously, the trappers had to venture to other tribe’s territories to poach the animals, which led to wars between the neighboring lands. The greatest of these wars is known as the Beaver Wars of the 17th century which was a war between the indigenous groups of the Hurons and the Iroqouis. Not only did wars outbreak between the native peoples, but conflicts between the European states was also of high profile. This led to the native peoples being soldiers of war to the European feuds. For example, the Iroquois was allied with the Dutch and the Hurons were allied with the Great Lakes. The Europeans would supply the natives with the firearms and weapons and the natives would for the most part be the ones at war, or at the front lines at least. Not only was there conflict in the means of fighting for fur, but there was also feuds between the Europeans and the natives for land. The Europeans took the hunting and home lands of the native people and industrialized them into plantations. Though the first colonists had a hard time producing crops and establishing a good way of living without the help from the indigenous people, they eventually stabilized a societal way of living and separated themselves from the natives. Collectively, the fur trade did wonders for the economy in Europe and North America but there were a lot of conflicts that went hand in hand with the