The Confederation movement was gaining popularity as Canada progressed towards the end of 19th century and John Macdonald’s government was looking to acquire Rupert’s Land from Hudson’s Bay Company in order to create the Dominion of Canada. The reasoning given behind this acquisition was that Canada wished to create an amalgamation of British North American territories in order to establish a Canadian Confederation. Although the government publicly expressed only the political reasoning behind their interest in acquiring Rupert’s land, on a deeper analysis it can be understood that the political action of acquiring this land has infact been fuelled by economic motivations. In this essay, I will show that the economic significance of Rupert’s …show more content…
The expedition turned out to be successful and provided great scope for financial returns, if they could continue trading in the Hudson’s Bay area. Prince Rupert immediately used his royal connections and applied for a Charter that could enable them to carry on trade on an ongoing basis. A Royal Charter was granted to Prince Rupert on May 2nd 1670 by Kind Charles II, which provided him exclusive privileges and a monopoly over the trade of fur and other commodities with the Hudson’s Bay region. This led to the formation of Hudson’s Bay company with Prince Rupert serving as the governor for the company and the Royal Charter naming this region as Rupert’s land. Due to his pivotal role in receiving the Royal Charter, Prince Rupert was made a governor for the Hudson’s Bay company for almost 12 years until his death in 1682 due to Pleurisy. The economic importance of resources available at present day Manitoba have been recognized long before the formation of the Confederation. Prince Rupert as well as many London merchants recognized the importance of these resources and the financial returns they could generate by trading with the North American regions of Hudson’s Bay. In addition to the merchants, even the King himself found trade to be a viable source of income and invested in establishing a secured …show more content…
Especially during the inception of the Hudson’s Bay Company, mercantilism complemented the Royal Charter and made Rupert’s Land a pivotal force in discouraging American forces from moving up North. This policy of preferential trading worked quite well for the British merchants trading with the indigenous people at Hudson’s Bay region and even contributed to the emergence of the Metis