The Hudson’s Bay Company By Lauren Coutts
Jan 01, 2016
The Hudson’s Bay Company
By Lauren Coutts
What is the Hudson’s Bay Company? The Hudson’s Bay
Company is the oldest commercial company in North America and one of the oldest in the world
The Hudson’s Bay Company started off during the fur trade in 1670 and is still a successful company today around the world
The fur trade Since the beginning of time people have been trading
animal furs to create pelts for protection Around the 1600’s, there was an increasing demand for
beaver fur to create hats in Europe Beaver pelts created high quality felt which was
resistant to water and very warm At one point, the beaver became virtually extinct in
Europe because of the high demand for their fur which led European explorers to travel to North America in search of beavers
The Europeans came in contact with the aboriginal peoples who traded their pelts. This fuelled the fur trade
The beginning of the fur trade in Canada Contact between the
Aboriginals in Canada and Europeans grew when Jacques Cartier sailed from France to North America in 1534
Cartier sailed on behalf of the king of France in search of gold and first reached the Atlantic Coast of Canada where he met the Mi’kmaq peoples
The beginning of the fur trade in Canada The Mi’kmaq were eager to
trade their furs with Cartier in exchange for European tools and inventions such as knives
When Cartier travelled further inland, he discovered the Iroquois who also traded their furs
Cartier claimed the land for France and the Tadoussac (St. Lawrence River) became the centre of trade for the French and aboriginal people
The aboriginal peoples were vital to the fur trade because of their knowledge of fur-trapping and navigation of Canadian landscape which they passed on to the Europeans
Samuel de Champlain In 1608, Samuel de Champlain
realized potential trade opportunities and travelled to modern day Québec City in order to establish a perminant settlement
Champlain wanted to bring the French over to Canada, and the King gave him permission provided that Champlain established the fur trade
Samuel de Champlain sent his men to live among the Algonquin and Huron people in order to learn their culture and language
It was part of his plan to strenghthen the bond between the French and aboriginal in order to keep the fur trade thriving because they depended on the aboriginal people’s resourses
English vs French Shortly after Samuel de Champlain
established a perminent French settlement in modern day Québec and started developping the fur trade, the English became interested in the potential for money from the fur trade
Competition between the French and English was fierce
England and France competed for control over the land and resources and shipped their beaver pelts back to Europe
The competition between England and France also caused disputes among First Nations who took sides among England and France.
Many wars between the French and Wendat against th English and Iroquois took place and the disputes lasted over 90 years, almost putting an end to the fur trade
The Hudson Bay Meanwhile, over serveral
years, explorers Martin Frobisher, John Davis, and Henry Hudson explored the Atlantic searching for a Northwest Passage
In 1610, Explorer Henry Hudson came across a bay which was named after himself: Hudson Bay
This marked an important day in Canadian History and the fur trade
Médard Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre Radisson Médard Chouart des Groseilliers
and Pierre Radisson were two french courieurs de bois (fur traders who gathered fur from the woods and traded with the First Nations) who brought the fur trade back to life
During their travels, the two men met the Sioux who told them about the abundant amount of beavers up north near the Hudson Bay
Coming back from the Hudson Bay, they had thousands of beavers which were taken away because the two men didn’t have rights to the lands
The two men could not get financial support for their expeditions from the American or French so they started working for the English
In 1665, they met with the king of England, King Charles II who supported their expeditions to collect furs
The Hudson's Bay Company is formed Prince Rupert, the cousin of
King Charles II, aquired the Royal Charter giving permission to the land around the Hudson Bay to the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson Bay
This gave Médard Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre Radisson the permission to hunt beavers in the lands of the Hudson Bay for King Henry II
This was the foundation of the Hudson’s Bay Company
The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay The charter giving King
Charles II the rights to the land around the Hudson Bay were incorporated on May 2nd 1670
The royal charter given to the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into the Hudson Bay gave the company a monopoly over the fur trade
The area was named Rupert’s Land after Prince Rupert
This region that King Charles II owned rights to consisted of (3.9 million km²) and was 1/3 of the size of Canada today and also included parts of the United States
Rupert's Land was the largest purchase of land in the 1800s
The beginning of The Hudson Bay Company The headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company
was established in Fort Nelson which is in present day northeastern Manitoba
The Business was booming from 1714 until the late 1740s bringing back profits to England
The Hudson's Bay Company had no competition since they were the only company aloud to trade fur
The company built posts all along the Hudson Bay in present day Manitoba, Ontario, and Québec and eventually began creating “factories” inland
The First Nations and Métis peoples did most of the animal trapping and pelt preparation for the Hudson’s Bay Company
Conflict for the Hudson’s Bay Company The success of the Hudson’s
Bay Company began to slow down around the 1750’s due to the Seven Years War, a war between England and France battling over land in Canada
Eventually Britain won back most of the land that France had taken over also taking over New France
After the war had ended, The Hudson’s Bay Company had new competition from North West Company in Montréal
The North West Company was formed by former French coureurs de bois in 1783 who had no one to work for after Britain won New France
Hudson’s Bay Company vs. North West Company After the Hudson’s Bay company
had a monopoly over the fur trade for so long, eventually the North West Company became a strong competition
A rivalry formed between the two companies trying to have control over the fur trade
Around the 1800’s, a war began between the two companies
They began to explore farther west in order to find new trading partners, traveling to Edmonton and Calgary and establishing trading posts
After years of war, the North West Company was defeated and in 1821, it merged into the Hudson’s Bay Company
There was now no competition and the company experienced success once again
Years of power and change After merging with The North West Company,
HBC owned most of the land in Canada and was the most powerful company in North America
In 1821, HBC started trading their furs from other countries
New technologies in treating fur made the need for beaver less necessary
Different types of animals were now being used for cheaper and silk hats were becoming fashionable
By 1840, the fur trade was shrinking and by 1870, it was no longer a major industry
The beginning of the retail era In 1867, the Dominion of Canada was
formed The government of Canada asked
Britain for the rights over Rupert’s land in fear that the Americans would take over the land in the west
The HBC signed the Deed of Surrender in 1869, signing most of their land over to the British Crown which granted the land to Canada in exchange for money and some of the land
This started the retail era for the HBC, since the fur trade had collapsed
The company started a new business selling land to the farmers, settlers and developers
They also provided supplies for the settlers in the West and opened its first retail store in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1881
Hudson’s Bay Company Today
Most of the Hudson’s Bay Company stores were in Western Canada until the 1960’s when the company bought several chains in Montreal and shortened their name to the Bay
This led to the expansion to Eastern Canada
By 1978, it was the largest chain store in Canada
Around the 1980’s, the Bay bought several retail stores including Zellers, Simpsons, Fields, Robinson’s, Home Outfitters and many more
The Bay was still involved in the fur trade up until 1991, when it sold the last of its trading posts
It is now a chain of over 90 department stores across Canada and is North America’s oldest company
Bibliography
http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_furtrade/fp_furtrade3.html
http://www.canadiana.ca/hbc/hist/hist6_e.html
http://www2.hbc.com/hbc/history/