Animalscaretips
Europeans viewed North America as a land of opportunity with vast natural resources, including fur-bearing mammals. In addition to the beaver, other animals hunted for fur included muskrats, raccoons, fox, deer, and in the 19th century, especially buffalo.
- What was the purpose of the fur trade for the Europeans?
- What did fur do for the Europeans and the natives?
- Why did the French want fur?
- Why did some Europeans come to North America?
- What impact did the fur trade have on Europe and on the Americas?
- Why were furs important commodities in colonial times?
- Why was the fur trade so popular?
- What did the French trade for fur?
- Which of the following did Europeans introduce to the Americas?
- What did some Europeans do to Native Americans?
- What animals were used for the fur trade?
- Are beavers killed for hats?
- Why is beaver fur so valuable?
- How did the fur trade cause the French and Indian War?
- How many beavers were killed in the fur trade?
What was the purpose of the fur trade for the Europeans?
The fur trade provided Indigenous peoples with European goods that they could use for gift-giving ceremonies, to improve their social status and to go to war. The French forged military alliances with their Indigenous allies in order to maintain good trade and social relations.
What did fur do for the Europeans and the natives?
The fur trade was both very good and very bad for American Indians who participated in the trade. The fur trade gave Indians steady and reliable access to manufactured goods, but the trade also forced them into dependency on European Americans and created an epidemic of alcoholism.
Why did the French want fur?
France and England were bitter enemies at this time. Indeed, one of the principal goals of the French fur trade during the 1700s was to maintain strong ties and military alliances with the Indians. Between 1698 and 1763, France and England fought a series of four wars for control of North America.
Why did some Europeans come to North America?
European nations came to the Americas to increase their wealth and broaden their influence over world affairs. ... Many of the people who settled in the New World came to escape religious persecution. The Pilgrims, founders of Plymouth, Massachusetts, arrived in 1620.
What impact did the fur trade have on Europe and on the Americas?
The fur trade resulted in many long term effects that negatively impacted Native people throughout North America, such as starvation due to severely depleted food resources, dependence on European and Anglo-American goods, and negative impacts from the introduction of alcohol-which was often exchanged for furs.
Why were furs important commodities in colonial times?
The fur trade was not one-sided, and it created a mutual dependency. Because Europeans depended on American Indians to supply thousands of furs to trading posts and colonial settlements, the fur trade linked the Indians to the broader Atlantic system of trade through a valuable commodity that was easily transportable.
Why was the fur trade so popular?
The fur trade began in the 1500's as an exchange between Indians and Europeans. The Indians traded furs for such goods as tools and weapons. Beaver fur, which was used in Europe to make felt hats, became the most valuable of these furs. ... By the late 1500's, a great demand for fur had developed in Europe.
What did the French trade for fur?
The French traded iron tools, kettles, wool blankets and other supplies for the furs to make hats, while Native peoples exchanged furs for goods from around the world.
Which of the following did Europeans introduce to the Americas?
The Europeans brought technologies, ideas, plants, and animals that were new to America and would transform peoples' lives: guns, iron tools, and weapons; Christianity and Roman law; sugarcane and wheat; horses and cattle. They also carried diseases against which the Indian peoples had no defenses.
What did some Europeans do to Native Americans?
As the English, French, and Spanish explorers came to North America, they brought tremendous changes to American Indian tribes. ... Diseases such as smallpox, influenza, measles, and even chicken pox proved deadly to American Indians. Europeans were used to these diseases, but Indian people had no resistance to them.
What animals were used for the fur trade?
Other animals that were trapped for the fur trade were marten, otter, lynx, mink and fox. You can click on the link for each animal to learn about it in the Wilderness Library. The lynx and otter fur were used for fur muffs (used for keeping hands warm). Fur from the other animals were used to decorate coats and hats.
Are beavers killed for hats?
Stretched pelt (60 pelts per pack) Beaver fur was used to make felt hats. Beavers do not hibernate, so their fur gets very thick in the winter to keep them warm. Most of the trapping for beaver was done in the winter. After it was killed, the beaver was skinned and its hide stretched on a willow frame.
Why is beaver fur so valuable?
Mammal winter pelts were prized for warmth, particularly animal pelts for beaver wool felt hats, which were an expensive status symbol in Europe. The demand for beaver wool felt hats was such that the beaver in Europe and European Russia had largely disappeared through exploitation.
How did the fur trade cause the French and Indian War?
The British hurt the French traders' business when they bought fur from the Indians. French colonies in North America, isolated from France by British domination of the seas, were left mostly to their own meager resources to carry out the French and Indian War.
How many beavers were killed in the fur trade?
Others prefer dynamite. Two hundred plus years of the fur trade killed off beaver populations—40 to 60 million beavers basked in North America in the 19th century before hunters massacred them for hats and perfume.
