Fur Trade Benefits

The fur trade was one of the most notable events in Canadian history. Although it seems both the French and the First Nations benefited equally from the fur trade, I believe that the French were benefited more from the fur trade. In 1629, the Jesuits travelled to Quendake and had decided to handle the Récollets’ work. The first European settlement, Sainte-Marie, was used for missionary work and according to the textbook, “It would be the centre of thriving Ouendat.” They decided, they would try to convince the Ouendats to convert to Catholicism. However, their mission went unsuccessfully as only a few Ouendats had accepted this offer. After their unsuccessful mission, they decided to create many different settlements throughout New France.

This is a good idea as the missionaries could reach out to more First Nations. For instance, they made Sainte-Marie II but afterwards, they had travelled to Quebec to create another settlement.

This benefited them as they were able to spread their religion throughout New France rapidly. Since the French had partnered up with the Ouendat and the Algonquian speaking First Nations, they had settled in the North. Luckily, they had access to thicker, rich-quality pelt, up in the North considering that the beavers had adapted from the cold weather. Fortunately, selling and claiming those rich-quality pelts had made the French receive a higher profit than usual. On the other hand, the First Nations still received ‘the usual’ and were not recognized for finding the rich-quality pelt that made the French wealthier. The Dutch and British however, received light pelts as the lived in the South. Overall, the French made a higher profit selling the thick, good-quality fur. Last but foremost, the fur trade consisted of many job opportunities. From portaging to treating people wounded from trading conflicts, the Fur trade had opened up new job opportunities to several future indentured servants and engages. Many people were getting hired as the demand for pelt became grew. Some of the jobs needed in the fur trade were missionary work, hunting and

translating. However, if you were lucky enough, you could've become a lay teacher, a nurse or even a doctor. All these jobs were strictly meant for the French. Meaning, more of France’s population needed to voyage overseas to New France, bringing along their French traditions as well. In result, more of the French background started taking over North America and less of the aboriginals. This benefited them as France was able to bring their culture to another country.