Hudson's Bay Company Fur example essay topic

The Hudson's Bay Company is among the oldest, but still active companies in the world. When Canada confederated in 1867, the company was already 200 years old. It was incorporated in England on May 2, 1670, with hopes of seeking a northwest passage to the Pacific, and to generate business with those lands that might prove to be profitable. In 1667, the Royal Navy was ordered by King Charles II to sponsor the Eaglet (ship), while a group of private investors outfitted the other ship called the Nonsuch. On June 3, 1668 the Eaglet, with a man named Pierre-Esprit Radisson (1636-1710) on board and the Nonsuch with Me dard Chou art Des Groseilliers (1618-1710), set sail down the Thames River to cross the Atlantic. The Eaglet was captained under William Stannard, and the Nonsuch under Captain Zachariah Gillam.

Throughout this voyage the Eaglet was damaged in a storm and had to return to England. The Nonsuch arrived in the southern tip of James Bay on September 29, 1668. After spring break up, the Native people were able to travel down the Rupert River to trade their furs. After the trading ceased, Captain Gillam, Des Groseilliers, and the crew left with a ship full of furs.

The success of their voyage prompted England to give right to the charter, and soon after, the Hudson's Bay Company Charter of Rights (1670) was formed. This occurred when Charles II, king of England, granted the charter to his cousin Prince Rupert and 17 other noblemen, which gave them the rights to trade in any region where waters flowed into Hudson's Bay. Since 1670 when the company was formed, it has controlled one-third of present day Canadian territory. This widely spread out territory soon became known as Rupert's Land, however it's boundaries were never really clearly defined. The general understanding was that the boundaries extended from Labrador to the Rocky Mountains and from the start of the Red River to the Chesterfield Inlet on Hudson Bay.

In order to maintain some rules and regulations, the company was allowed to establish its own laws and impose its own penalties within this boundary. For its first two centuries of existence the Hudson's Bay Company only engaged in the trading of furs. The company appointed Charles Bayley as its first overseas Governor. When he first arrived in Hudson Bay he confirmed the treaty that Des Groseilliers had made with the native peoples. He built up the York Factory and over the next few years his imagination and sound judgment made the Hudson's Bay Company a success. In fact about 15 years after the charter was granted, the company was generating profits of 200% yearly.

In the late 1670's and early 1680's, the company established a number of posts along the shores of Hudson Bay and James Bay. By the mid 1680's, the Hudson's Bay Company was becoming a fairly profitable company. In 1684, it declared its first dividend and then military conflict with the French during 1689-1713 caused profits and shares to drop by 50%. In the years after the Royal Charter was granted, the company showed success but not without its difficulties, one of which was the loss of its two founders, Radisson and Des Groseilliers. With the company doing so well, the two men were not given direction to expand exploration. Therefore, in 1682 Radisson and Des Groseilliers established La Compagnie du Nord offering direct competition to the Hudson's Bay Company.

This caused growing problems to become even worse. With the French already in heavy competition with the English for control of the fur trade in North America, a war broke out between England and France. In North America this resulted in military raids in attempts to capture each other's fur trading posts. One of the most famous of these French raids was led by Chevalier des Troyes. It included an 800 mile journey from Montreal all the way to James Bay that began in March of 1686.

It was there that Moose Factory, the first Hudson's Bay Company fort, was captured. That was followed by Rupert House, seventy five miles up the east coast of James Bay, and Fort Albany located on the west coast of the Bay. During the Hudson's Bay Company's first decades, the French and English were constantly at battle for trading posts, and most of these posts were captured by the French between 1686 and 1713. When the Treaty of Utrecht was enforced in 1713, the rivalry was finally settled in the company's favor. Two sections of the treaty stated that all trading posts, forts and lands taken from the Hudson's Bay Company during the war were to be rightfully returned.

The Treaty of Utrecht was the beginning of 31 years of peace between England and France. With the loss of the company's forts and trading posts, the Hudson's Bay Company found itself deeply in debt and had to borrow money just to pay the interest to its creditors. The company hired an administrator from England named James Knight to reclaim York Factory from the French. When Knight arrived, he found the factory in shambles and had to restore it to its former state.

Knight helped the Hudson's Bay Company regain its monopoly, as a matter of fact, he might have succeeded a little too well. With no competition the Hudson's Bay Company was not forced to expand into new regions. The company traders were content with the natives bringing the furs right to Hudson Bay. The fur trade was now growing at an alarming rate. Until the 1770's it remained a relatively profitable company, by just dealing in the fur trade industry. Eventually they tried to develop and expand for other means of income besides the fur trade, such as the development of mica deposits and the development of whale oil in Churchill.

They even tried to explore for minerals but their efforts were futile. The Hudson's Bay Company quit exporting all goods because they would profit enough by just setting up trading posts in the Hudson Bay Area. To make a long story short, the Hudson's Bay Company only traded out of the Hudson Bay area, and did not want to expand their industry inland. The main reason that the company based themselves strictly out of Hudson Bay was because most of their employees were from the Orkney Islands. In the 18th century it is estimated that about 75% of the employees were Orkney men. It was from the Orkney Islands that the design for the York boat emerged.

The legacy of the Orkney men remains in many Northern Cree communities with names such as Linklater, Fleet, and Nor quay. They were industrious and inexpensive sources of labor. People from the Orkney Islands had little knowledge about canoe construction which was key to moving the company inland. They also had no experience traveling the North American river system. Finally, the company didn't have a mobile food supply which meant that they didn't heard animals to feed their employees. Although, the Hudson's Bay Company did provide a sense of stability and security for their employees, who at this time were all men.

At last, the Hudson's Bay Company didn't want their employees getting involved with native women nor did they want to be liable for them and their families. This is why the Hudson's Bay Company employees "slept by the bay", as the expression goes. However, the role of Native women in the fur trade was critical to the success of the Hudson's Bay Company. Their knowledge of Native languages, trading routes, customs and culture, and survival made them indispensable to their European trader husbands. By 1749, the Hudson's Bay Company had only four or five coastal trading posts and about 120 employees. In 1774, a hundred and four years after it was founded, the Hudson's Bay Company finally established its first inland post named Cumberland House, on Pine Island Lake.

A little more than a decade after this, a string of posts were established along the Saskatchewan River. Trade increased immensely during these years and during the French wars from 1778-1783 the company was strong enough to bear a 500,000 pound loss. The original capital of the company was about 110,000 pounds. The Northwest Company was also a merging company of powerful rivals that were typically Scottish-Canadian traders from Montreal.

It was originally formed in 1784 by some Montreal fur trading companies. New trading routes and trading posts were established as a result of the Northwest Company. Unlike the Hudson's Bay Company merchants, the men of the Northwest Company were always on the move. They showed their disrespect for the Royal Charter by building their forts right beside those of the Hudson's Bay Company at strategic trading points. For example, the Northwest Company set up Fort Alexander (near present day Winnipeg) right beside the Hudson's Bay Company post of Fort Garry. Alexander Mackenzie was the man in charge and, in defiance of the charter, pushed his crew up to the northwestern Arctic to the Pacific.

However, both companies were growing weary of competing against each other, as it prevented growth in both organizations. On March 26, 1821 the Hudson's Bay Company, represented by Edward Ellice, and the Northwest Company, represented by Simon McGillivary, decided to amalgamate. The result was the most powerful fur trading company on the continent. With the exception of the Great Lakes basin and the Atlantic Provinces, the company's empire spanned across all of modern Canada. Also involved in the merger between the two companies, was the acting Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land, George Simpson. Over the next 40 years, Simpson ruled North America and under his careful eye, the Hudson's Bay Company was able to achieve its greatest financial success.

Simpson's first task was reorganizing the Hudson's Bay Company fur trading operation, and in a short time, order and efficiency was maintained. Posts began to occupy permanent positions along waterways, rather than being constantly relocated, and in places where two posts competed, one was shut down. For many years, the Hudson's Bay Company enjoyed the stability of its monopoly. The company made huge strides in expanding its territory, under strict rules of George Simpson.

In 1826, Simpson was appointed the Governor for the northern and southern departments of Rupert's Land. In 1841, George Simpson was knighted by Queen Victoria because of his outstanding achievements, and after receiving his knighthood, Sir George took an overland trip around the world traveling across British North America, Asia, Russia, and Europe. Those who worked for him spoke of his efficiency and ambition. He continued to work for the company until his death in 1860, however, he influenced the operations of the Hudson's Bay Company for decades after his death. In may of 1859, the real pressure on the Hudson's Bay Company began when its charter came up for review in the British Parliament. Many companies signed petitions challenging the monopoly of the Hudson's Bay Company.

There was also a threat that without a powerful political foundation, the United States might take claims to the Canadian West. To deal with these issues, a special British parliament committee was formed to review the case. The committee asked a series of questions and heard testimony from some 25 witnesses, among them was George Simpson. As a result, the committee decided the Hudson's Bay Company must begin to turn over all the land that could be colonized to Canada. This transfer of land back to the British crown in 1870 was known as the Deed of Surrender, and the development of the Canadian west began.

Under this deed, the company was allowed every privilege of a private trading corporation without exceptional taxation. They also received some cash and seven million acres of fertile land that was gradually sold over the next 85 years. From this point on, the Hudson's Bay Company began to emerge into its present day form. It marked the end of a great chapter in history for the Hudson's Bay Company and the beginning of modern day Canada. As a result of Canada's confederation in 1867, the new country was ready to take over the land. Over the next 30 years, over two million people settled west of the Great Lakes, and never before had such drastic changes been required by an organization.

This proved to be a challenge for the 200 year old company. What was once a monopoly, was now exposed to every form of competition all across the country. After 1870, the fur trade continued, however new areas of business began to spring up. A wholesale department was created and a series of Hudson's Bay Company retail stores began to expand across Canada. The man who guided the company through these times was Donald A. Smith, who became the company's commissioner in 1871. Smith was known for his extreme skill as an international financier, and for his ability to attract investors.

Smith is now often pictured in history books as a silver bearded gentleman who drove the last spike of the great railway on November 7, 1885. However, the majority of Canadians know Donald Smith for starting Canada's largest non-food retailer, the Hudson's Bay Company, also known as The Bay. Today the Hudson's Bay Company continues to expand its retail operations with acquisitions such as Kmart and new outlets such as the Outfitters store in Toronto..