Native american and the fur trade - Essay Example

The Impact of the Fur Trade on Native Americans When European explorers reached the shores of what is now the United s, they found an entirely new civilization they never knew existed. Native Americans, as this group came to be called, at first welcomed the "white" man. Historically, Native Americans helped the foundling country eventually win its independence from British rule. What the Europeans imparted to the Native American population collectively were four basic things: disease, guns, alcohol and horses.

Of these four, the introduction of the horse was the most beneficial to Native Americans. It was also, perhaps, one of the most culturally altering events for the American Indians. It changed their way of life - the way they moved about, the way they hunted, the way war became easier due to their increased mobility, but more importantly the introduction of the horse gave Native Americans a new understanding to breed, raise, and train horses for trade to the "white man". This was something they could control.

Colonial American was eager for more land and began to push westward. The flood of settlers pushing west was led first by "mountain men" - explores who first journeyed west and made contact with the plains Indians. The United States government had begun forcing tribes from the eastern portions of the United States to relocate west of the Mississippi River and later on reservations - designated land given to individual tribes. One of the things Native Americans soon discovered was that the Europeans loved fur and initially these "mountain men", but later entire fur trading companies were willing to trade guns and alcohol for pelts.

Disease introduced to Native Americans had devastated the Indian population. Although diseases such as small pox killed thousands of Native Americans, the introduction of guns and alcohol had a longer lasting, damning effect on the Native American way of life. Changes from past altered their life forever. Europeans wanted fur and these early fur traders and later the fur trading companies realized that the American Indian could provide them the highly profitable pelts in exchange for guns and alcohol.

Native Americans had never had exposure to alcohol. It had a deadly effect on the Indian people. Native Americans traditionally have a great deal of respect for the land. It is there livelihood in one form or another and they never understood the concept of owning land, this was totally incomprehensible to them. They revered and respected the earth. Alcohol and their desire for it and their dependence upon it created a break from their long tradition of respect for the earth. The American Indian was predisposition, it seems, to alcoholism and this overpowering need for alcohol caused the near extinction of the beaver population as well as other native animals.

No longer did the Indian hunt and trap for survival and food. They now hunted and trapped for trade purposes. The unquenchable desire for pelts by the Fur Trading Companies over road their cultural respect of the land. The fur trade was not restricted to just one area of the country. Although often associated with the expansion westward, fur trading was also prevalent in the eastern United States. The Iroquois Nation in the northeastern United States was impacted as well. Fur traders with their offers of guns, alcohol and aid in fighting rival tribes further alienated one tribe from another.

For example, Samuel de Champlain assisted the Huron and Algonquin tribes in their successful defeat of the Mohawk Indians in New York State. This broke the Iroquois Nation's peace plan between five Indian nations that had for years successfully established and run a democratic society. All this caused by greed and a total disregard for a people and their way of life. Works CitedBonaparte, Daren. "Kaniatarowanenneh: River of the Iroquois." Wampum Chronicles. 1999. Accessed 12 Nov. 2005. .Eddins, O. N., "Mountain Men and Plains Indians Fur Trade.

" The Fur Trapper. 11 Nov. 2005. Accessed 12 Nov. 2005. ."The Iroquois Nations of the Northeast." Carnegie Museums.org. Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 1998. Accessed 12 Nov. 2005. .