North American Fur Trade and Industrialization of the North

• The fur trade in North America began almost as soon as Europeans began their explorations of the North American mainland. This is a brief description of the most significant events in the 250 years during which the fur trade flourished. This period of time can be roughly divided into three sections, the "French Era" from 1600 to 1760. The "British Era" from 1760 to 1816. And the "American Era" from 1816 to 1850.


• The North American fur trade was a central part of the early history of contact in The New World (North America) between European-Americans and American Indians. In 1578 there were 350 European fishing vessels at Newfoundland and sailors began to trade metal implements (particularly knives) for the natives' well worn pelts. The worn pelt was always highly desired by the Europeans as the outer coarse guard hair was worn off and the addition of human oils combined to make a particularly soft and beautiful result.
  
• Fur (especially beaver) was prized and very expensive in European markets
• At first, fur was not the most important thing that was traded. Then, around the year 1600, something happened: hats made from beaver felt became very fashionable. Everybody wanted one! At the same time, beavers were becoming extinct in Europe.
• Explorers continued to look for the Northwest Passage. In 1576 Martin Frobisher sailed on the first of his three voyages. John Davis continued the search, and Henry Hudson discovered the bay that was named after him.
  These men and others began mapping the land and the waterways. This would become important for both the fur trade and the exploration and settlement of Canada.
• the first commercial corporation in North America and largest fur trading company in the world, The Hudson's Bay Company.
  

(Student Note: I chose the region of Finland to discover the settlement and idustrilization of this country because I know little information on this country, and it is an interesting place in the circumpolar world.)

Settlements and Industrialization of Finland

Population trends in Finland in the 18th and 19th centuries were characterized by powerful fluctuations. The birth rate was close to 40 per 1000 inhabitants and the death rate about 25 per 1000. The development of agriculture and the expansion of urban trades accelerated population growth, while wars between Sweden and Russia, and disease and food shortages reduced the rate. It has been said that the last natural disaster to befall a European people took place in Finland at the end of the 1860s. The reasons for the disaster in question are to be found in the climate; summers were wintry and frosts destroyed the harvests in two consecutive years. Widespread famine ensued and the death rate rose temporarily to almost 80 per 1000.

Increased industrialization in Finland has steadily raised the proportion of the population living in urban areas; by the late 20th century about three-fifths of the total population lived in cities and towns. Farms are most commonly located in the meadowland regions of the southwest, where the fertile land is suitable for mixed farming. In the north farmers usually concentrate on small dairy herds and forestry. In Finnish Lapland there is some nomadic life based mainly on the reindeer industry. The major urban settlements are all in the southern third of the country, with a large number of cities and towns concentrated on the coast, either on the Gulf of Finland, as is the capital, Helsinki or on the Gulf of Bothnia, as are Vaasa and Oulu (Uleåborg). The only town of any size in the north is Rovaniemi, capital of the lääni of Lappi. Helsinki is the largest city, with a population about three times that of Tampere (Tammerfors) and of Turku, the country's capital until 1812.