Principle French and English Settlements and Fur Trading Territories 1665-1755Principle French and English Settlements and Fur Trading Territories 1665-1755

Map Creator: Sophia McRae '19

These maps portray two major phases of the North American fur trade up to 1755. The first map captures the earliest settlements and exploration of the east coast of North America by the mercantile powers of England, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The largest portion of the map depicts the competing territories of England and France in the fur trade after the failure of the Dutch and Swedish to keep their territories. The French trading system was based around independent merchants, a few trading posts, and relative integration with their Native American trading partners. Their voyages and control of the St Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and south down the Mississippi River to Louisiana cut British territory in half, who were the largest land grabbers with the intention for permanent settlement and colonization. Hostilities came to a head in the Ohio River Valley, a strategic region for both imperial powers, and sparked the French and Indian Wars in 1755. This ended with the eventual exit of the French from the continent and England’s land monopoly in North America.