HI 440 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Beaver Hat, North American Beaver, Clipper
Commodities and Markets
The American Beaver
● Transform landscapes for their own benefit, but it benefitted human beings as well
● One of the first commodities in American history
○ Fifty years of beaver hat styles made from felted beaver felts
● Beaver furs provided an early valuable commodity that were traded → Indians caught
them, Europeans bought and transformed them, then they sold them
● These patterns of exchange became a more corporate and organized set of exchanges, and
specifically by the British company called “Hudson’s Bay”
● Beaver contribute to a corporate reorganization of production in America
● In the Rocky mountains, the goal of the Hudson Bay company was to wipe put beaver
populations in order to force their American competitor out of business
○ They wanted a monopoly and wanted the highest sale price possible
● From between 100-200 million beavers pre-European contact, beavers became extinct in
these areas due to these practices
○ First casualties of fur trapping business
● By the end, the Hudson’s Bay company is an extremely powerful monopoly that controls
beaver fur
Sea Otters
● Pacific species that has a warm, water-resistant fur that the Native people used in the
winter
● Discovers that the Chinese will pay an immense amount of money for sea otter fur
○ The fur rush begins in the sale for sea otter furs → wanted coats and royal
robes to be made from the fur
● There is nearly a global war due to the control of sea otter areas
○ The Pacific World was connected due to fur trade
● Develops the clipper ship, which is the fastest sailing cargo ship, was developed in part
for this trade due to the demand across the oceans
● Americans were the smallest element of the sea otter trade, and the British were in
conflict with the Americans over it
Whales (the ones that eat small fish)
● Had huge quantities of fat and protein that Americans wanted
○ Almost hunted to extinction for it
● Barrels of whale oil became the first source for margin and also created a strange waxy
glob that is the essential ingredient for French perfume in the late 1800’s
● Whalebone, which are plates within the mouths to strain food, were used for corsets
● Became a huge proces where people sailed for years getting and processing whales, but
this industry was dependent on the population of whales, which was declining and then
became extinct
● Whaling became a great industry that brought people to the far corners of the world,
created conflict, and provided economic benefits
Social Consequences
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Document Summary
Transform landscapes for their own benefit, but it benefitted human beings as well. One of the first commodities in american history. Fifty years of beaver hat styles made from felted beaver felts. Beaver furs provided an early valuable commodity that were traded indians caught them, europeans bought and transformed them, then they sold them. These patterns of exchange became a more corporate and organized set of exchanges, and specifically by the british company called hudson"s bay . Beaver contribute to a corporate reorganization of production in america. In the rocky mountains, the goal of the hudson bay company was to wipe put beaver populations in order to force their american competitor out of business. They wanted a monopoly and wanted the highest sale price possible. From between 100-200 million beavers pre-european contact, beavers became extinct in these areas due to these practices. By the end, the hudson"s bay company is an extremely powerful monopoly that controls beaver fur.
