ABSTRACT

European “discovery” of what is now Canada probably began in 1497 with Cabot and in 1540 with the arrival of Jacques Cartier in what was later to become Quebec (Pomfret, 1993: 11-13). Settlement did not occur for another century and was centered on the East Coast. Hoping to fi nd a new sea route to Asia, the British and French instead found a land with rich fi sh stocks. This provided the initial motive for settlement, though this was soon supplemented with, and then surpassed by, the fur trade. This trade, fi nanced and organized by Europeans but undertaken in conjunction with the native population, provided the economic basis of the area over at least two centuries (see Trigger, 1985). Supported by colonial monopolies, the fur trade led to the expansion to the interior of the country and was the focus for commercial and political rivalry between the British and French.