HISTORY 40A Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Barter
16 Nov 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Pilgrims
Revolution of the Axe
I. Trade
A. First phase -- benign, brief (late 15th century)
1. Fishing
2. Annual
3. Exchange process and items
a. Fit into native cultures
B. Second phase -- begins late 16th century
1. Begins with barter exchange
a. Furs exchanged for trade items
2. But altered social fabric of Indian life
3. Dutch -- permanent trading forts
a. Early New York
b. Mohicans
c. Mohawks (Iroquois)
4. French
a. Huron
II. Cultural Transformation
A. Fur trade
B. European Goods (technology/dependence)
1. Kettle
2. Axe
3. Gun
Fisherman from Europe only hoped to keep the whole thing secret -- to keep the fishing grounds
to themselves
Over time
- Contact with specific groups of Europeans and natives established on an annual basis
- Procedures for trade developed
By the middle of the 16th century, demand for fish increased, competition for profits.
Merchants developed regular drying stations on Labrador, Newfoundland, Acadian shores
Able to maximize cargo and profit
- What develops regular contact b/w Indian hunters and European merchants → increase
in trade in beaver pelts
- Verrazano provided description of trade -- fit into Native American culture
- Southern Native Americans primarily agricultural, minimal movement w seasons
- Northern Native Americans: focused on the hunt, moved seasonally
- Responded differently to the trade
- Both Southern and Northern Indians traded furs
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Document Summary
Cultural transformation: fur trade, european goods (technology/dependence, kettle, axe, gun. Fisherman from europe only hoped to keep the whole thing secret -- to keep the fishing grounds to themselves. Contact with specific groups of europeans and natives established on an annual basis. By the middle of the 16th century, demand for fish increased, competition for profits. Merchants developed regular drying stations on labrador, newfoundland, acadian shores. What develops regular contact b/w indian hunters and european merchants increase in trade in beaver pelts. Verrazano provided description of trade -- fit into native american culture. Southern native americans primarily agricultural, minimal movement w seasons. Northern native americans: focused on the hunt, moved seasonally. Both southern and northern indians traded furs. Southern indians exchanged furs for trinkets, not interested in useful/practical objects, but more in decorative/aesthetic. Trade: mostly to establish or maintain an alliance based on reciprocity.
