Although Henry Hudson did discover the Bay on an English-funded
voyage, given the prolonged hiatus in British activity, the area
should have gone to the French by default. In fact, the British
started the Hudson's Bay company off a tip from 2 defecting Frenchmen,
Grossilliers & Radisson, who were pissed off that that the existing
French fur trade monopoly did not appreciate their business concept of
trapping and exporting furs out of Hudson's Bay instead of the St.
Lawrence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Médard_des_Groseilliers
The two got British support by proving they could deliver, in 1669.
Well, what if their, or some other courer de bois' ambition to use
this route could have been accomodate by the powers that be in New
France? What's the impact on later North American history.
Or, what if the two trappers still sought a deal with a competing
power, but one besides England, say possibly the Netherlands, Sweden
or Denmark, to name a few powers with some interest and capacity to
operate in the western hemisphere? Or what about other, more off the
wall powers that were experimenting with small colonial settlements at
the time like the Courlanders or Brandenburgers? What's likely to
happen in the region over the next century or so, and how hard would
it be to arrange for their territories to never be permanently added
to British or French imperial domains?
voyage, given the prolonged hiatus in British activity, the area
should have gone to the French by default. In fact, the British
started the Hudson's Bay company off a tip from 2 defecting Frenchmen,
Grossilliers & Radisson, who were pissed off that that the existing
French fur trade monopoly did not appreciate their business concept of
trapping and exporting furs out of Hudson's Bay instead of the St.
Lawrence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Médard_des_Groseilliers
The two got British support by proving they could deliver, in 1669.
Well, what if their, or some other courer de bois' ambition to use
this route could have been accomodate by the powers that be in New
France? What's the impact on later North American history.
Or, what if the two trappers still sought a deal with a competing
power, but one besides England, say possibly the Netherlands, Sweden
or Denmark, to name a few powers with some interest and capacity to
operate in the western hemisphere? Or what about other, more off the
wall powers that were experimenting with small colonial settlements at
the time like the Courlanders or Brandenburgers? What's likely to
happen in the region over the next century or so, and how hard would
it be to arrange for their territories to never be permanently added
to British or French imperial domains?