France's Primary New World Interest: The Fur Trade

France's Primary New World Interest: The Fur Trade

While fishing, missionary work, and gold searches occurred, the fur trade was the economic engine of French colonization.

Why Fur?

• European demand for beaver felt hats created immense profits.
• Trade networks allied France with powerful Indigenous confederacies (Huron, Algonquin).
• Required minimal settlement—ideal for a mercantile, not agricultural, empire.

This focus shaped New France's geography (river routes), demographics (male-dominated, mobile), and diplomacy (Indigenous partnerships).