Primary Source Analysis In Louis Hennepin’s “A Description of the Fall of the River Niagara, that is to be seen betwixt the Lake Ontario and that of Erie,” and his “The Author sets out from Fort Frontenac, and passes over the rapid Stream, which is call'd The Long Fall. He is kindly receiv'd at Montreal by Count Frontenac,” Hennepin offers the reader a late 17th-century description of the Niagara River and Falls, as well as the river systems leading to Montreal. Similarly, in “A Letter from Mr. Kalm,” Peter Kalm also offers a description of the Niagara Falls region. Though written approximately 60 years apart and from different perspectives, both authors offer the contemporary reader a glimpse into the relationship between European explorer and North American wilderness. Beyond the fear, awe, that the Hennepin text emulates, the Kalm text also demonstrates an early modern …show more content…
At the falls, Hennepin is credited being the first European to visit and describe the cascade which he notes at 600 ft. In addition to the falls, Hennepin notes the groups of First Nations and Europeans trading. Among the goods that were traded were furs, firearms, and alcohol. In the second text, Hennepin describes his journey aboard birchbark canoe through the St. Lawrence River from the Kingston area to Montreal. While the journey is more challenging than planned for, Hennepin and the voyageurs discover a new waterway to Montreal. In spite of the monopoly granted to certain French companies, Hennepin’s crew engage in illegal fur trapping. Upon arriving in Montreal, Hennepin is housed at Governor General Frontenac’s home where he recovers from his journey to
Upper Canada was in the tumultuous process of settlement during the nineteenth century. From 1800-1860, wheat and flour exports went from a negligible amount to peak at 13 billion bushels in 1860.1 It is important to understand the rapid nature of settlement to contextualize life in rural Upper Canada. From 1805-1840, the population increased by over eight hundred percent.2 Many of these were Irish emigrants, even in the period preceding the famine; these pre-Famine Irish emigrants were predominantly “middling farmers,” «c'est à dire des fermiers cultivant des terres petites ou moyennes, ceux qui ont été le plus durement touchés par la baisse soudaine des prix des produits agricoles à la fin des guerres napoléoniennes [en Europe]».3 Many of the emigrants settled into townships and villages on the agricultural frontier, such as the Biddul...
The French Fur Trade Beginning in the mid sixteenth century, French explorers were able to establish a powerful and lasting presence in what is now the Northern United States and Canada. The explorers placed much emphasis on searching and colonizing the area surrounding the St. Lawrence River “which gave access to the Great Lakes and the heart of the continent”(Microsoft p?). They began exploring the area around 1540 and had early interactions with many of the Natives, which made communication easier for both peoples when the French returned nearly fifty years later. The French brought a new European desire for fur with them to America when they returned and began to trade with the Indians for furs in order to supply the European demands. The Natives and the French were required to interact with each other in order to make these trades possible, and, over time, the two groups developed a lasting alliance.
Dr. Daniel K. Richter is the Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of American History at University of Pennsylvania. His focus on early Native American history has led to his writing several lauded books including Before the Revolution: America’s Ancient Past, and The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization. Richter’s Facing East is perhaps, a culmination of his latter work. It is centered from a Native American perspective, an angle less thought about in general. Through the book, Richter takes this perspective into several different fields of study which includes literary analysis, environmental history, and anthropology. Combining different methodologies, Richter argues Americans can have a fruitful future, by understanding the importance of the American Indian perspective in America’s short history.
Winona Wheeler’s essay, “Cree Intellectual Traditions in History” analyzes the oral history of First Nations Elders. She specifically questions the identities of the Elders telling their story and how they have attained the stories that they are telling. Wheeler’s thesis is that the Elders are not mere storages of knowledge, they are humans. And as the days go on, few of them remain which makes it even more relevant to take in what they have and pass it on to the newer generations.
Located just north of Michigan lies a unique little island that may be small in size but large in history. Glaciers once covered this land and after they began to recede a unique landscape was revealed as was the opening for its place in history. The Mackinac Island’s history has been due in large part to its geographical location and terrain makeup.
The book Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England by William Cronon tends to generally explain how and why changes took place within the New England communities, affecting plants, animals and the people of its community and, and how these changes seemed to inter affect each other, all due to changes from an Indian to an European style of dominance. This seemed to show overall that the ecological system could be affected by changes the people within it may make. Which tends to bring Cronon’s thesis to light being the shift from Indian to European influence in New England was due to vital changes that constituted the way its people seemed to organize and reorganize their lives within the communities.
Fur trading started between the Europeans along with the Aboriginals when the most valuable beaver pelts was a substituted for metal and clothing goods such as iron knives and axis, copper kettles, blankets and trinkets. The beaver pelts were well desired by the Europeans for the reason that using this fur for headgear provided an elegant way to keep dry. However these pelts were for fashion, as men and women could be instantly noted within the social hierarchy by according to their beaver hats. It was so valuable that the sand on the floor was filtered to save every hair that has fallen off. For the Europeans, captivating advantages of the rich furs from the Indians in the New World was a major factor in generating handsome profits, and there is no other pelt exchanging business enterprise like the Hudson's Bay Company. It is the oldest venture of Canada and it inspired many by its domination in the fur trading industry during its early years. They equipped their own armies, minted its own coins and even issued its own medals. The company had controlled fully one-third of present-day Canadian territory and were thought by many as a kingdom by itself in the fur industry. They had trading posts from the very north Arctic Ocean to Hawaii and as far south as San Francisco. HBC's revenue didn't generate simply from this one way trade in furs to Europe; it also consists of large amounts of European goods to North America. These goods incorporated many other products that local people cannot construct such as gunpowder, bullets, weapons, tobacco, kettles, pots, beads, fishing hooks, needles, scissors, and so much more. The Hudson's Bay Company showed a great measure of success since its formation, but it didn't come without s...
McClurken, J. M. (2009). Our people, our journey: the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
Many people think that Christopher Columbus was the first European to set foot in America, but this conventional belief is wrong; Leif Erikson, a Norse explorer set foot in Newfoundland almost 500 years before Columbus was even born. This paper will cover everything about Leif Erikson’s life including his grandfather’s banishment from Norway, and Leif’s father’s exile from Iceland. Leif Erikson’s early life, his family, and his visit to Norway to serve under the king. The first recorded European to see North America, Bjarni Herjólfsson, and Leif Erikson’s voyage to America. This paper is also going to talk about Leif Erikson’s brother, Thorvald Erikson’s voyage to Vinland because his tale is interesting. Near the end of this research paper, it will have a paragraph on Leif Erikson’s later life. Finally at the end of this paper it is going to talk about the unknown reason why no other Europeans sailed to Vinland, and Leif’s impact on modern day North America.
Zaslow, Morris. The Defended Border, Upper Canada and the War of 1812. Toronto: MacMillian of Canada, 1983
A Description of New England: or The Observations, and Discoveries, of Captain John Smith (Admiral of that Country), in the North of America, in the year of our Lord, 1614; London, 1616. Reprinted in: Dow, George Francis (1921). Two Centuries of Travel in Essex County Massachusetts: A Collection of Narratives and Observations Made by Travelers 1605-1799. The Perkins Press, Topsfield.
The original Huron settlement was located between Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe in the southern part of Ontario (1). The tribe was discovered by the French in the year 1610 and the French described the group as the most prosperous native group they had discovered along the St. Lawrence River (1). As it turns out, The Huron actually called themselves Wendat, which means “Dwellers on a Peninsula” (12). The word Huron was given to the group by the French and because the word meant a boar or a hillbilly, the group was offended and did not adopt the name (12). Eventually the Huron were forced to sell their land by the US government in the 1800s. Today, the Huron have reserves in Kansas and Oklahoma as well as Quebec, Canada (Internet Research). Numerous connections could be made between the Huron and the topics we have talked about throughout the semester. The five connections that were talked about most in the book include: horticulture, religion and rituals, kinship and marriage practices, gender role ideol...
Quinn, David B. North America From Earliest Discovery to First Settlements. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1977.
A small archipelago off the northwest coast of Britsh Columbia is known as the “islands of the people.” This island is diverse in both land and sea environment. From the 1700’s when the first ship sailed off its coast and a captain logged about the existence, slow attentiveness was given to the island. Its abundance, in both natural resources physical environment, and its allure in the concealed Haida peoples, beckoned settlers to come to the island. Settlers would spark an era of prosperity and catastrophe for the native and environmental populations.
The falls serve as a border between the U.S. (New York) and Canada (Ontario). The falls actually consist of the American Bridal Veil Falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, collectively called Niagara. They were created 12,000 years ago when large glaciers retreated allowing the Niagara River to flow over large sections of rock. There are several ways to view the falls, but perhaps the best way to observe the splendor and majesty of Niagara Falls is through a tour. Our tour guide directed us through many of the unseen attractions including the man-made tunnels behind the falls. Here, several