Ch 15

As I began reading chapter 15, I came across so many fascinating concepts of history. I had a lot of topics that I could blog about. Something that I did not really know a lot about before reading this chapter was the “World Hunt” for fur. The production and trade of fur played a major role in these early societies. In elementary school kids learn the basics of fur, that it was used to keep people warm in colder parts of the world. The textbook goes into a lot more detail, providing a lot more insight on the subject. For example, how the population of certain animals greatly diminished. Animals such as beaver, rabbits, sable, marten and deer were reduced in very large amounts. However, people needed these furs to stay warm and survive in what was known as the Little Ice Age. If humans were killing these poor, innocent animals for no reason what so ever then I think that would be cruel, but since in many cases fur was a necessity, it was logical to use the fur of the animals. The coldness people experiences drove prices of fur sky rocketing, which then lead to high demand in trapping these animals. This industry like many others at the time was very competitive. However, most left the trapping and hunting of the animals to the Indians. What incentive did the Native Americans have to hunting and trapping these animals of their beloved land? Well, they in return received a variety of goods, for example, guns, blankets, metal tools, rum, and brandy. Since the Indians did not ask for much, they were a cheap way of acquiring the fur. Some people may argue that the Indians may have been taken advantage of, but others argue that they were content on this way of trade. I believe that they were in fact happy to hunt and trap these animals, because this had always been their way of life, and they were getting goods out of this business also.