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French, English And Native Americans

Question #1
For the most part, the French treated the Indians of Canada well. Even though some Indians didn’t really trust the French, they still traded with them during the voyages of Verrazzano and Cartier. The French exchanged metals and textiles for furs and codfish. The French did, however, occasionally do some questionable things. An example of this is when Cartier and his crew kidnapped the Iroquois Chief’s sons. “His party took Domagaya and Taiognoagny, two sons of a St. Lawrence Iroquois headman named Donnacona” (Weeks 6). It is believed that Cartier took the two sons to use as guides during his expeditions. It is also believed that Donnacona himself may have allowed his sons to be taken to establish better relations with the French. This isn’t the only questionable thing Cartier did to the St. Lawrence Iroquois. At the completion of his second voyage he capture the Iroquois chief, Donnacona, and took him back to France along with his sons to become prize exhibits. They never returned to their homes. After Cartier’s departure the fur trade began to flourish even more. “Fur became the principle focus for relations between the French and Native peoples” (9). French entrepreneurs who saw the fur trade as a quick and guaranteed profit began to flock to Canada. One such person was Samuel de Champlain. Like and unlike Verrazzano and Cartier, Champlain built friendships as well as enemies in the Indian communities with his actions. He needed to strengthen his trading post at current day Quebec by getting trading partners, so he agreed to help the Hurons and Algonquins in war against the Iroquois League. He provided not only men, but more importantly guns, which was the deciding factor in the battles. This built him a strong trading partner with the Hurons and Algonquins. It also produced the future decades of violence between the French and Iroquois League due to Champlain’s trading and arming of their enemies. The French became dependent on the...