Struggle for a continent

The Hudson Bay Company were given the exclusive rights to trade around Hudson Bay in 1670 by England’s King Charles II. Over the next century, the company was in competition with traders based in Montreal. Many of the traders who ventured into the interior by canoe formed strong relationships with the First Nations.

Ultimately, the English colonists on the Atlantic shore became richer and had a bigger population than the French settlements. In the 18th century, France was fighting with Great Britain in North America. The French Empire in North America ended in 1759 when they were defeated by the British at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham by Quebec City.