Compagnie du Nord facts for kids

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The Compagnie du Nord (also known as the Northern Company) was a French fur-trading company. It was started in Québec City in 1682 by a group of Canadian business people. Their main goal was to compete with the English Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye founded the company with help from Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers.

Why the Company Started
Early Years: 1682–1685
Stronger Years: 1686–1693
Later Years: 1694–1700
End of the Company
See also

Why the Company Started

Around 1663, the Ottawa people moved west from Georgian Bay to areas near Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. They met other tribes like the Potawatomi and Sioux. The Ottawa told these tribes that Europeans wanted beaver furs and would trade European goods for them. The Ottawa became the middlemen, helping western tribes trade with the French in the east.

This changed when the English Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) started in 1670. Now, western tribes could trade directly with the English at Hudson Bay. The HBC offered more goods and better prices. This made it harder for the French and the Ottawa middlemen.

The best beaver furs came from the Hudson Bay area. So, the French wanted to get more control there. In 1674, Louis de Buade de Frontenac, who was the Governor-General of New France, sent Father Charles Albanel to the Bay. Albanel was supposed to start a Catholic mission and convince Groseilliers, who worked for the HBC, to come back to the French side. Albanel was arrested by the HBC, but he did convince Groseilliers to leave the HBC.

After being released, Albanel and Groseilliers went to France. They met Radisson, who also worked for the HBC, and a French minister named Jean-Baptiste Colbert. They planned how France could get more furs from the Hudson Bay area. Radisson and Groseilliers were sent to New France in 1676 to talk with Frontenac. But Frontenac wasn't interested in their plans for Hudson Bay.

Frontenac wanted to build forts around the eastern Great Lakes instead. This would make those forts the main places for fur trading, not Montréal or Québec. This upset many merchants in Montréal and Québec. When Robert de La Salle was allowed to explore the Mississippi Valley for furs in 1678, these merchants had to look north to continue their business.

La Chesnaye, one of the upset merchants, sent Louis Jolliet to Hudson Bay in 1679. Jolliet found that many Native American groups were now trading directly with the English. This, along with Frontenac's growing anger towards La Chesnaye, led to the idea of creating the Compagnie du Nord. The company was finally formed after Frontenac was replaced by Joseph-Antoine de La Barre in July 1682. La Barre was much more supportive of trading in Hudson Bay.

Early Years: 1682–1685

In its first few years, the Compagnie du Nord was not a formal company with strict rules. It was more like a group of partners. You didn't need to invest a lot of money to be a leader.

In July 1682, Radisson, Groseilliers, and 30 crew members, including Groseilliers' son Jean-Baptiste Chouart, sailed to Hudson Bay. They arrived on August 19, 1682. Soon after, two English expeditions arrived, also trying to set up trading posts. The French managed to burn both English forts and take prisoners. After staying the winter, Jean-Baptiste Chouart stayed to manage the French fort. Radisson and Groseilliers returned to Québec in October 1683 with prisoners and 2,000 furs. Even though they almost pushed the English out, the company didn't make much money and couldn't pay its crew.

To make things worse, another company called the Company of the Farm took the 2,000 furs. The Farm had the right to tax all beaver furs, called the droit du quart. The Compagnie du Nord argued that Hudson Bay was not under the Farm's control. At first, Governor La Barre agreed with the Compagnie du Nord. But in April 1684, the King's court overturned La Barre's decision. The Compagnie had to pay the tax, and their small profits disappeared.

After this ruling, Radisson became unhappy with the French. He went back to work for the Hudson's Bay Company. In August 1684, he helped the English set up two new trading posts, including York Factory. A French expedition led by Claude de Bermen de la Martinière found these new English posts and saw that the old French post was destroyed. Radisson had even convinced Chouart to join the HBC. This expedition cost the Compagnie a lot of money, putting them 273,000 livres in debt.

These failures made the Compagnie realize they couldn't compete with the Hudson's Bay Company without a special royal charter. Philippe Gaultier de Comporté went to France in 1685 to ask the King for support. He asked for money and the right to use military force, not just trade. His request was successful. The Compagnie received its charter on May 20, 1685. Also, La Barre was replaced by Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville, who was told to fully support the Compagnie.

Stronger Years: 1686–1693

With the new charter, the Compagnie could now fight military battles in the Hudson Bay area. They sent an expedition led by Pierre Chevalier de Troyes to take back control of the Nelson and Hayes Rivers. They set up two forts, Fort St. Joseph and Fort St. Anne, to help resupply the expedition. The journey was tough, but the expedition made good progress. Between June and July 1686, three English forts surrendered to the French. However, Troyes did not recapture the English posts in the Nelson-Hayes region. Even though the Compagnie made some profit, they and Governor Denonville were not happy because they didn't get full control.

It was very hard to travel overland to these new forts. The Compagnie liked the ideas of Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, who suggested using ships to resupply the forts and focus on controlling the Nelson-Hayes region. Iberville led a naval expedition in 1688 with royal support. He captured two HBC ships and spent the winter at the Bay. He then sailed to France in 1689. He was briefly arrested for not paying the fur tax but was released. The Compagnie made 40,000 livres profit from this expedition, and their control of the Lower Bay region was confirmed.

In 1689, England joined a war against France called the Nine Years' War. French leaders encouraged Frontenac, who was again Governor-General, to support the Compagnie's plan to attack Fort Bourbon (now York Factory). But the Compagnie was frustrated because France didn't send enough military help. Iberville sailed in June 1690 to capture Fort Bourbon. His expedition was not well-equipped and met three strong HBC ships. Iberville had to retreat. This expedition was fully paid for by the Compagnie and was a big financial failure.

The Compagnie was running out of money and time. They asked the King for royal support to capture Fort Bourbon and remove the HBC from the Bay. The King agreed in April 1691, sending a strong warship called the Hazardeux and offering to pay for much of the expedition. However, the ship arrived in Québec too late in July, and its commander refused to sail because of the coming ice. In 1692 and 1693, more attempts to send ships were delayed by bad weather and other problems. These delays gave the English time to resupply their forts and capture French ones. By 1693, the Compagnie had lost all its forts on the Bay, just like in 1686.

Later Years: 1694–1700

The repeated failures to capture Fort Bourbon caused disagreements between the French leaders of the Compagnie and its Canadian leaders. In 1693, the French suggested that the company should be controlled from France. They argued that Québec was causing delays and that it was cheaper to prepare expeditions in France. This made it hard for the Canadians to convince the French to give more money for a 1694 expedition.

Because of this problem, the French King decided to work directly with Iberville for a new expedition. The King and Iberville would share the costs. Iberville would have two warships, the Poly and the Salamandre. The Compagnie was specifically excluded from any profits. If the expedition was successful, Iberville would get direct trading rights in the Bay. The French authorities gave the Compagnie a chance to rejoin the trade, but their internal problems forced them to step back. However, they still contributed 15,000 livres to Iberville's expedition.

Iberville, with his brother Joseph Le Moyne de Sérigny, sailed from Québec on August 10, 1694. They arrived at Fort Bourbon on September 24 and forced it to surrender on October 14. Iberville stayed the winter and made 160,000 livres profit, which was not taxed. But the French only held the fort for a short time, as the English took it back on September 6, 1695.

Iberville was asked to recapture Fort Bourbon in 1697. Again, the Compagnie du Nord was not included in the plans. This expedition was entirely funded by the King. It sailed directly from France on July 8. They reached the Nelson-Hayes region on September 4. After nine days of fighting, the English surrendered Fort Bourbon on September 13. Even with Fort Bourbon back, the Compagnie still couldn't manage the trade. They didn't have enough money for the very high costs of expeditions, which could be 100,000 to 180,000 livres.

End of the Company

Since the Compagnie was clearly unable to handle the Hudson Bay trade, the French King decided to create a new company. The Company of the Farm agreed to sell its extra beaver furs to a group of Canadian merchants. The Compagnie du Nord's charter was officially cancelled on January 10, 1700. With both main fur trading groups no longer having trading rights, the King created the Compagnie de la Colonie on October 10, 1700. This new company took over the trading rights from both the Farm and the Compagnie du Nord.

Even though the Compagnie du Nord had chances to remove the English from Hudson Bay, its main legacy is its financial failure. However, many of its directors and people involved did not go bankrupt. La Chesnaye, for example, became a main owner in the new Compagnie de la Colonie. Not much is known about Groseilliers after his early work with the company. Radisson died in England in 1710. Iberville died in 1706 in Havana after his adventures in Louisiana and the Caribbean.