Before the French and Indian wars, the French controlled the fur trade from their bases in Canada. French merchants traded with the Native Americans in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, even as far as the Missouri River. The French did not settle in these areas but focused on establishing trading posts.
After the French and Indian wars, the British took over the fur trade from the French. Native American tribes were threatened by the western movement of the American colonists. The Ohio Valley Indians fought the French during the French and Indian Wars to block the colonists' Western movements.
The Western colonist movement angered the tribes of the Ohio Valley. The settlers threatened to disrupt and destroy the lucrative fur trade now benefiting England, helping to repay debts incurred during the French and Indian wars. The western settlement had to be stopped in order to preserve peace and the fur trade with the Indians.
The proclamation of 1763 made it illegal for any settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.
American president Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-‐Republican party) led Congress to pass the Embargo Act of 1807. Effects on American shipping and markets: Agricultural prices and earnings fell. Shipping-related industries were devastated.
