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Factory (trading post)
Encyclopedia
Factory was the English term for the trading post
s system originally established by Europe
ans in foreign territories, first within different states of medieval Europe, and later in their colonial
possessions. Factories served simultaneously as market
, warehouse
, customs
, defense and support to the navigation
or exploration
, headquarters or de facto
government of local communities, with the head of the factory being called a factor
. This system was adopted by Americans to exchange goods with local non western societies. Examples in America include those in Native American Indian
territory, created for the purpose of enhancing Indian trade with European colonists and, later, the United States
.
Although European colonialism
traces its roots to ancient Carthage
- a trading settlement of Phoenicia
n colonists - and almost every major city of the world once started as a trading post (Venice
, Naples
, Rotterdam
, New York
, Shanghai
, Lisbon
, etc.), "factories" were a unique institution born in medieval Europe.
Originally, factories were organizations of European merchants from a state, meeting in a foreign place. These organizations sought to defend their common interests, mainly economic (as well as organized insurance and protection), enabling the maintenance of diplomatic and trade relations within the foreign state where they were set.
The oldest factories were established from 1356 onwards in the main trading centers, usually ports or central hubs that have prospered under the influence of the Hanseatic League
and its guild
s and kontor
s. The Hanseatic cities had their own law system and furnished their own protection and mutual aid. The Hanseatic League maintained factories among others in England (Boston, King's Lynn), Norway (Tönsberg) and Finland (Åbo). Later, cities like Bruges
and Antwerp, actively tried to take over the monopoly of trade from the Hansa, inviting foreign merchants to join in.
Because foreigners were not allowed to buy land in these cities, merchants joined around "factories", like the Portuguese in their Bruges's factory: the Factor(s) and his officers rented the housing and warehouses, arbitrated trade and even managed insurance funds, working both as an association and an embassy, even administering justice within the merchant community.
During the territorial and economic expansion of the Age of Discovery
the factory was adapted by the Portuguese
and spread throughout from West Africa to Southeast Asia. The Portuguese "feitorias" were mostly fortified trading posts settled in coastal areas, built to centralize and thus dominate the local trade of products with the Portuguese kingdom (and thence to Europe). They served simultaneously as market
, warehouse
, support to the navigation
and customs
and were governed by a "Feitor" (factor) responsible for managing the trade, buying and trading products on behalf of the king and collecting taxes (usually 20%).
The first Portuguese feitoria overseas was established by Henry the Navigator in 1445 on the island of Arguin
, off the coast of Mauritania. It was built to attract Muslim traders and monopolize the business in the routes traveled in North Africa. It served as a model for a chain of African feitorias, Elmina Castle
being the most notorious.
Between the 15th and 16th centuries, a chain of about 50 Portuguese forts
either housed or protected feitorias along the coasts of West and East Africa, the Indian Ocean, China, Japan, and South America. The main Portuguese factories were in Goa
, Malacca
, Ormuz, Ternate
, and Macau
. They were mainly driven by the trade of gold on the coast of Guinea, spices in the Indian Ocean, and slaves to the new world. They were also used for local triangular trade
between several territories, like Goa-Macau-Nagasaki, trading products such as sugar, pepper, coconut, timber, horses, grain, feathers from exotic Indonesian birds, precious stones, silks and porcelain from the East, among many other products. In the Indian Ocean the trade in Portuguese factories was enforced and increased by a merchant ship licensing system: the cartaz
es.
From the feitorias the products went to the main outpost in Goa, then to Portugal where they were traded in the Casa da Índia
, which also managed exports to India. There they were sold, or re-exported to the Royal Portuguese Factory in Antwerp, where they were distributed to the rest of Europe.
Easily supplied and defended by sea, the factories worked as independent colonial bases. They provided safety, both for the Portuguese, and at times for the territories in which they were built, protecting against constant rivalries and piracy. They allowed Portugal to dominate trade in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, establishing a vast empire
with scarce human and territorial resources. Over time, the feitorias were sometimes licensed to private entrepreneurs, giving rise to some conflict between abusive private interests and local populations, such as in the Maldives
.
(hendrik_van_schuylenburgh,_1665).jpg)
The establishment of Factories by other European powers along the trade routes explored by Portugal and Spain started in the 17th century, first by Dutch
and then by England
. They went on to establish in conquered Portuguese Feitorias and further enclaves, as they explored the coasts of Africa, Arabia, India and South East Asia, in search of the source of the lucrative spice trade
.
Factories were then explored by Chartered companies
like the Dutch East India Company
(VOC) founded in 1602 and the Dutch West India Company
(WIC), founded in 1621. These factories provided for the exchange of products between European companies and local populations and, increasingly, the colonies that often started as a factory and a few warehouses. Usually these factories had larger warehouses to fit the products resulting from the increasing agricultural development of colonies, which had boosted in the New World
with the Atlantic slave trade
.
In these factories the products were checked and got their first rough treatment, being weighed and packaged to suit for the long sea voyage. In particular, spices, cocoa, tea
, tobacco
, coffee
, sugar
, porcelain
and fur
were well protected against the salty sea air and against deterioration. The factor was there, as the representative of the trading partners in all matters, reporting to the headquarters and being responsible for the products logistics (proper storage and shipping). Given that information took a long time to reach the company headquarters, this was dependent on an absolute trust.
Some of the Dutch factories were in Cape Town
(South Africa), Calicut, Ambon, Coromandel Coast
, Colombo
(city), Formosa
, Canton
, Mocha
(Yemen) and Fort Orange (New York), Dejima
, from 1641 to 1859 on an artificial island in the port of Nagasaki, Japan.
York Factory
was founded by the chartered
Hudson's Bay Company
in 1697. For a longtime it was headquarters of the company, that was once the de facto government in parts of North America, like Rupert's Land
, before European-based colonies and nation states existed. It controlled the fur trade
throughout much of British-controlled North America for several centuries, undertaking early exploration. Its traders and trappers forged early relationships with many groups of First Nations/Native Americans and a network of trading posts formed the nucleus for later official authority in many areas of Western Canada and the United States.
The early coastal factory model contrasted with the system of the French, who established an extensive system of inland posts and sent traders to live among the tribes of the region. After war broke out in Europe between France and England in the 1680s, the two nations regularly sent expeditions to raid and capture each other's fur trading posts. In March 1686, the French sent a raiding party under Chevalier des Troyes over 1300 km (807.8 mi) to capture the company's posts along James Bay. The French appointed Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
as commander of the company's captured posts. In 1697, d'Iberville commanded a French naval raid on the company's headquarters at York Factory. On the way to the fort, he defeated three ships of the Royal Navy in the Battle of the Bay
. D'Iberville's depleted French force captured York Factory
by a ruse. York Factory changed hands several times in the next decade and was finally ceded permanently in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. After the treaty, the Hudson Bay Company rebuilt York Factory
as a brick star fort
at the mouth of the nearby Hayes River
, its present location.
The United States government sanctioned a factory system from 1796 to 1822, with factories scattered through the mostly territorial portion of the country.
The factories were officially intended through a series of legislation called the Indian Intercourse Act
s to protect Native Americans
from exploitation. However, in practice numerous tribes conceded extensive territory in exchange for the trading posts as happened in the Treaty of Fort Clark
in which the Osage Nation
ceded most of Missouri
at Fort Clark
.
Usually a blacksmith
was assigned to the factory to repair utensils and build or maintain plows. Frequently the factories had some sort of milling operation associated with them.
The factories marked the United States' attempt to continue a process originally pioneered by the French
and then by the Spanish
to officially license the fur trade in Upper Louisiana.
Factories were frequently referred to as "forts" and often had numerous unofficial names. Legislation was often passed calling for military garrison
s at the fort but their de facto purpose was a trading post.
was founded by the Hudson's Bay Company
in 1697.
In the United States factories under the Superintendent of Indian Trade:http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~texlance/records/bia(dc)2.htm
Natchitoches—Sulphur Fork
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
s system originally established by Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans in foreign territories, first within different states of medieval Europe, and later in their colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
possessions. Factories served simultaneously as market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
, warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
, customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
, defense and support to the navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
or exploration
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
, headquarters or de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
government of local communities, with the head of the factory being called a factor
Factor (agent)
A factor, from the Latin "he who does" , is a person who professionally acts as the representative of another individual or other legal entity, historically with his seat at a factory , notably in the following contexts:-Mercantile factor:In a relatively large company, there could be a hierarchy,...
. This system was adopted by Americans to exchange goods with local non western societies. Examples in America include those in Native American Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
territory, created for the purpose of enhancing Indian trade with European colonists and, later, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
European medieval factories
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
traces its roots to ancient Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
- a trading settlement of Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n colonists - and almost every major city of the world once started as a trading post (Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, etc.), "factories" were a unique institution born in medieval Europe.
Originally, factories were organizations of European merchants from a state, meeting in a foreign place. These organizations sought to defend their common interests, mainly economic (as well as organized insurance and protection), enabling the maintenance of diplomatic and trade relations within the foreign state where they were set.
The oldest factories were established from 1356 onwards in the main trading centers, usually ports or central hubs that have prospered under the influence of the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
and its guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s and kontor
Kontor
A kontor was a foreign trading post of the Hanseatic League. The word kontor means office in Norwegian and other Scandinavian languages....
s. The Hanseatic cities had their own law system and furnished their own protection and mutual aid. The Hanseatic League maintained factories among others in England (Boston, King's Lynn), Norway (Tönsberg) and Finland (Åbo). Later, cities like Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
and Antwerp, actively tried to take over the monopoly of trade from the Hansa, inviting foreign merchants to join in.
Because foreigners were not allowed to buy land in these cities, merchants joined around "factories", like the Portuguese in their Bruges's factory: the Factor(s) and his officers rented the housing and warehouses, arbitrated trade and even managed insurance funds, working both as an association and an embassy, even administering justice within the merchant community.
Portuguese Feitorias (c.1445)
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...
the factory was adapted by the Portuguese
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
and spread throughout from West Africa to Southeast Asia. The Portuguese "feitorias" were mostly fortified trading posts settled in coastal areas, built to centralize and thus dominate the local trade of products with the Portuguese kingdom (and thence to Europe). They served simultaneously as market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
, warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
, support to the navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
and customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
and were governed by a "Feitor" (factor) responsible for managing the trade, buying and trading products on behalf of the king and collecting taxes (usually 20%).
The first Portuguese feitoria overseas was established by Henry the Navigator in 1445 on the island of Arguin
Arguin
Arguin is an island off the western coast of Mauritania in the Bay of Arguin, at 20° 36' N., 16° 27' W. It is six km long by two broad. Off the island are extensive and dangerous reefs...
, off the coast of Mauritania. It was built to attract Muslim traders and monopolize the business in the routes traveled in North Africa. It served as a model for a chain of African feitorias, Elmina Castle
Elmina Castle
Elmina Castle was erected by Portugal in 1482 as São Jorge da Mina Castle, also known simply as Mina or Feitoria da Mina) in present-day Elmina, Ghana . It was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea, so is the oldest European building in existence below the Sahara...
being the most notorious.
Between the 15th and 16th centuries, a chain of about 50 Portuguese forts
Portuguese Forts
Portuguese discoverers have discovered many lands and the seaway from Europe to India in the 15th to the 18th centuries. Along the way they built outposts and fortresses, many of which still exist today all over the world...
either housed or protected feitorias along the coasts of West and East Africa, the Indian Ocean, China, Japan, and South America. The main Portuguese factories were in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
, Ormuz, Ternate
Ternate
Ternate is an island in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It is located off the west coast of the larger island of Halmahera, the center of the powerful former Sultanate of Ternate....
, and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
. They were mainly driven by the trade of gold on the coast of Guinea, spices in the Indian Ocean, and slaves to the new world. They were also used for local triangular trade
Triangular trade
Triangular trade, or triangle trade, is a historical term indicating among three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come...
between several territories, like Goa-Macau-Nagasaki, trading products such as sugar, pepper, coconut, timber, horses, grain, feathers from exotic Indonesian birds, precious stones, silks and porcelain from the East, among many other products. In the Indian Ocean the trade in Portuguese factories was enforced and increased by a merchant ship licensing system: the cartaz
Cartaz
Cartaz was a naval trade license or pass issued by the Portuguese in the Indian ocean during the sixteenth century , under the rule of the Portuguese empire. It shared similarities with the British navicert system of 1939-45...
es.
From the feitorias the products went to the main outpost in Goa, then to Portugal where they were traded in the Casa da Índia
Casa da Índia
Casa da Índia was the Portuguese organization that managed all overseas territories during the heyday of the Portuguese Empire in the 16th century. It was both the central authority for managing all aspects of overseas trade, the central shipment point and clearing house...
, which also managed exports to India. There they were sold, or re-exported to the Royal Portuguese Factory in Antwerp, where they were distributed to the rest of Europe.
Easily supplied and defended by sea, the factories worked as independent colonial bases. They provided safety, both for the Portuguese, and at times for the territories in which they were built, protecting against constant rivalries and piracy. They allowed Portugal to dominate trade in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, establishing a vast empire
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
with scarce human and territorial resources. Over time, the feitorias were sometimes licensed to private entrepreneurs, giving rise to some conflict between abusive private interests and local populations, such as in the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
.
Dutch Factorij and other European Factories (1600s)
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and then by England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. They went on to establish in conquered Portuguese Feitorias and further enclaves, as they explored the coasts of Africa, Arabia, India and South East Asia, in search of the source of the lucrative spice trade
Spice trade
Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes...
.
Factories were then explored by Chartered companies
Chartered company
A chartered company is an association formed by investors or shareholders for the purpose of trade, exploration and colonization.- History :...
like the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(VOC) founded in 1602 and the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
(WIC), founded in 1621. These factories provided for the exchange of products between European companies and local populations and, increasingly, the colonies that often started as a factory and a few warehouses. Usually these factories had larger warehouses to fit the products resulting from the increasing agricultural development of colonies, which had boosted in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
with the Atlantic slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
.
In these factories the products were checked and got their first rough treatment, being weighed and packaged to suit for the long sea voyage. In particular, spices, cocoa, tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
, porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
and fur
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
were well protected against the salty sea air and against deterioration. The factor was there, as the representative of the trading partners in all matters, reporting to the headquarters and being responsible for the products logistics (proper storage and shipping). Given that information took a long time to reach the company headquarters, this was dependent on an absolute trust.
Some of the Dutch factories were in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
(South Africa), Calicut, Ambon, Coromandel Coast
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian Subcontinent between Cape Comorin and False Divi Point...
, Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
(city), Formosa
Formosa
Formosa or Ilha Formosa is a Portuguese historical name for Taiwan , literally meaning, "Beautiful Island". The term may also refer to:-Places:* Formosa Strait, another name for the Taiwan Strait...
, Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, Mocha
Mocha, Yemen
Mocha or Mokha is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Until it was eclipsed in the 19th century by Aden and Hodeida, Mocha was the principal port for Yemen's capital Sana'a.-Overview:...
(Yemen) and Fort Orange (New York), Dejima
Dejima
was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period. Dejima was built to...
, from 1641 to 1859 on an artificial island in the port of Nagasaki, Japan.
North American factories (1697 to 1822)
The American factories often played a strategic role as well, sometimes operating as forts, providing a degree of protection for Indians and allied colonists from enemy Indians and colonists. Later factories established by the United States often served to protect Indians from American citizens.York Factory, Manitoba
York Factory was a settlement and factory located on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada, at the mouth of the Hayes River, approximately south-southeast of Churchill. The settlement was headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Northern Department, from 1821 to...
was founded by the chartered
Chartered company
A chartered company is an association formed by investors or shareholders for the purpose of trade, exploration and colonization.- History :...
Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
in 1697. For a longtime it was headquarters of the company, that was once the de facto government in parts of North America, like Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
, before European-based colonies and nation states existed. It controlled the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
throughout much of British-controlled North America for several centuries, undertaking early exploration. Its traders and trappers forged early relationships with many groups of First Nations/Native Americans and a network of trading posts formed the nucleus for later official authority in many areas of Western Canada and the United States.
The early coastal factory model contrasted with the system of the French, who established an extensive system of inland posts and sent traders to live among the tribes of the region. After war broke out in Europe between France and England in the 1680s, the two nations regularly sent expeditions to raid and capture each other's fur trading posts. In March 1686, the French sent a raiding party under Chevalier des Troyes over 1300 km (807.8 mi) to capture the company's posts along James Bay. The French appointed Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1702 (probable)was a soldier, ship captain, explorer, colonial administrator, knight of...
as commander of the company's captured posts. In 1697, d'Iberville commanded a French naval raid on the company's headquarters at York Factory. On the way to the fort, he defeated three ships of the Royal Navy in the Battle of the Bay
Battle of Hudson's Bay
The Battle of Hudson's Bay, also known as the Battle of York Factory, was a naval battle fought during the War of the Grand Alliance . The battle took place on 5 September 1697, when a French warship commanded by Captain Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville defeated an English squadron commanded by Captain...
. D'Iberville's depleted French force captured York Factory
Capture of York Factory
The Capture of York Factory was one of the Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay. In 1686 Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville marched overland from Quebec and captured all the English posts on James Bay. This left York Factory which was too far away and could only be reached by sea. In 1688 King William's...
by a ruse. York Factory changed hands several times in the next decade and was finally ceded permanently in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. After the treaty, the Hudson Bay Company rebuilt York Factory
York Factory, Manitoba
York Factory was a settlement and factory located on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada, at the mouth of the Hayes River, approximately south-southeast of Churchill. The settlement was headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Northern Department, from 1821 to...
as a brick star fort
Star fort
A star fort, or trace italienne, is a fortification in the style that evolved during the age of gunpowder, when cannon came to dominate the battlefield, and was first seen in the mid-15th century in Italy....
at the mouth of the nearby Hayes River
Hayes River
The Hayes River is a river in Northern Region, Manitoba, Canada that flows from Molson Lake to Hudson Bay at York Factory. It was an historically important river in the development of Canada, and is today a Canadian Heritage River and the longest naturally flowing river in Manitoba.-Course:The...
, its present location.
The United States government sanctioned a factory system from 1796 to 1822, with factories scattered through the mostly territorial portion of the country.
The factories were officially intended through a series of legislation called the Indian Intercourse Act
Indian Intercourse Act
The Nonintercourse Act is the collective name given to six statutes passed by the United States Congress in 1790, 1793, 1796, 1799, 1802, and 1834. The Act regulates commerce between Native Americans and non-Indians...
s to protect Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
from exploitation. However, in practice numerous tribes conceded extensive territory in exchange for the trading posts as happened in the Treaty of Fort Clark
Treaty of Fort Clark
The Treaty of Fort Clark was signed at Fort Osage on November 10, 1808 in which the Osage Nation ceded all the land east of the fort in Missouri and Arkansas north of the Arkansas River to the United States. The Fort Clark treaty and the Treaty of St...
in which the Osage Nation
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
ceded most of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
at Fort Clark
Fort Osage
Fort Osage was part of the United States factory trading post system for the Osage Nation in the early 19th century near Sibley, Missouri....
.
Usually a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
was assigned to the factory to repair utensils and build or maintain plows. Frequently the factories had some sort of milling operation associated with them.
The factories marked the United States' attempt to continue a process originally pioneered by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and then by the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to officially license the fur trade in Upper Louisiana.
Factories were frequently referred to as "forts" and often had numerous unofficial names. Legislation was often passed calling for military garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
s at the fort but their de facto purpose was a trading post.
Examples
York FactoryYork Factory, Manitoba
York Factory was a settlement and factory located on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada, at the mouth of the Hayes River, approximately south-southeast of Churchill. The settlement was headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Northern Department, from 1821 to...
was founded by the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
in 1697.
In the United States factories under the Superintendent of Indian Trade:http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~texlance/records/bia(dc)2.htm
- Creek:
- ColerainColerain, North CarolinaColerain is a town in Bertie County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 201 at the 2008 census.-Geography:Colerain is located at ....
, 1795-97 - Fort Wilkinson, 1797-1806
- Ocmulgee Old Fields, 1806-9
- Fort Hawkins, 1809-16
- Fort MitchellFort Mitchell, AlabamaFort Mitchell is an unincorporated community in Russell County, Alabama, United States. The area was originally a garrisoned fort intended to provide defense for the area during the Creek War. The community is the home of the Fort Mitchell National Cemetery....
, 1816-20- Cherokee:
- Fort Tellico, 1795-1807
- Fort Hiwassee, 1807-10
- Fort Wayne, 1802-12
- Choctaw:
- Fort St. Stephens, 1802-15
- Fort Confederation, 1816-22
- Fort Chickasaw Bluffs, 1802–18
- Fort DetroitFort DetroitFort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Détroit was a fort established by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701. The location of the former fort is now in the city of Detroit in the U.S...
, 1802-5 - Fort Arkansas, 1805–10
- Fort Chicago, 1805–22
- Fort Belle Fontaine, 1805-9
Natchitoches—Sulphur Fork
- Fort Natchitoches, 1805-18
- FortSulphur Fork, 1818-22
- Fort SanduskyFort SanduskyFort Sandusky was a small British fort in the Ohio Country, on the shore of Lake Erie in present-day Ohio, which was captured and destroyed by American Indians during Pontiac's Rebellion....
, 1806–12 - Fort Madison, IowaFort Madison, IowaFort Madison, situated on the Mississippi River, is a city in and one of the county seats of Lee County, Iowa, United States. The other county seat is Keokuk. The population was 10,715 at the 2000 census...
1808-15 - Fort OsageFort OsageFort Osage was part of the United States factory trading post system for the Osage Nation in the early 19th century near Sibley, Missouri....
, 1808–22 - Fort MackinacFort MackinacFort Mackinac is a former American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century near Michilimackinac, Michigan, on Mackinac Island...
(Michilimackinac), 1808–12 - Fort Green Bay, 1815–22
- Fort Praire du Chien, 1815–22
- Fort EdwardsFort EdwardsFort Edwards can refer to:* A French and Indian War fort near Capon Bridge, West Virginia* A 19th-century US Army and trading post near Warsaw, Illinois, discussed in Fort Johnson* A Boer War fort in South Africa discussed in Breaker Morant...
, 1818–22 - Fort Spadre Bluffs (Illinois Bayou), 1818–22
- Fort Sandusky