Charter and Supplemental Charter of the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson‘s Bay CompanyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.6
Word count
58K words
Chapters
6

Tags

English Originals World History Historical ReappraisalBusiness DecisionsPower GameOrganizational WisdomPolicy AnalysisSocial Observation

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Charter and Supplemental Charter of the Hudson's Bay Company. Author: Hudson's Bay Company. Language: English. Class: F1001: North America local history: Canada. Release Date: Sep 1, 2004

Editor's review

This volume gathers the original charter of the Hudson's Bay Company and its supplemental charter; it is a primary historical document rather than a narrative history. Its value lies in directly presenting the legal and institutional starting point of this old trading company: how royal authorization defined the scope of trade, land rights, and governing authority, and how the supplemental charter adjusted the earlier arrangements. For readers studying early Canadian history, North American colonial trade, and the chartered company system, it is an irreplaceable primary source. Readers should be prepared: the text follows the style of legal instruments, with long sentences and dense terminology, and lacks plot or explanatory framing, so it is better consulted for specific questions than read straight through. The public-domain electronic edition from Project Gutenberg is easy to search and cite, making it suitable as a source text for academic writing or specialized research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read a brief history of the Hudson's Bay Company first to build a background framework before turning to the text.
  2. Read the charter and the supplemental charter side by side, noting revisions to clauses and changes in authority.
  3. Use search to locate clauses on trade scope, land rights, and governance rather than reading word by word.
  4. Jot down terminology and clause numbers as you read for later citation and verification.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6

FAQ

Is this document a historical work or a primary archive? It is a primary archive: the text of the Hudson's Bay Company charter and supplemental charter itself, not a historical account written later. It therefore has no plot or background explanation, and readers must supply the historical context themselves to understand the institutional meaning behind the clauses.
What use is this document to general readers? General readers interested in early Canadian history or the chartered company system can get a direct sense of the wording and definition of authority in royal charters. But it is not suitable as an introduction; read a brief history of the Hudson's Bay Company first, then return to the text for specific clauses.
What background knowledge should one prepare before reading? It helps to first understand the basic system of royal chartered companies in seventeenth-century England, the early pattern of the North American fur trade, and the general circumstances of the Hudson's Bay Company's founding. With this background, the clauses on trade scope, land rights, and governing authority become easier to understand.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Hudson‘s Bay Company Author

Hudson’s Bay Company appears in library records as a corporate author, and no personal identity information is available; public information is limited. Three of its works are held in the collection, commonly classified under inspirational growth. Representative works include the February and July 1921 issues of The Beaver, as well as Charter and Supplemental Charter of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Judging from the forms of these works, its writing and publishing direction covers both corporate historical documents and periodical content for readers: the former presents the company’s charter and institutional texts, while the latter uses the periodical format to carry narrative and disseminate knowledge. Based on the available materials, its writing style and specific influence are difficult to describe in detail; readers may consult the above works to understand its thematic orientation and documentary value.