America 250: gold, furs, and Indian alliances become drivers of growth

Early fur traders didn’t establish settlements but merely came to trade with the Indians and went back to Europe. Fur traders in Canada, trading with Indians by William Faden, 1777, (Public domain)

Montezuma’s offer of gold to prevent an attack on his city only fueled the Spaniards’ hunger for more gold. (Image: The Meeting of Cortés and Moctezuma by unknown artists.)