What did Thomas Douglas do with the power gained from owning HBC shares?

• A. Use it to purchase land in the Red River Valley that Britain had denied him
• B. Expand his law practice
• C. Build a fleet of ships
• D. Fund a university in Scotland

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that leverage from owning a powerful fur-trading company could be turned into land rights for settlement. Thomas Douglas, the Earl of Selkirk, used the influence that came with his Hudson’s Bay Company shares to press for a grant of land in Rupert’s Land along the Red River valley. Britain had denied him a direct land grant, so he tapped into the HBC’s authority and colonial networks to secure permission from the Crown for a large tract of land there. That move led to the creation of the Red River Colony, a settlement project tied to his goal of establishing a Scottish community in that region. The other options don’t fit his actual aims or actions, which were centered on settling and organizing land in the Red River Valley rather than expanding a law practice, building a fleet, or funding a university.