By 1821, when armed hostilities broke out with its Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) rivals, the North West Company was pressured by the British government to merge with the HBC. The HBC had nearly a complete monopoly on trading (and most governing issues) in the Columbia District, or Oregon Country as it was referred to by the Americans, and also in Rupert's Land. That year the British parliament passed a statute applying the laws of Upper Canada to the district and giving the HBC power to enforce those laws.