EH.net is owned and operated by the Economic History Association with the support of other sponsoring organizations.
Marr, B. An Introduction to Canadian Economic History
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY
Waterloo, Ontario
ECONOMICS 237
An Introduction to Canadian Economic History
COURSE OUTLINE
September 1995
Dr. Bill Marr
P2046
Extension 2468
Office Hours:Tuesday, 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.; Thursday, 3:00 p.m.
- 4:30 p.m.
Class Meetings: Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 9:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.
Classroom: 2-201
Secretary: Jennifer Dilella, Ext. 2056, P2038
Prerequisite: Economics 120 and 140
Text: Marr, W.L. and D.G. Paterson. Canada: An Economic
History.
Organization of the Course: Goals
This course is intended to familiarize you with the major features
of Canadian economic growth and development from the time of New
France to about 1867. Both the general outline of Canada¹s output
and structure are examined. At the end of the course, students
should be able to discuss the forces that influenced this growth
and development up to Confederation.
The primary concern is to discuss and explain the processes of
economic growth and economic development in Canada. Economic
historians have tried to interpret this using the staple approach
which emphasizes the role of primary export products as leading
sectors in the growth process. Discussion will centre on the
usefulness of the staple thesis as a unifying theme to explain
Canadian economic growth; with its export orientation and
dependent resource status, Canada¹s economic history must be
looked at in a North American and European context.
The general topics covered include the following from the text:
1. Economic Analysis of History: An Introduction:
Marr and Paterson: Chapter 1, pp. 18-25.
2. Patterns of Aggregate Economic Change:
Marr and Paterson: Chapter 1, pp. 10-18.
3. The Early Staples: Renewable Natural Resource Exploration:
Marr and Paterson: Chapter 3.
4. Agricultural Development in central Canada to 1867:
Marr and Paterson: Chapter 4, pp. 74-101;pp. 101-108
(selectively)
Library Readings
Agricultural Development in Lower Canada
Agriculture in Canada West: Mainly Wheat
Economic Unrest in the 1830s.
5. Commercial Policy Before Confederation:
Marr and Paterson: Chapter 5
Library Readings:
The Reciprocity Treaty of 1854.
6. Transport: Investment in Infrastructure:
Marr and Paterson: Chapter 10, pp. 302-321.
7. Capital Formation and Mobilization:
Marr and Paterson: Chapter 8, pp. 235-239; pp. 243-251
8. Population Growth in Canada:
Marr and Paterson: Chapter 6,pp. 149-151; pp. 155-158; pp. 162-
172
Course Objectives
Course objectives specify a certain action or behaviour on your
part. An objective contains a statement of what you will be able
to do once a particular topic has been discussed. Two examples
taken from the course are:
Students should be able to describe the general methodologies of
economics and history.
Students should be able to use the three sector trade model to
predict how several events in the 1820s and 1830s affected the
economy of British North America through the Corn Laws.
A set of course objectives will be handed out for each of the
topics mentioned in the previous section of this handout.
Outside of Class Times
You will see that I have listed my office hours at the start of
this document. Those are times that I try to reserve for meeting
with you and other students in this and my other courses. If
those times are inconvenient or you would like to see me at a
different time, please talk with me about an appointment.
You can also communicate with me through e-mail. On the PINE
system, my address is:
bmarr@mach.1.wlu.ca
Send me an e-mail message at your convenience, and if required, I
will get back to you as soon as possible.
Additional Readings
These will be announced in class and will be available in the
Library Reserve Room.
Term Work:
1. You will prepare one major essay on a selected topic in
Canadian economic history covered in the course. See Guideline
for Essays for more information. Your essay will be due on or
before Wednesday, November 29, 1995 without penalty; for each
weekday after that date, two marks will be subtracted from the
grade for lateness.
Except under unusual circumstances, no essay will be accepted
after December, 1995.
In order to provide you with some feedback, a very short (maximum
two pages plus references) plan for your essay should be handed in
on or before Wednesday, October 15, 1995. Your plan should
contain statements of your topic, the problem selected for
investigation, the final paper¹s hypothesis(es) or objective(s),
the methodology to be used, followed by a list of the references
that you have consulted.
2. You will write a critical review of the journal article:
Ann Carlos and Patricia Fulton. ŒChance or Destiny? The
Dominance of Toronto over the Urban Landscape, 1797-1850.¹
Social Science History 15 (Spring 1991), 35-66.
Copies are on reserve in the Library, 6th. floor Reserve Desk.
Your review will be due on or before Tuesday, November 14, 1995
without penalty; late penalties are the same as for the major
essay and are noted above. See Guideline for Critical Reviews for
more information.
3. There will be two tests in the course:
(a) One in-class test: Wednesday, October 11, 1995
(b) December final - 2 1/2 hours
Each test may cover the material from the first class in September
to the class previous to the test. All tests are open book, and
essay-type questions are asked.
If you miss an in-class test for a legitimate reason (e.g.
illness), the weight of that test will be added onto the weight of
the December final; there will be no make-up for in-class tests.
4. The final grade will be computed as follows:
October test 15%
Critical Review 20%
December final 25%
Essay 40%
Total 100%
LIBRARY READINGS
ECONOMICS 237
1995
The following articles or books are on reserve in the Library and
you are expected to read
all of them or their relevant portions sometime during the term.
A compulsory question
which deals in part with these readings will be on the final
examination.
Agricultural Development in Lower Canada
John McCallum, Unequal Beginnings: Agriculture and Economic
Development in Quebec
and Ontario Until 1870, pp. 25-53.
R.M. McInnis, ŒA Reconsideration of the State of Agriculture in
Lower Canada in the First
Half of the Nineteenth Century,¹ Canadian Papers in Rural History,
Vol. III, pp. 9-49.
P. Phillips, ŒLand Tenure and Economic Development: A Comparison
of Upper and Lower
Canada,¹ Journal of Canadian Studies, 9, No. 2 (1974), 35-45.
The Reciprocity Treaty of 1854
L.H. Officer and L.B. Smith, ŒThe Canadian-American Reciprocity
Treaty of 1855 to
1866,¹ Journal of Economic History, 28 (1968), 598-623.
R.E. Ankli, ŒThe Reciprocity Treaty of 1854,¹ Canadian Journal of
Economics, 4 (1971),
1-20.
S.A. Saunders, ŒThe Reciprocity Treaty of 1854: A Regional
Study,¹ Canadian Journal of
Economics and Political Science, 2 (1936), 41-53.
S.A. Saunders, ŒThe Maritime Provinces and the Reciprocity
Treaty,¹ Dalhousie Review,
14 (1934), 155-171.
Agriculture in Canada West: Mainly Wheat
F.W. Burton, ŒWheat in Canadian History,¹ Canadian Journal of
Economics and Political
Science, 3 (1937), 210-217.
K. Kelly, ŒWheat Farming in Simcoe County in the Mid-Nineteenth
Century,¹ Canadian
Geographer, 15 (1971), 95-112.
D. McCalla, ŒThe Wheat Staple and Upper Canadian Development,¹
Historical Papers
(1978), 34-45.
Economic Unrest in the 1830s
D.G. Creighton, ŒThe Economic Background of the Rebellions of
1837,¹ Canadian Journal
of Economics and Political Science, 3 (1937), 322-334.
W.H. Parker, ŒA New Look at Unrest in Lower Canada in the 1830s,¹
Canadian
Historical Review, 40 (1959), 209-218.
Angela Redish, ŒThe Economic Crisis of 1837-1839 in Upper Canada:
Case Study of a
Temporary Supervision of Specie Payments,¹ Explorations in
Economic History, 20
(October 1983), 402-417.
Economics 237
Some Suggested Essay Areas
1. Early Staples:
(a) The Staple Thesis as an Explanation of Growth
and Development
(b) The Fishing Trade as a Response to Changing
Demand and
Technology
(c) The Trade in Timber
(d) Settlement and the Timber Trade
(e) The Fur Trade - Competition vs. Survival
(f) The Seigniorial System - Causes or Effects
(g) Staples as a Kind of Imperialism
2. Agricultural Development in Central Canada:
(a) Causes of Agricultural Backwardness in Lower
Canada
(b) The Corn Laws: Aid or Hindrance?
(c) Causes of Agricultural Change after 1860
(d) Technological Change: Response to Supply
Constraints and Demand Pressure
(e) The Seigniorial System - Cause of
Agricultural Stagnation
3. Commercial Policy Before Confederation:
(a) The Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 - Success or
Failure?
(b) British North American Tariffs and Economic
Growth
(c) The Role of the Navigation Acts in British
North America
(d) The Timber Duties and Staple Development
(e) The Corn Laws and Staple Development
(f) The End of Colonial Preferences: Help or
Hindrance?
4. Population Growth in Canada:
(a) The Determinants of Canadian Immigration
(b) Population Size and Economic Growth and
Development
(c) The Determinants of Internal Migration
(d) The Economic Effects of Migration
(e) Fertility Decline: Its Historical Causes
5. Transport: Investment in Infrastructure:
(a) Early Roads: Necessity or Luxury?
(b) Transport as Defensive Expansionism
(c) Private and Social Rates of Return to
Railways
(d) Transport and the Staple Thesis
(e) Early Canals: Why Are They Unsuccessful?
(f) The First Railroads and Canadian Growth
(g) Metropolitanism and Transport Development
6. Aggregate Economic Change:
(a) The Contribution of Labour, Capital and
ŒTechnology¹ to Economic Growth
(b) Canada as a Dependent Resource Economy
(c) Causes of Major Sectoral Shifts of Output
Guideline for Critical Reviews
Criteria For Evaluating Research Studies
I have listed below a number of points to ponder as your write
your critical review. In essence, those points are presented as
questions that you may ask when you evaluate the research under
study. My points or questions are organized under headings that
correspond with some common elements of empirical research.
Please do not feel constrained by my points or questions; they are
meant only to provide you with some suggestions of areas to
address in your review, but by all means include your own points.
Do not spend any space just describing the content of the research
that you are reviewing. I have read the material and know what it
is about. Instead, relate the content directly to the critical
points that you discuss.
Length: 6 to 8 pages, typed, double-spaced, normal margins.
Criteria
Report¹s Purpose, Problem, and Objective
1. Is there a statement of the problem? Are the objectives of
the study stated clearly?
2. Is the problem Œresearchable,¹ that is, can it be
investigated through the collection and analysis of data?
3. Is background information on the problem given?
4. Is the significance or importance of the problem to Canadian
economic history made clear? Have the researchers put forth an
argument as to why this problem is worthy of investigation?
5. Is the researcher¹s intent clear?
6. Has all relevant background information for the research
study been presented?
Review of Related Literature
1. Is the review comprehensive?
2. Are all the references cited relevant to the problem under
investigation?
3. Have the references been critically analyzed and the results
of various studies compared and contrasted? Is the topic placed
in the context of the area of study as a whole?
4. Is the review well organized?
5. Do the implications discussed form an empirical or
theoretical rationale for any hypotheses that follow?
Hypotheses
1. Are specific questions to be answered listed or specific
hypotheses to be tested stated?
2. Does each hypothesis state an expected relationship or
difference between two variables?
3. Do the hypotheses relate logically to some theory that links
those variables in a cause-and-effect manner?
4. Is each hypothesis testable?
Method, Research Design, and Procedures
1. Are the procedures for testing any hypotheses clearly
described? Are those procedures appropriate in this case? Is
there a careful accounting of why the particular methods, tools,
and techniques were used?
2. Are the data complete, accurate, and applicable to the
problem being investigated? Are the selected methods of data
collection accurately described? Are limitations and weaknesses
of the data discussed?
3. Are the data presented in a helpful manner?
4. Are all terms clearly defined? Do you agree with the
measures that are used for the concepts and variables?
5. Are appropriate descriptive statistics presented?
Analysis and Discussion of Results
1. Is each result discussed in terms of the original hypothesis
to which it relates?
2. Is each result discussed in terms of its agreement or
disagreement with previous results obtained by other researchers
in other studies?
3. Are the possible effects of uncontrolled variables on the
results discussed? Are feasible alternative explanations that
might exist for the results discussed?
4. Are the results presented clearly? Is the written
description consistent with the data?
5. Are the researcher¹s interpretations consistent with the
obtained results? Do they place the study in a broader
perspective?
6. If data fail to support hypotheses or solve the problem, is
this pointed out in the analysis?
Conclusions
1. Are recommendations for future research made?
2. Are the conclusions at a scope and level of generality
justified by the data presented?
3. Are the conclusions a precise and accurate statement of the
problem, the methods followed, and the findings without the
introduction of new or irrelevant information?
4. Are appropriate cautions exercised and necessary
qualifications made in drawing conclusions?
Organization and Style
1. Is the paper organized in a way that makes it easy to follow
and understand? Does the overall organization of the sections,
subsections, and paragraphs of the paper allow you to follow
easily the logic and flow of ideas and concepts?
2. Are tables, charts, graphs and figures (if any) well-
organized and easy to understand?
3. Are there problems of spelling, grammar, and syntax? Are
sentences structured and worded to convey ideas in clear, concise
language?
4. Does the format of the paper follow an accepted style,
including notes and references?
CHAPTER 1
Economic Analysis of History: An Introduction
Why Teach/Study Economic History
1. Inherent - Educative Qualities
2. Critical Faculty
3. Understand Present and Future
The student should be able to:
i) describe the general methodologies of economics and history;
ii) show how the economic historian borrows and uses the
methodologies of economics and history;
iii) describe intellectual inquiry in terms of assessment,
weighing of evidence, and manipulation, and in terms of hypotheses
testing, theoretical foundations, and empirical testing;
iv) define economic history;
v) describe three reasons for studying the content of economic
history: (a) past is prologued to the present, (b) present is a
transition from past to future, and (c) past is with us in the
present.
Economic Development
1. Role of Generalizations in Economic History
2. Economic Growth and Economic Development
3. Structural Change: Geographical Spread, Distribution of
Income, Sectoral Output Distribution
4. Dependent Resource Economy
The student should be able to:
i) define economics in terms of the science of choice;
ii) relate economic history to this definition of economics;
iii)distinguish economic growth from economic development;
iv) describe the general determinants of economic growth:
population, resources, technical change, capital, residual;
v) describe the factors related to economic development:
technical change, institutional change, welfare improvement,
structural change;
vi) define the above factors, and provide examples from Canada¹s
economic history;
vii) define a dependent resource economy and show that Canada has
generally fit this definition; derive implications for economic
growth and development if an economy is a dependent resource
economy.
The Time Dimension
1. Long-run Forces and Short-Run Cycles
The student should be able to:
i)distinguish between long-run forces that affect the Canadian
economy and short-run cycles that exhibit no trend.
A synoptic View of Canadian Economic Development
1. Eras of Rapid Canadian Growth and Development
2. Growth and Welfare
3. Real G.N.P. per Capita
4. Canada¹s Experience of Modern Economic Growth
The student should be able to:
i) provide Œoperational definitions¹ of economic growth (e.g.
real GNP) and of economic development (e.g. real GNP per capita),
and list periods in Canada¹s economic history when growth and
development were relatively rapid;
ii) create the identity real GNP per capita is equal to real
output per worker multiplied by the labour force participation
rate;
iii) describe the factors that affect real output per worker and
the labour force participation rate;
iv) describe several limitations of real GNP per capita as a
measure of welfare improvement.
CHAPTER 2
General Characteristics of Staple Production
1. The Staple Model of Development
2. Characteristics of a ŒGood¹ Staple
3. Demand - Technology
4. Consequences of Staple Domination
5. Forces Halting or Reversing the Staple
6. Staple¹s Production Function
The student should be able to:
i) define a staple;
ii) list Canada¹s staples from the 15th century to the present;
iii) describe the salient characteristics of a potential staple
producing economy;
iv) set out the alternative paths for development in an economy
with those characteristics;
v) describe the process of economic growth and economic
development in a staple economy, including linkages;
vi) describe changes in the international environment that affect
the staple economy;
vii) describe changes in the staple economy as the process of
economic growth continues;
viii)list some of the factors that may halt or reverse the
development of a staple: changes in foreign demand, depletion,
interference, home demand;
ix) describe long-run changes in the staple economy if the export
mentality and staple trap are avoided;
x) list the characteristics of a good staple;
xi) describe the implications for economic growth and development
from some consequences of staple dominance: cyclical
fluctuations, economic shocks, structural changes, scarcity of
capital, government intervention, economic nationalism, ties with
other countries, return cargo problem;
xii) set out a staple¹s general production function, and show what
its differences mean for economic growth and economic development.
CHAPTER 3
The Early Staples: Renewable Natural Resource Exploitation
The Exploitation of Natural Resources
1. Renewable Natural Resources - Harvesting
2. Property Rights: Common and Private
3. Spread of the Economy
The student should be able to:
i)define common property natural resources;
ii)describe the reasons why some natural resources are common
property resources: private costs, social costs, unlimited
resources;
iii)describe the implications of the above for the number of
producers, harvesting of the natural resource, and depletion of
the natural resource;
iv) develop the model of sustained yield for a renewable natural
resource, and use this model to construct total revenue, total
cost, and profit maximization relationships;
v) apply the above model to the spread of the harvesting of a
natural resource from one geographical area to another;
vi) describe the basic features of mercantilism as it applied to
British and French North America to the early 19th century:
objectives, internal unity, external power, bullionism, favourable
trade balance, protectionism, the role of colonies.
The Fisheries
1. Common Property Nature of the Resource
2. French and English Fishing Efforts: A Comparison
3. Triangular Trade Pattern
The student should be able to:
i) develop the North American fishing trade as a case study of
both the staple model and a common property resource;
ii) compare and contrast the English and French fishing trade,
and describe how the differences influenced the economic growth
and economic development of British and French North America;
iii) describe the triangular trade pattern of the English fishing
trade.
The Fur Trade of New France
1. Supply and Demand - The Fur Trade
2. Production Function of the Fur Trade: Factor Prices
3. Westward Expansion - Over - Harvesting
4. Changing Factor Price Ratios and Technical Aspects of
Production
5. Industry¹s Weakness During the French Regime
The student should be able to:
i) develop the pre-1763 North American fur trade as a case study
of both the staple model and a common property resource;
ii) describe the economic relationships between the Indians and
the Europeans;
iii) formulate the main features of the fur trade¹s production
function, and relate it to the price of inputs;
iv) describe the westward expansion of the fur trade and its
companion over-harvesting of animals, which can be related to the
sustained yield model of renewable natural resources;
v) describe technological changes in the fur trade.
Competition in the Fur Trade
1. North West Company
2. Hudson¹s Bay Company
The student should be able to:
i) describe the form that the competition between the North West
Company and the Hudson¹s Bay Company took after 1763;
ii) note the reasons for the eventual dominance of the Hudson¹s
Bay Company by 1821.
The Timber Trade
1. Baltic vs. British North American Timber Trade
2. British North America¹s Predominance in the British Market
3. Demand and Technology
4. Timber and Linkages
The student should be able to:
i)develop the British North American timber trade from 1763 to
1867 as a case study of both the staple model and a common
property resource;
ii) contrast the timber trade with the fur trade: transport
requirements, relation to immigration and settlement, type of
market;
iii) describe the sources of demand for timber;
iv) write a history of the growth of the timber trade that
distinguished the four periods pre-1804, 1804-1815, 1815-1842, and
1842-1867, noting the relevant changes in demand and technology in
each period;
v) use the ŒCobweb¹ model to explain price instability in the
timber trade.
CHAPTER 4
Agricultural Development in Central Canada to 1914
The Agriculture of New France
1. Productive Factors and Agricultural Development
2. Agriculture¹s Slow Development
3. Extensive Cultivation
The student should be able to:
i) develop the pre-1763 agriculture of New France as a case
study of the staple model (or perhaps of the lack of staple growth
and development);
ii) describe the objectives of agricultural development in New
France: supply the fur trade, supply the fisheries and the sugar
plantations, diversify the economy, a return cargo;
iii) define economic efficiency as the value of outputs relative
to the value of inputs, and use this definition as means of
explaining agricultural change in New France;
iv) describe the general characteristics of the seigniorial
system, and relate it to the relatively slow growth of agriculture
in New France;
v) set out the relationship of the fur trade to agricultural
development: their interrelationship and their separation;
vi) describe the reasons for and the development of agricultural
exports or staples in New France;
vii) set out the reasons for the use of the long, narrow lot
spreading back from the rivers;
viii )describe some possible reasons why nucleated settlements
were slow to be established in New France;
ix) describe the economic and social position of the seignior
relative to the habitants;
x) explain the changes in the agriculture of New France in terms
of economic efficiency, i.e., the value of inputs and the value of
outputs: What products were produced? How were they produced?
Stunted Agricultural Development
1. Seigniorial Lands - Shifting Inputs
2. Failure to Adopt
3. Eastern Townships - Marked Contrast
The student should be able to:
i) describe the changes in agriculture on the seigniorial lands
after 1763 in terms of economic efficiency.
ii) explain the reasons for the appearance of villages near the
seigniorial lands;
iii) describe the growth and decline of agricultural staples from
the seigniorial lands;
iv) compare agricultural practices of the French Canadian and
English Canadian farmers, and describe the apparent reasons for
the differences;
v) develop the relationship between the timber trade and farming
on the seigniorial lands;
vi) describe the differences in agricultural output and methods
between the seigniorial lands and the Eastern Townships, and
explain how economic efficiency determined what outputs to produce
and how to produce them;
vii) describe the position of French Canadians in the Eastern
Townships.
Achieving an Agricultural Surplus
1. Upper Canada¹s Agricultural Production Function
2. Transport Improvements - Supply
3. Demand Forces - The Corn Laws: History and Effect
4. Canada - U.S. Agriculture Relations
The student should be able to:
i) relate wheat as a staple to the general requirements for its
development in Canada West: (1) use and improvement of the St.
Lawrence Route, and (2) serving of a market in Britain;
ii) describe some general factors that would influence Canada
West¹s or Ontario¹s early agricultural change: Land clearance,
personal philosophy, inputs, the United States, physical
characteristics;
iii) describe the general pattern of settlement of Ontario during
the period 1780 to 1850 as it relates to local accessibility, land
quality, and speculation;
iv) relate changes in Ontario¹s agriculture over the same period
to economic efficiency;
v) develop the Three Sector Trade Model;
vi) explain how the Corn Laws before 1828 influenced the
development of wheat as a staple from Ontario in terms of the
Three Sector Trade Model;
vii) describe the factors in the 1820s that worked to modify the
Corn Laws, and the change in the Corn Laws in 1828; show using the
Three Sector Trade Model how this change affected British North
Americans.
Rebellion, Unification and Annexation
1. Agricultural Discontent - Rebellious of 1837
2. Act of Union of 1840
3. End of the Corn Laws, Timber Preferences, Navigation Acts -
Annexation Movement
4. Erie Canal and Drawback Legislation
The student should be able to:
i) use the Three Sector Trade Model to explain the negative and
positive influences on wheat as a staple for Ontario in the 1830s:
excellent British harvests, crop failure in Canada West, high Corn
Law tariff, opening of the U.S. market;
ii) compare the interests of farmers and merchants in the 1830s
and 1840s;
iii) describe the factors that improved the condition of
agriculture in the 1840s: Erie Canal, Drawback Legislation, good
harvests, U.S. market;
iv) describe the reasons for the abolition of the Corn Laws in
1846.
Innovations in Agriculture
1. Innovations and Efficiency - Costs
2. Classes of Innovations and Examples
3. Role of the Government
The student should be able to:
i) describe the changes in agricultural technology before 1867;
ii) relate these changes to their affect on economic efficiency
in Canada East and Canada West before 1867.
CHAPTER 5
Commercial Policy Before Confederation
Trade Barriers and Their Effects
1. Types of Commercial Policy and Tariffs
2. Effects of Tariffs: Consumption, Protective, Revenue,
Production, Balance of Trade
3. Arguments for Tariffs
The student should be able to:
i) utilize the Three Sector Trade Model to show the effects of
tariffs on prices and output in the protected sector, trade,
tariff revenues and employment;
ii) describe the infant industry argument for tariffs;
iii) outline how tariffs might influence real GNP and real GNP per
capita, and describe how some of the negative effects could be
avoided;
iv) relate tariffs to savings inflows for other countries,
immigration and emigration, and transportation;
v) develop the returns to scale argument for tariffs.
Empire Trade and The Revenue Tariff to 1822
1. Trade¹s Imperial System: Navigation acts, Imperial Duties
2. Trade between Canada and the U.S., and With Third Parties
The student should be able to:
i) describe the general features of the Navigation Acts, and
note their effects on British North America in the 18th and 19th
centuries;
ii) describe the relationship between England¹s tariff duties and
the tariffs that British North America could impose;
iii) describe how the actions of the United States during the
revolution and up to 1815 affected the trade of British North
America;
iv) use the Constitution Act of 1791 as an example of a customs
union.
Internal Discontent and the British Betrayal
1. Upper vs. Lower Canada on Tariff Revenues
2. Agriculturists vs. Montreal Merchants
3. End of Trade Prohibitions
The student should be able to:
i) describe the basis of and the solution for the dispute
between Upper and Lower Canada over the sharing of tariff
revenues;
ii) describe the disputes over trade and tariff policies that
developed between the merchant class and the farmers: position in
the British market, entry to U.S. products into British North
American trade;
iii) relate trade with the British West Indies to interests in the
United States, Britain, the West Indies, and British North
America.
Free Trade and Protection, 1846-1866
1. British North American Free Trade Area
2. Reciprocity Treaty
3. Tariffs for Protection
The student should be able to:
i) describe the creation of free trade among some British North
American colonies in the early 1850s, and note its consequences;
ii) describe the main features of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854,
and note its effects on British North America¹s imports and
exports: trade diversion and trade creation;
iii) relate the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 to British North
America¹s economic growth and economic development from 1854 to
1866: What caused this growth and development?
iv) argue the effects that the Reciprocity Treaty had on
navigation of the St. Lawrence System, and compare that route to
the Erie Canal;
v) set out the history of British North America¹s import duties
on manufactured goods from 1847 to 1867, and establish the reasons
for protectionism;
vi) describe the tariff-basis of Confederation that appeared in
the 1860s.
CHAPTER 6
Population Grown in Canada
Introduction to Canadian Historical Demography
1. Supply and Demand as a Function of Population
2. Canada¹s Pattern of Population growth
3. Natural Increase and Net Immigration
The student should be able to:
i) describe how natural increase and net immigration determine
an area¹s change in population;
ii) set out French and British North America¹s population history
up to 1867: rapid and slow growth periods; note the roles that
natural increase and net immigration played in this history.
Vital Statistics
1. Underlying Demographic Variables
The student should be able to:
i) describe the underlying changes that have been important in
influencing birth and death rates;
ii) note where possible the changes in these influences before
Confederation.
Natural Increase in New France
1. Natural Increase and Net Immigration
The student should be able to:
i) describe the factors that affected population change in New
France.
Population Movements: A Framework
1. Costs and Benefits of Migration: Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary
2. Net Expected Returns of Migrating
The student should be able to:
i) define pecuniary and non-pecuniary determinants of migration;
ii) establish a framework for population migration in terms of
the expected gross return from migration and the expected net
return from migration;
iii) list some non-pecuniary costs and benefits of migration;
iv) set out the conditions that are likely to cause more or less
migration between geographical areas in terms of this framework.
Immigration and Emigration before Confederation
1. History Within the Context of Net Expected Returns of
Migrating
2. Changing Source of Canadian Immigrants
The student should be able to:
i) apply the general framework of migration to immigration to
British North America prior to Confederation.
CHAPTER 8
Capital Formation and Mobilization
Introduction
1. Capital Formation: Capacity - Creating Effect and Income -
Creating Effect
2. Uncertainty vs. Risk
Primitive Capital Markets and Early Industry
1. Capital and the Early Staples
2. Place of internal Financing
3. Personal Finance: Growth Impediments
The student should be able to:
i) describe how the staple trades were financed;
ii) describe the relationship between the early manufacturing
enterprises and the financial control of their owners and
financial agents.
The Banking System
1. Reasons for Banks¹ Emergence
2. Banks¹ Role in Capital Mobilization: Direct and Indirect
3. Bankers ŒConservative¹ Posture
The student should be able to:
i) note the characteristics of British North America¹s financial
system prior to the establishment of banks in the 1820s, and list
the types of money;
ii) describe the reasons why banks were established, including
their effect on the economy through the so-called Cambridge
Equation;
iii) describe the growth of banks from the 1820s to Confederation
in British North America, including the rivalry between merchants
and farmers;
iv) list and explain the implications of the principles of
banking that were established in the first bank charters:
legislative chartering, commercial banking, bank notes, branching,
protection of the public;
v) relate the experiences with Œfree¹ banking in the United
States to British North America;
vi) describe the financial relations between the governments and
the banks: issuance of bank notes, holding of government
securities, government notes, Bank Note Act of 1866;
vii) note and describe the reasons for the appearance of non-bank
financial intermediaries.
CHAPTER 10
Transport: Investment in Infrastructure
Economic Significance of Transport Improvements
1. Transport Improvements and Economic Development
2. Transport: The Extensive Margin
3. Indirect and Direct Benefits
4. Private and Social Returns
The student should be able to:
i) explain how transport improvements expand the extensive
margin of settlement;
ii) distinguish between private and social benefits and costs of
transport;
iii) use the Three Sector Trade Diagram to show the effects of
transport improvement on output, prices, trade, etc.;
iv) describe the indirect as well as the direct benefits in the
form of linkages from transport change;
v) relate in general transport improvements to economic growth
and economic development.
The King¹s Highway, 1763-1850
1. Economic Benefits - Non-Economic, Military Considerations
2. The First Road Network
3. Roads¹ Limitations as Transport
The student should be able to:
i) describe the development of through and feeder roads in
British North America from the 1790s to the 1860s;
ii) set out the relationship between the construction of roads
and the role of the various governments;
iii) describe the part that roads played in the economic growth
and development of the Canadas;
iv) note the limitations that roads had as transport improvements
in the early 19th century.
Gateway to the West: Canal Projects of Central Canada
1. Rationales for Improved Water Transport
2. St. Lawrence vs. Erie Routes
3. Aspects Affecting Construction and Canals¹ Impact
4. Montreal as an Entrepot - Failure of St. Lawrence Route
5. Canals¹ Social Savings
The student should be able to:
i) describe the relationship between the appearance of wheat and
lumber as staples and the need for cheap transport, and describe
the costs associated with adjusting to these new staples;
ii) describe the impact that the construction of the Erie Canal
had on British North America, and this canal¹s influence on canals
along the St. Lawrence River;
iii) set out the economic, geographic, and political obstacles to
the construction of canals in British North America;
iv) describe the construction, benefits, and problems from the
Rideau Canal, the Welland Canal, and the St. Lawrence Canal
System;
v) describe the reasons why the British North American canals
found it hard to compete with the Erie Canal after 1850;
vi) relate the changes brought on by canals to the relationship
between the merchants and the farmers.
The Coming of the Railways
1. Montreal: A Metropolitan Centre
2. The First Railway Network
3. Railways¹ Success: Canadian and Foreign Trade
4. Governments¹ Role
The student should be able to:
i) describe the general policies for British North America¹s
economic growth and economic development in the 1850s, and relate
them to the need for transport changes;
ii) list the main railways that were constructed in the 1850s;
iii) describe the role of the government in railway construction:
Guarantee Act, Municipal Loan Fund Act;
iv) note the successes and the problems with British North
America¹s railroad system at the time of Confederation.