Heartland, Hinterland, and the Staple Trade

1. Heartland, Hinterland, and the Staple Trade

2. What do those products have in common? • How are they important to Nova Scotia? • What role does each of these items play in its region’s economy? STAPLE: a product that dominates an economy’s exports STAPLE THESIS: formulated by Harold Innes, it says that exporting fish, furs, timber, and wheat from Canada to Europe influenced Canada’s economic, social and political development

3. STAPLE THESIS • European expansion and colonization motivated by desire to export products to enrich the homeland. • The production of the products that the homeland desired shaped economic development and settlement patterns in the “New World” • HEARTLAND: a region that is the economic center of a country or empire • HINTERLAND: a region that provides the resources needed by the heartland

4. Harold Innes felt that there were three ways for a staple based economy to develop: • An economy is most successful when in goes beyond staples into manufacturing based on the same staples. i.e. from fishing to processing cod liver oil. When the manufacturing is more important than staple production the economy has moved beyond staple production. • An economy is moderately successful when it can shift from the production of one staple to another • An economy is not successful if it continues to rely on the production of staples, even if it is not enough to produce adequate income. a.k.a “STAPLES TRAP” WHERE IS NOVA SCOTIA TODAY? WHERE IS CANADA TODAY?

5. MERCANTILISM Mercantilism: the economic system in place during the European age of exploration (exploitation) Acquiring raw materials in colonies, producing manufactured goods in the home country, and selling them back to the colonists was seen as the ideal way for a country to become wealthy. Its success depended on the value of the staple in the home country. A resource in high demand and abundant supply, which required some processing at the colony brought prosperity to everyone.

6. THE COD FISHERY • John Cabot was the first documented European to report on the abundance of cod off of Canada • By 1615, more than 250 English and between 200 and 400 French ships were fishing off of NFLD.

7. WET FISHING: (aka: green fishing) • Fish caught in nets, brought aboard, cleaned and filleted, preserved in large amounts of salt, transported to Europe. • Used by countries with access to large salt supplies (France, Portugal, Spain) DRY FISHING: Fish cleaned, split, and lightly salted onshore, left to dry “naturally” on wooden racks Because fishers had to get off the boat to process the fish, this practice eventually led to English settlements on the coast of NFLD.

8. DRY FISHERY A 17th century composite picture of an English dry fishery in Newfoundland giving a compressed version of the process, including the landing stage, cleaning and splitting operations, and the laying-out of split cod. ID #10065Credit: National Archives of Canada / C-3686

9. IMPACT OF COD FISHERY • Epitome of Mercantilism: Fish exploited only for home country’s benefits • Did little to contribute to European settlement • Cured fish sold in Europe, no need for business to develop in Canada. • Little need for roads • Food imported from Europe: no reason to develop agriculture

10. THE FUR TRADE • By claiming the land around the St. Lawrence River for France Jacques Cartier acquired access to an important trade good: FUR • Fur, especially beaver fur, could be obtained cheaply in Canada and processed and sold in Europe • The fur trade brought European powers into alliance with Aboriginal peoples. • The European hunger for fur was used by Aboriginal groups to their own advantage. I.e. Champlain and the Huron (Wendat) vs. the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee)

11. Eight beaver hats for Europeans, a lasting market for Canadian fur. ID #10082Credit: National Archives of Canada / C-17338 Coureur de Bois in typical dress. With a new style, these Frenchman became involved in the 1650s in the fur trade and were as much at home in the bush as the Indians. Woodcut by Arthur Heming. ID #20061Credit: Heming, National Archives of Canada, C5746

12. Hudson’s Bay Company Early 19th century photograph of Moose Factory, Ontario, established in 1671 and rebuilt in 1730 and remains as one of the oldest Hudson's Bay trading forts in Ontario. ID #20384Acc2210, S1951 A Hudson's Bay Company fur pack. ID #21676Credit: National Archives of Canada, C-4219

13. Created in 1670 by Royal Charter • Set up to compete with French fur traders • After 1763 (the conquest of New France) HBC began to dominate the fur trade • 1780’s Montreal merchants set up North West Company • By 1789, there were 100 North West Company trading posts

14. IMPACT OF FUR TRADE • 1821, North West and Hudson’s Bay Company merged • Fur Trade created great wealth for those who controlled it • Profits stayed in Europe • Trade goods were manufactured in Europe • Fur Traders were the first Europeans to see North America • Fur Trade was the beginning of business and infrastructure in North America

15. Aboriginal peoples initially prospered • Disease, and increased warfare came with close contact with Europeans • Religious foundations of Aboriginal life attacked by missionaries • As colonial expansion pushed Aboriginal peoples away from their traditional lands, their sense of identity was altered

16. WOODEN SHIPS AND IRON MEN • England had no forests left • The British depended on timber from the 13 colonies, Russia, Sweden, and other northern European countries • American Revolution and Napoleonic wars cut these sources off • By 1811, Canadian timber trade was more important than the fur trade • Trade helped by PREFERENTIAL TRADE STATUS (1825) from Britain (Tariffs placed on timber entering Britain from outside the British empire)

17. Timber raft on the Ottawa River. From the 19th century onward, huge rafts of square hewed timber were floated down the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers for export to Britain. ID #20243Credit: National Archives of Canada, PA139334 Early photo of sawn lumber at McLachlin Brothers Lumber Company, Ontario, with the main lumber yard in Arnprior shown. ID #20343Acc. 3026, S4841

18. Timber slide, Hull, Lower Canada, carrying timber rafts past the rapids. In 1806 the first raft of heavy beams was taken down the Ottawa River by Philemon Wright. Engraving by J.P. Newell (active c.1855-1878). ID #20302Credit: J.P. Newell, National Archives of Canada, C41680

19. Square-hewing the big timbers in the wilds with the broad-axe. ID #10228Credit: Archives of Ontario / Acc.11778-4 / S-16944

20. THE IMPACT OF THE TIMBER TRADE • Timber trade provided opportunity for secondary industries • Shipbuilding flourished in the Maritimes • Wooden ships eventually replaced by steel

21. WHEAT • Early 1800’s saw Britain seeking reliable wheat supplies • Preferential Trade Status and the 1820 Corn Laws taxed products from outside the empire • For the next 20 years, grain and flour production in Upper Canada flourished

22. THE IMPACT OF THE WHEAT TRADE • Wheat trade became the foundation of the Upper Canadian (Ontario) economy • As wheat flourished, population grew, mills were built and new towns were founded • Roads and Canals were built to get wheat to market • Wheat boom marked the beginning of central Canada as the economic heartland of British North America

23. PREFERENTIAL TRADE AND RECIPROCITY • Since 1796, the British had given special trade status to its empire • English merchants felt this stifled trade with other countries • Preferential trade status was abandoned in favor of free trade • Canadian farmers now had to compete with European farmers on the open market

24. 1854, Britain and the United States negotiated a RECIPROCITY TREATY, which allowed free trade between US and GB • Timber, wheat, fish, and coal all experienced a boom as tariff free trade with the US increased • American Civil War (1861-65) created many shortages which allowed trade to continue to flourish • When the war was over, these shortages disappeared and the mood in the US turned against free trade.