Backwoods Consumers and Homespun Capitalists: The Rise of a Market Culture in Eastern Canada

by Béatrice Craig

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a local economy made up of settlers, loggers, and business people from Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and New England was established on the banks of the Upper St. John River in an area known as the Madawaska Territory. This newly created economy was visibly part of the Atlantic capitalist system yet different in several major ways.

In Backwoods Consumers and Homespun Capitalists, B?atrice Craig examines and describes this economy from its origins in the native fur trade, the growth of exportable wheat, the selling of food to new settlers, and of ton timbre to Britain. Craig vividly portrays the role of wives who sold homespun fabric and clothing to farmers, loggers, and river drivers, helping to bolster the community. The construction of saw, grist, and carding mills, and the establishment of stores, boarding houses, and taverns are all viewed as steps in the development of what the author calls "homespun capitalists." The territory also participated in the Atlantic economy as a consumer of Canadian, British, European, west and east Indian and American goods. This case study offers a unique examination of the emergence of capitalism and of a consumer society in a small, relatively remote community in the backwoods of New Brunswick.

Genres: History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published December 19, 2008

Reviews

[Dasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Craig focuses her research in Backwoods Consumers and Homespun Capitalists on the Madawaska territory of the Upper Saint John Valley in New Brunswick. While seemingly remote, the territory proves an interesting point of analysis due to its relationships with Quebec, overseas trade, and New England. From an analysis of this region’s social and economic development in the late eighteenth and into the mid-nineteenth century Craig argues the while rural the economic life of individuals in the region was anything other than backwards. Rejecting the “staples thesis,” which argues that the international trade of one good, such as timber in this case, influenced the development of the area. Yet, as Craig and other historians demonstrate, these local economies are much more complex than previously thought, with locals acting within their own terms rather than simply adapting to outside changes. Therefore, Craig serves to complicate the staples thesis. Indeed, while timber trade importantly brought cash flow into the Madawaska territory it was not a stable economy that guaranteed capital success (p. 222). Principal men, entrepreneurs, and shopkeepers balanced engagement with the timber trade and local economies to succeed, influencing the development of the region often as a by-product of their attempts to secure survival or comfort. Often overlooked in the study of economies and markets, Craig shows how personal and family relationships play a keep role in shaping economic activities (p. 8).
Such detailed research is an obvious strength of the book. Craig’s description in Appendix 1 of how she located information and traced numbers certainly helps readers understand insight into how she came to her conclusions in addition to serving as a guide for those who may wish to research a similar topic. While her research is very thorough and highlights the porous boundary between producer and consumer there also remains a small weakness to her research. Indeed, mention of Indigenous participation is largely absent from her analysis. The lack of analysis to this group may indicate their marginalization and removal from participating in Euro-Canadian markets both on the local and global scale or a lack of sources. However, I believe in either case more explanation as to why this has been left would help add context to the book by, for example, noting how the process of settler colonization impacted the economy of the region. I also personally wished that more emphasis could be put on the changing quality of material conditions within the workplaces that people worked in to indicate how local economies may have been influenced by people’s need for better or different conditions.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In "Backwoods Consumers and Homespun Capitalists", Craig outlines the economic conditions of the Madawaska Territory, a transnational area that borders New Brunswick and Maine, throughout the nineteenth century. Characterized by its unique population (Acadian, French-Canadian, and Anglo-Protestant), its location and role in international trade, and its mixed economy (based both on exporting and importing), Craig's text demonstrates the diversity around early Canadian economies as it arose from the staple-based to market culture throughout the century. While Craig's text does an excellent job exploring the variety of economies and ways farmers, traders, and businessmen engaged in production, I was left uncertain about how much of her analysis is defined by its specificity to place, especially as numerous chapters concluded by stating that economic realities could be either good or bad, depending on climate or larger economic forces (is this not true elsewhere in Canada in this period?). The positionality of Madawaska within the Atlantic trade, and its reliance on lumber/timber and farming does offer a compelling argument for why Craig choose to study this region, but I would have liked it further explored - especially in its trans-national nature.

[Jim Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, while not particularly fascinating, is nevertheless authoritative on the subject of early consumerism and business development amongst settlers in the Madagascar region (Northern Maine/New Brunswick) in the 17 & 1800s. It is certainly worthy of the many awards it has garnered.