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| A. R. M. Lower |
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| Great Britain's Woodyard by Arthur R. M .Lower |
Lower divides Great Britain’s Woodyard: British North America and the Timber Trade,
1763-1867 into two parts. The first
part looks at the history of the timber industry in British North America. Here, Lower begins with British trade with
Baltic States of Eastern Europe such as Germany, Russia, and Sweden for their
lumber and how Napoleon took control of the Baltic States; it caused Britain to
turn to its North American colonies as they were unable to continue trade with
Eastern Europe due to Napoleon’s mercantilist policies. Lower then goes on to look at the development
of the timber trade in British North America and its role in British politics
in the nineteenth century. In part two,
Lower examines the timber trade’s inner workings in the colonies. In this section the reader is given the
different parts of the trade and historical examples of these parts in order to
elaborate on their role. While
presenting these two sections, Lower argues that the British metropolis
exploited the colonies and saw British North America as “its own private
woodyard,”[1]
allowing them to take as much lumber as they wished.
Lower uses Innis and Mackintosh’s
Staples Thesis in his study of the British North American timber trade. The Staples Thesis argues that
…the
export of natural resources, or staples, from Canada to more advanced economies
has a pervasive impact on the economy as well as on the social and political
systems. Furthermore, different staples (fur, fish, timber, grain, oil, etc.)
have differing impacts on rates of settlement, federal-provincial conflicts,
etc.[2]
This statement
means the trading of natural resources, in this case lumber, between Canada and
more advanced states, in Lower’s book, Britain, can have effects on the social,
political, social, and environmental systems of Canada. Lower was born in Barrie, Ontario in 1889,[3]
a community that had forestry as one of its earliest industries.[4] Lower strongly viewed the deforesting of
Canada to be devastating, stating in the preface of Great Britain’s Woodyard “[t]he result has been that everywhere
huge tracts have been deforested and turned into desert,”[5]
an image that he would have seen while living in the region. The Staple Thesis is found in Great Britain’s Woodyard in Lower’s chapter
on the early part of the lumber trade; here he gives the account of Philemon
Wright.
Wright traveled from Massachusetts
in 1797 and surveyed the Grand River, the original name of the Ottawa River,
reaching as far as the Chaudière Falls (the location of the Canadian capital of
Ottawa).[6] Two
year later, after receiving land grants, he developed on the Quebec side of the
Ottawa River, adding a mill in 1801; this settlement would later develop into
the city of Hull, Quebec. [7] Lower’s example of Philemon Wright shows the
application of the Staples Thesis because of how the industry led to the
creation of settlements based around the timber trade. Some of these settlements would then go on to
expand and attract other people, who were either migrating to Canada or looking
for work.
In telling the history of British
North America’s timber industry, it is important to understand the role it
played in the world that was the British Empire. Lower successfully presents this by showing
the elevation of the timber industry in British North America from the turn of
the nineteenth century to the time of Canadian Confederation. At the start of the nineteenth century, the
British only used the North American colonies’ lumber to make masts for the
Royal Navy and to serve as a backup source in times for crisis; the region
containing this supply of wood for this purpose was expanded after the British
defeated the French in the Seven Years war.[8] After Napoleon took over Europe in the early
part of the nineteenth century, Britain had no other option but to rely on the
North American colonies for their wood supplies. Through the administrations of Robert Peel
and other British Prime Ministers, Lower shows British North America to be
growing in importance in its role as a colony of the British Empire by how it
influenced the delegation of tariffs on timber imports from the Baltic region
and the North American colonies. This
case can be connected to the Staple’s Thesis by fact that Britain was forced in
to a wood crisis by Napoleon’s Continental System. In order to get out of this crisis, Britain
was forced to turn to its colonies in North America for wood, allowing British
North America to have a role in legislation concerning the trading of lumber.
In addition, Lower shows how the
lumber industry influenced Canadian culture. The Staples Thesis’ argument of
trade affecting Canada at a social level can be seen here, the growing
employment of shantymen and raftsment created their own unique culture, which
in turn developed into an aspect of Canadian culture. In his chapter on the shantyman and raftsman,
Lower begins with discussing the folklore of the lumber trade. He explains that within the shantymen and
raftsmen added to Canadian culture a “primitive life and art, the counterparts
of which have been the base of so much of older countries.”[9] This statement means the lumber folklore gave
Canada a base to develop its own culture, this base that Lower states to be
similar to the basic aspects of older states and cultures. An example that Lower gives of lumber culture
comes in the form of the folktale Chasse-galerie:,
the story of lumbermen selling their souls to the devil so they may be able to
cross vast distances to visit their loved ones for special occasions, such as
New Year, within one night and be back to work by morning.[10]
In conclusion, Arthur R. M. Lower
successfully presents a compelling narrative in his book Great Britain’s Wood yard: British North America and the Timber Trade
by using Innis and Mackintosh’s Staple’s Thesis in his study of the British
North American timber trade. In studying
the example of the role of lumber in the British Empire, it can be seen that
the North American colonies played a significant role in the empire by
providing it with much needed lumber for the navy and in construction. By examining the role of the lumbermen and
their own inner culture, the base of a Canadian culture can be seen
developing. Therefore, in using the Staples
Thesis, Lower is able to develop an insightful study of the British North
American timber trade.
Bibliography
Abebooks.com. "Great Britain's Woodyard: British America and the Timber Trade, 1763-1867".https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/great-britain's-woodyard/
Frances, Daniel. “Barrie,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed February 3, 2013, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/barrie.
Lower,
Arthur R. M. Great Britain’s Wood yard:
British North America and the Timber Trade, 1763-1867. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s
University Press, 1973.
NFB. "Canada Vignettes: Log Driver's Waltz." YouTube. January 20, 2010. Accessed March 02, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upsZZ2s3xv8.
Palmer, Henry. "Arthur R. M. Lower, C. C., 17. Accessed March 3, 2017. http://www.aportraitofcanada.ca/?p=1864,].
Watkins,
Mel. “Staple Thesis.” The Canadian
Encyclopedia. Accessed February 3, 2013. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/staple-thesis.
[1] Arthur R. M. Lower, Great Britain’s Woodyard: British North
America and the Timber Trade, 1763-1867, (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s
University Press, 1973), 49.
[2] Mel Watkins, “Staple Thesis,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed
February 3, 2013,
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/staple-thesis.
[3] Lower, iv.
[4] Daniel Francis, “Barrie,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed
February 3, 2013, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/barrie.
[5] Lower, xiv.
[6] Ibid., 63.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid, 46.
[9] Ibid, 181.
[10] Ibid, 181-182.
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