Planting the Province: The Economic History of Upper Canada, 1784-1870

Philip Sworden is an assistant professor in the Law and Justice
Department at Laurentian University.

This book establishes McCalla as perhaps the foremost scholar on the
economic history of Upper Canada. Its main thesis is that the old
perspective of studying the province’s economic growth by focusing on
staple exports like wheat and timber is too simplistic. A combination of
factors (e.g., development of local markets, growing population centres,
capital accumulation, credit, and the influence of other governments,
like those of Lower Canada and Britain) were more relevant to the
process of economic growth. The depth of McCalla’s research
essentially wins his point. The detail with which such areas as
manufacturing, communications, the provincial business system, and
railways are presented is enough to convince the reader that focusing on
staples alone is inaccurate.

The book is further enhanced by the comparative perspective it provides
on Upper Canada’s economy and the economies of neighboring states such
as New York, Ohio, and Michigan. According to McCalla, what
distinguished Upper Canada from these states was, among other things,
the Tory ideology of some of its principal leaders, its dependence on
Lower Canada for main tax revenue, and, above all, its colonial status
with Britain.

McCalla has produced an invaluable reference. Not only do his book and
chapter notes contain a wealth of further information, but his lengthy
appendix on values, currency and rates of exchange, and produce prices
helps the reader to comprehend how the economy operated in this era.