Published Apr 24, 2023
The course begins with an examination of the processes of state formation, trade, migration, borrowing, and transfer of technologies and institutions that contributed to the development of a settler colonial economy. It will study how the internal economic geography of Canada was differentiated, and how the economy modernized through changes in market and business organization and state development. An overarching concern will be with how a national economy could be articulated.
Prereq: One of ECON 206, 207, 231, 306; Level at least 3A. Antireq: ECON 483 taken winter 2015, 2016, spring 2017, 2018, 2019
Territorial Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are living and working on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (also known as Neutral), Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes ten kilometres on each side of the Grand River.
To learn more about the history of land transfers and outstanding debts in this region, consult Land Rights: A Global Solution for the Six Nations of the Grand River (Six Nations Lands and Resources Department, Ohsweken, ON)
https://www.sixnations.ca/LandsResources/SNLands-GlobalSolutions-FINALyr2020.pdf
| A. Discuss the dynamics of economic development in the territory called Canada |
| B. Bring an historical perspective to bear upon economic questions |
| C. More clearly articulate economic analyses in speech and writing. |
| Dates | Tuesday Meeting | Thursday Seminar Readings |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | May 9, 11 | Course Details Lecture 1. Introduction to Economic History | Robert M. Solow, “Economic History and Economics” The American Economic Review, Vol. 75, No. 2, Papers and Proceedings of theNinety-Seventh Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (May, 1985), pp.328-331 McInnis “The Economy of Canada in the Nineteenth Century” in Cambridge EH of the US. Vol.1. |
2 | May 16, 18 | Lecture 2. Long Term Growth of Canadian Economy | Lamoreaux, “Economic History and the Cliometric Revolution” in Imagined Histories: American Historians interpret the past eds. Molho, Anthony.; Wood, Gordon S, (Princeton UP 1998). Alan Green “Twentieth Century Canadian Economic History” in Cambridge EH of the US. Vol.2. |
3 | May 23, 25 | In class open-book test on Reading from Week 1 and 2 | Patrick O’Brien “The formation of states and the transitions to modern economies: England, Europe, and Asia compared” Chapter 12 in The Cambridge History of capitalism Vol.1 (pp357-402). Findlay and O’Rourke Power and Plenty Ch. 5 (pp.227-262). Lorena S. Walsh, “Slavery in the North American Mainland Colonies” Chapter 16 in The Cambridge World History of Slavery (pp. 407-430). |
4 | May 30, June 1 | Lecture 3. The State in the Atlantic World - Merchants, Markets and Communities in 18th and Early 19th | John Weaver, The Great Land Rush – Introduction and Chapters 1-3. |
5 | June 6 , 8 | Essay #1 proposals - present | Weaver, The Great Land Rush, Chapter 4 “Acquisition: Uprooting Native Title”p.133-176. Cole Harris, “How did colonialism dispossess? Comments from an Edge of Empire”, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 2004, Vol.94 (1), p.165-182. Shiri Pasternak, “How Did Colonialism Fail to Dispossess?” in Grounded Authority: The Algonquins of Barriere Lake against the State, (University of Minnesota Press, 2017), 55-76. |
6 | June 15 Note June 13 is a Monday Schedule day | No lecture | Susan M. Hill, “Chapter 4: Shotinonhsyonnih – they built the longhouse again” in The Clay We Are Made Of, (U of Manitoba Press, 2017), pp.132-185. John S. Hagopian, “Joseph Brant vs. Peter Russell: A Re-examination of the Six-Nations’ Land Transactions in the Grand River Valley” Histoire sociale, 1997, Vol.30 (60), p.300-333 Sidney L. Harring, “’A Condescension lost on those people’: The Six Nations Grand River Lands, 1784-1860” in White Man’s Law: native people in nineteenth-century Canadian jurisprudence (U of T 1998):35-61. |
7 | June 20, 22 | Lecture 4. Land settlement, Infrastructure, Trade and Urban development
| Paul Phillips, “Land tenure and economic development: A comparison of Upper and Lower Canada”, Journal of Canadian Studies 9(2), May 1974: 35-45. David Schulze, “Rural manufacture in Lower Canada: Understanding Seigneurial Privilege and the Transition in the Countryside” Alternate routes, 1984, Vol.7, p.134-167. Frank Lewis and Marvin McInnis, “The Efficiency of the French-Canadian Farmer in the Nineteenth Century”, The Journal of Economic History , Sep., 1980, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Sep., 1980), pp.497-514 |
Essay 1 due Friday, June 30th | |||
8 | June 27, 29 | Lecture 5. Finance and banking in 19th C | R.G. Hawtrey, “The Mechanism of Foreign Exchange” in Currency and Credit 4th ed. (Longmans Green and co. 1950), pp. 128-149. Joe Martin and Chris Kobrak and Martin, “Ch.3 The Maturing 1869-1914” in From Wall Street to Bay Street (Toronto: UTP, 2018) , pp. 92-151. McCloskey, “It was ideas…which changed in Northwestern Europe, 1600-1848” Journal of Evolutionary Economics (2015) 25: 57-68. |
9 | July 4, 6 | Lecture 6. Regional development – West | Parr, “Disaggregating the Sexual Division of Labour” Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Jul., 1988), pp. 511-533 John Lutz, “After the Fur Trade: The Aboriginal Labouring Class of British Columbia” Journal of CHA 3(1) 1992: 69-93. Patricia Roy, “Ch.3 Confederation, the Chinese, and the CPR, 1871-1885” in A White Man’s Province, (UBC press, 1989) 36-63. |
10 | July 11, 13 | Lecture 7. Structural change: labour and corporate organization
| Judith Fudge and Eric Tucker, “Pluralism or Fragmentation?: The Twentieth-Century Employment Law Regime in Canada” Labour / Le Travail, Vol. 46, Special Millennium Issue (Fall, 2000), pp. 251-306 Lamoureux, “Entrepreneurship, Business Organization and Economic Concentration” The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, 2000, Vol.2, p.403-434. Jeremy Atack “America: capitalism’s promised land” Chapter 17 in in The Cambridge History of capitalism Vol.1 pp. 533-573. |
11 | July 18, 20 | Proposal #2 presentations | Bordo, Michael D. ; Rockoff, Hugh ; Redish, Angela, “A comparison of the stability and efficiency of the Canadian and American banking systems, 1870-1925”Financial history review, 1996, Vol.3 (1), p.49-68 Green and Urqhart, “Factor and Commodity Flows in the International Economy of 1870-1914” in Journal of Economic History March 1976, 217-252. Trevor J.O. Dick, John E. Floyd and David Pope, “Balance of payments adjustment under the gold standard policies” in Modern Perspectives on the Gold Standard |
12 | July 25, 27 | Public finance and financial markets
| Barry Eichengreen “Understanding the Great Depression” The Canadian journal of economics, 2004, Vol.37 (1), p.1-27 Robert B. Bryce, “Chapter Three: The Economic Course and Impact of the Depression” in Maturing in Hard Times (Institute of Public Administration of Canada/McGill-Queen’s UP, 1986), pp. 39-66. Bordo, Michael D. ; Redish, Angela “Why did the Bank of Canada emerge in 1935?”, The Journal of economic history, 1987, Vol.47 (2), p.405-417 |
13 | Aug 1 | Conclusion | |
Essay 2 due Thursday, August 10th | |||
| Component | Value |
|---|---|
| Open Book Test | 5% |
| Seminar participation | 30% |
| Student Essay #1 (proposal, presentation and paper) | 32.5% |
| Student Essay #2 (proposal, presentation and paper) | 32.5% |
Assessment | Date of Evaluation | Weighting | |
|---|---|---|---|
Introduction | |||
Open book test | Tuesday, May 23rd | 5% | |
Seminar discussions | |||
Seminar participation | 12 meetings | 30% | |
Student Essay Projects (2 worth 32.5% each) | |||
| |||
Proposal and annotated bibliography | Sunday, June 4th | 5% | |
Presentation of Proposal | Tuesday, June 6th | 2.5% | |
Submitted essay | Friday, June 30th | 25% | |
| |||
Proposal and annotated bibliography | Sunday, July 16th | 5% | |
Presentation of Proposal | Tuesday, July 18th | 2.5% | |
Submitted essay | Thursday, August 10th | 25% | |
Open-book Test (5% of final grade)
The first two weeks of the course will be used as an intensive introduction to the field of economic history and Canadian development. At the end of this time students will write a short open-book test during class that evaluates their understanding of the readings for the first two seminars.
Seminar Participation (30% of final grade)
There will be twelve scheduled seminar discussions.
Students are expected to prepare for the discussion by doing the assigned reading and preparing reflections on the arguments presented. Students should be prepared to i) identify the argument of each author, and discuss how effective it is; ii) offer comments on the research questions, general approach taken and the practical and policy implications of the research.
Participation will be evaluated in terms of the quality of contributions, meaning the value of comments and questions offered in stimulating and developing discussion.
Essay #1 Colonial Development and First Nations (32.5% of final grade)
You will learn about the process of settlement and development of a region of New France/Lower Canada, or the British colonies in the Maritimes (would become Newfoundland, PEI, New Brunswich or Nova Scotia) in the period 1600-1850. In your essay analyze how the settler groups negotiated their relationships with specific First Nations of the region, in terms of co-operation, conflict and struggle, as part of the economic development they participated in. The evaluation will be based on
Essay #2 Business organization and markets in early 20th Century (32.5% of final grade)
In your essay analyze the role of corporate organization and the integration of regional markets over the territory of the Canada in the period 1890s-1920s. How were the two processes of corporate rationalization and market integration connected in this period? The evaluation will be based on
Text matching software (Turnitin) will be used to screen assignments in this course. This is being done to verify that use of all material and sources in assignments is documented. In the first week of the term, details will be provided about the arrangements for the use of Turnitin and alternatives in this course. See Administrative Policy below for more information and links.
Students should be aware that this course contains the intellectual property of their instructor, TA, and/or the University of Waterloo.
Intellectual property includes items such as:
Course materials and the intellectual property contained therein, are used to enhance a student’s educational experience. However, sharing this intellectual property without the intellectual property owner’s permission is a violation of intellectual property rights. For this reason, it is necessary to ask the instructor, TA and/or the University of Waterloo for permission before uploading and sharing the intellectual property of others online (e.g., to an online repository).
Permission from an instructor, TA or the University is also necessary before sharing the intellectual property of others from completed courses with students taking the same/similar courses in subsequent terms/years. In many cases, instructors might be happy to allow distribution of certain materials. However, doing so without expressed permission is considered a violation of intellectual property rights.
Please alert the instructor if you become aware of intellectual property belonging to others (past or present) circulating, either through the student body or online. The intellectual property rights owner deserves to know (and may have already given their consent).
All of us need a support system. The faculty and staff in Arts encourage students to seek out mental health support if they are needed.
On Campus
Due to COVID-19 and campus closures, services are available only online or by phone.
Off campus, 24/7
Full details can be found online on the Faculty of Arts website
Download UWaterloo and regional mental health resources (PDF)
Download the WatSafe app to your phone to quickly access mental health support information.
Policy 33, Ethical Behaviour states, as one of its general principles (Section 1), “The University supports academic freedom for all members of the University community. Academic freedom carries with it the duty to use that freedom in a manner consistent with the scholarly obligation to base teaching and research on an honest and ethical quest for knowledge. In the context of this policy, 'academic freedom' refers to academic activities, including teaching and scholarship, as is articulated in the principles set out in the Memorandum of Agreement between the FAUW and the University of Waterloo, 1998 (Article 6). The academic environment which fosters free debate may from time to time include the presentation or discussion of unpopular opinions or controversial material. Such material shall be dealt with as openly, respectfully and sensitively as possible.” This definition is repeated in Policies 70 and 71, and in the Memorandum of Agreement, Section 6
All deferred Final Exam requests for economics courses are administered by the Economics Undergraduate Office. Please consult the Deferred Exam Policy at
https://uwaterloo.ca/economics/undergraduate/resources-and-policies/deferred-final-exam-policy.
Academic integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. [Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information.]
Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of their university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt, please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.
Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing an academic offence, and to take responsibility for their actions. [Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information.] A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course instructor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate associate dean. For information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71, Student Discipline. For typical penalties, check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.
Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71, Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes they have a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals.
Note for students with disabilities: AccessAbility Services, located in Needles Hall, Room 1401, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with AccessAbility Services at the beginning of each academic term.
Turnitin.com: Text matching software (Turnitin®) may be used to screen assignments in this course. Turnitin® is used to verify that all materials and sources in assignments are documented. Students' submissions are stored on a U.S. server, therefore students must be given an alternative (e.g., scaffolded assignment or annotated bibliography), if they are concerned about their privacy and/or security. Students will be given due notice, in the first week of the term and/or at the time assignment details are provided, about arrangements and alternatives for the use of Turnitin in this course.
It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor if they, in the first week of term or at the time assignment details are provided, wish to submit alternate assignment.