Olivia's Blog

Life in Upper Canada

Farming:

Source: pioneer homestead, Chatham, Upper Canada 1828 P.J. Bainbrigge

In this picture I see a a small log house with crops growing in the yard. There is also a lot of cut down trees and a wooden cairage. I think the man standing beside the man with the farmer hat is a absentee landlord or a land speculator he is likely talking to the farmer who is growing his crops for him.

Social class

Source: Settlement on Long Island on the Rideau River, Upper Canada. Artist: Cockburn, James Pattison, 1779-1847. 1830

What I see in this picture is a man who looks to be in higher class considering his hat talking to a what seems to be a lower class woman and her child. I see a lot of cutt down trees and log cabins. Upper class was likely talking to the lower class asking for favours or wanting to buy their farming land.

Loyalty to Britain

Jones Falls, Rideau Canal, Upper Canada. Artist: Bainbrigge, Philip John, 1817-1881. ca. 1838

What I see in this picture is a bunch of boats, two seems to be some kind of army and considering the colour red on their shirts I would assume that it would be the Britain army. They were coming to Canada to represent their country and show dedication by making Canada similar to Britain.

Land issues :

Crown and Clergy Reserves, Newtown, Upper Canada, with one-seventh of the land held for clergy reserves, and one- seventh to produce government revenue, c. 1800. National Archives
of Canada, NMC288

What I see in this picture is a diagram displaying the farm land distribution each shade of black representing a reserved piece of land for the government and clergy. The government and clergy got first choice on every 7th lot. The clergy and government were allowed to choose which land they got so they would choose the best fertile land. The farmers were left with not very fertile land. This made farmers very unsuccessful.

Religion:

King St. E., looking e. from Toronto St., Young, Thomas, Year/Format: 1835, Picture

What I see in this picture is a church in the back and a cairage pulled by some kind of animal. Since people didn’t live close to each other church was one of the only times the people got to interact with one another. This kept the poeple close knit and connected.

 

Society in the 19th Century

The economy of upper Canada in the 19th century largely revolved around farming. Almost everyone wanted to own or farm land and those that didn’t, worked in jobs that supported farming like selling seeds. Farming was difficult as farmers had to clear dense forests and build roads. They often had to go to remote areas with poor soil as much as the good land was already owned by absentee landlords and speculators. Farmers were often in debt and had to mortgage future crops to buy supplies. Many farmers depended on a barter economy where they would trade goods for services. The social interactions of the colonists included music at get togethers, church  and building schools. They formed close relashinships to rely on each other. There were few roads, so people had to walk. The daily life was often quiet and dark. Candles, oil lamps, and the moon were used as light sources. The politics of upper Canada included strong ties with the British Empire. Colony and community leaders were loyalists, army officers, or Brithish upper class. The government tried to impose British rule and British law this created conflict with poor colonists. The government allowed speculators to buy large pieces of land at low prices for the Brithish upper class and introduced estate and tenant farmers. The government blocked off undeveloped blocks of land for the Anglican clergy. The First Nations tried to secure land for their people with little success.

Global Warming and Settlement Patterns in Canada

Cordillera- Yes global warming would create problems for the settlement patterns of Cordillera. The population in Cordillera would increase and would become more dense. The mountains act like borders abound the cordillera so the population does not have the ability to spread since people like living on the flat ground.

Plains- No global warming would not create problems for the settlement patterns of the Plains. North of the Plains temperature would rise and since people like living were the temperature is higher the settlement would simply spread out to the North of the Plains. People have the ability to spread out since the plains are flat.

Sheild- No global warming would not create problems for the settlement patterns of the Sheild region. If global warming warmed the temperature of the Canadian Sheild, people would likely start to settle there. Since there is not much population in the Sheild there is lots of room for settlement.

St. Lawrence Low Lands- Yes global warming would create problems for the settlement patterns of the St. Lawrence low lands. Since the Low lands are already a very dense population if Canada were to warm up more people would settle in the low lands. This would create problems of over population because there is no where for the population to spread since the whole region is already very dense.

Appalachians- No global warming would not create problems for the settlement patterns of the Appalachians. If the temperature rised the population would become more dense in the Appalachian region since there is not much room to spread out, but since there are spots in this region where the population is not dense and have room for people to settle in.

Arctic- No global warming would not create problems for the settlement patterns of the Arctic region. When the temperature rises because of global warming the glaciers and ice will melt and the land of the Arctic will become hotter. Settlement might start happening south of the Arctic region but I think the North will still be to cold to settle to.