PEI

3036 Words7 Pages

Prince Edward Islands’ history is a crucial aspect in Canada’s past. The work of historians has helped to develop and in essence create its intricate and telling historiography. PEI’s early history is difficult to classify before its entrance into Canada, due to its isolated geography and heavy British influence. The most notable representations of PEI and the problem of absentee landlordism in the eighteenth century is characterized by the works of some of the most notable academics in the field: ----------.
Three Centuries and the Island: A Historical Geography of Settlement and Agriculture in Prince Edward Island, Canada, written by Andrew Hill Clark in 1959. Clark wrote on the bias of exploring the broader origins of the Island as its geography was in an ever growing and changing pattern. He maps both the population and agricultural geographies that form the basis of the land question and land development.
Canada’s Smallest Province: A History of Prince Edward Island was published in 1973 and edited by Francis W.P. Bolger who writes both articles that will be focused on. Firstly, “Land and Politics, 1787-1824,” second, “The Demise of Quit Rent and Escheat, 1824-1842”. Interestingly, the book was published by the PEI 1973 Centennial Commission to commemorate the 100th university of their entrance into Confederation. It creates the perspective of the province being painted in an overly positive light, given its financial backing. It reflects the land tenure question and its effects on the political, economic and social triangle of the Islands development. Bolger “hopes that this volume will afford its readers an appreciation of some of the important themes and issues in the history of Canada’s smallest province” (Prologue). Bo...

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... state-fostered economic growth against those who maintained… the need for fundamental land reform [as a] central issue on the Island (41). Although Escheat greatly limited landlord’s profitability which he claims added to its struggle to find success (273). The sustainability of the land reform took shape as a popular movement, but ultimately challenged things as they are. Bittermann’s focus on this, as it form the basis of the strength of the Escheats movement as it pulled together the working people and their desire to “build a better world, in part by gaining greater control over state power” (272). Bittermann’s emphasis on the social movement and the development of social and economic history on the Island shapes what has been often overlooked in previous works, making his work a catch-22 between the “evil” landlords and the states attempt at land regulation.

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