Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Other British Provinces in North America

This 1843 publication describes the society and economy of Canada as observed by the British social reformer James Silk Buckingham.

In 1839 the British writer and reformer James Silk Buckingham travelled to Canada to investigate its social and economic landscape. In this revealing study, first published in 1843, he describes an industrious, civilized and hospitable society experiencing widespread poverty, and calls for increased support from Britain to improve both economies.The Cornish-born traveller and writer James Silk Buckingham (1786–1855) campaigned energetically for social reform while a Member of Parliament during the 1830s. He later spent four years in North America, and in 1839 travelled on to Canada to investigate its social and economic landscape. In this revealing account, first published in 1843, Buckingham recalls his experiences in the Eastern provinces. He found the Canadians to be civilized, hospitable, hard working and unfailingly loyal to Britain (unlike the independent Americans, who he reports they despised). He also encountered evidence of widespread poverty, and argues that in order to advance Canada's economy and, in turn, that of Britain, new emigrants needed better financial support from the British government. He concludes by calling for a new system whereby land, labour, skill and capital would be optimally utilized, in a pioneering proposal that he expected to prove controversial.