Heartland/Hinterland

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Heartland/Hinterland

• And
• The Staple trade

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Definitions

• Staple- Raw material, such as fish, timber, or
  wheat, which dominates an economys exports
• Heartland- a region that is the economic centre
  of a country or empire
• Hinterland- a region that provides the resources
  needed by the heartland
• Staple thesis- an economic theory advanced by
  Harold Innis that argues that the development of
  a resource based economy influenced Canadas
  political and social development

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Mercantilism and Staple Resources

• European expansionism was motivated by the desire
  for the riches that the Spaniards had brought
  back to Europe in the 15th century
• Instead, European explorers found other
  resources-fish, furs, timber, and wheat
• Two-way system hinterland provided rich natural
  resources ltgt heartland manufactured goods from
  these materialsltgtSold back to hinterland

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Cod fishery

• In the late 1400s Europe needed a new food
  source
• John Cabot introduced English to cod fisheries
  off the coast of Newfoundland
• 2 methods
• Wet (green) fish brought onboard to be cleaned,
  filleted, heavily salted, then shipped back to
  Europe
• Dry fish taken to shore, cleaned, split, lightly
  salted, cleaned a few days later again, then
  dried
• This caused seasonal fishing villages to be
  built along Atlantic coast (eg. Newfoundland)

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How does the cod fishery illustrate mercantilism
at its most basic?

• Fish exported solely for the benefit of the
  mother country
• No incentive for local businesses to develop
  around that industry
• No local infrastructure development by mother
  country in colonies (roads, agricultural
  settlements)

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Fur trade

• Jacques Cartier explored the interior of the
  continent via the St. Lawrence River
• Through contact with native peoples, discovered
  the valuable staple commodity- furs
• Required assistance of native people to get the
  furs French used Hurons to get furs from the
  Innu (Montagnais) and Abenaki
• French lived in fur-trading posts along the St.
  Lawrence River

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Hudsons Bay Company

• English wanted to be part of the lucrative fur
  trade, but had not established settlement in the
  interior
• 1610gt Henry Hudson opened up the area around the
  Hudson Bay
• 1670gt a Royal charter created the Hudsons Bay
  Company, giving it a monopoly over all fur
  trading in territories drained by rivers flowing
  into Hudson Bay

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Map of drainage basin

• www.meds-sdmm.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/alphapro/
  zmp/Maps/map3basins.gi
• The charter gave the Company political and
  economic control over almost 8 million km² of
  territory
• Much rivalry occurred between the French and
  English, until 1763

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www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/
Buffalo/images/pf046995.jp

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Early Hudson's Bay Company Buildings at
Athabasca Landing, Provincial Archives of
Alberta, Ernest Brown Collection, A3264.

                                             
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www.rootsweb.com/usgenweb/wa/ pierce/postcards/hu
dbay-s.jpg

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Impact of the fur trade

• Profits centralized in heartland (Europe)
• Production of metal and cloth products exchanged
  for furs also centralized in heartland
• Added to knowledge of N. American continent
• Traders movements established beginnings of
  business interests and transportation infra
  structures
• Initially beneficial to native peoples, but
  disease, increased warfare, displacement, loss
  of sense of identity occurred