All of the below, except for Stories from Canada’s Economic History, are licensed via a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You are free to share, copy or remix these, as long as you credit the source. While Stories is not licensed via a Creative Commons license, it is entirely free.
The texts below are annotated sourcebooks that draw from contemporary, public domain sources, predominantly newspapers. All are provided in PDF format, and feature interactive tables of contents.
- Stories from Canada’s Economic History ( SCEH2ED )- Chapters include Newfoundland, Fur, The Treaties and After, Chinese Immigration, Gold, Railways, The American ‘Invasion’, Wheat and Farming, The Status of Prairie Women 1912 – 1916, Housework, Women and Paid Work, and Money and Banking.
- Stories of Indian Days ( storiesofindiandayscc ) – My edition of the previously uncollected reminiscences of Reginald Beatty, a former fur trader for the Hudson’s Bay Company. Title by the author. Extensively annotated and intended for high school use.
- Caughnawaga (Kahnawá:ke): Settler accounts to 1900 ( Caughnawagato1900 )- A sourcebook on a prominent Mohawk community focusing on land use and government. Chapters include The 18th Century, After Confederation, Toward a New Century, The Franchise, Chiefs and Councillors, Exhibitions and Appearances, Claims in Vermont and New York, The Seigniory of Sault St. Louis, and Schools.
- Permission: A Blood Reserve Sourcebook Drawn from Settler Records ( permission )- A sourcebook focused on ranching and farming on the Blood Reserve of Southern Alberta, with an emphasis on the impact of government policies. Chapters include Fifteen years (1913 – 1928), Government reaction to conventions at Macleod (1924-1925), and Rations and Cattle Killing (1888 – 1895).
- Our Betrayed Wards ( ourbetrayedwards )- My edition, with new appendices, of a work self-published by R. N. Wilson, a former Indian agent, in 1921. Wilson wished to draw attention to the way in which the federal government’s ‘Greater Production’ measures during World War I had affected the Blood Reserve.
- A Selkirk Settlement Sourcebook ( SelkirkSourcebookv11 )- I was frustrated by the lack of compelling, readable material on the economic history of the Selkirk settlement that was suitable for undergraduate courses, so I compiled this collection. It covers the century from 1811 to 1911.
- Newfoundland in International Context 1758-1895 ( NFIntContext )- The topics in this volume have proven very popular with students. Chapters include Ways of Life and Work, Migration, The End of the Beothuk World, Conflict with the French, Conflict with the United States, Conflict with Canada, The Crash of 1894, The Eating of Salt Cod, and an appendix on the Gaspe cod fishery.
- Fixing the Price of Sugar: Canada, 1887 – 1920 ( fixingsugarv22 )- Canada has an interesting history of sugar cartels. This offers a quick look at some of them. Prepared for use in a course on Competition Policy.
- Bank(ing) Notes ( bankingnotes )- The story of two Canadian bank failures (the Central Bank and the Farmers Bank), plus a few interesting discussions of early Canadian banking policy.
- The Fraser and the Klondike ( fraserklondike ) – The story of two gold rushes, presented in a way that facilitates analysis from the perspective of Narrative Economics. Includes accounts of the Fraser Canyon war of 1858. Emphasis is placed on the Indigenous role in gold discoveries. Chapters include Donald Fraser on the Fraser River Gold Rush, More Tales of the Fraser River Gold Rush, Tappan Adney on the Klondike Gold Rush, and More Tales of the Klondike Gold Rush.
- From Corn Laws to Wheat Board: Topics in Canadian Wheat Marketing 1821 – 1950 ( corntowheatv11 ) – Chapters include The Corn Laws, The Elevator Monopoly, After the Great War, The Wheat Pools, and The Wheat Board.
- Fine Habits: opium & morphine users in British Columbia to 1914 ( finehabitsv1 )- Focuses on opiate users and their lives and circumstances. Separate sections for morphine and opium users.
- “This Lucrative Trade” Opium Smuggling and Factories in British Columbia, 1863 – 1908 ( lucrativetradev11 ) – A sourcebook for a very popular topic with students.
- Japanese Immigration to British Columbia and the Vancouver Riot of 1907 ( Japanese1907v1 )- Chapters include Antecedents, The Natal Acts, Vancouver’s Asiatic Exclusion League, The Vancouver Riot, and Hawaii and the Gotoh-Bowser Affair.
- “Only a working girl” – Canadian Women and Paid Work 1880 – 1921 ( workinggirlv1 ) – Chapters include “Only a working girl,” Trades and Case Studies, Conditions of Life and Work, Alberta and the “Domestic Problem,” The Paid Domestic Worker, and Canadian Women Bank Clerks and the Great War.
- Next Step Stories: Trade Training of Canadian Girls ( nextstepstories )– My edition of Marjory MacMurchy’s 1913 anthology, previously uncollected.
- “Woman’s sphere of Action” Canadian women, housework and the household, 1858 – 1921 ( sphereofactionv1 )- Chapters include Woman’s Sphere, The Challenge of Housework, The Farmer’s Wife, The servant problem, Training in Housework, Laundry, The Kitchen, The Cost of Living, and Dower Laws for Western Canada.
If you find these at all useful, drop me a line! (E-mail not reproduced here for spam-related reasons, but it’s quick to find with a web search.)