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Halifax Merchants and the Pursuit of Development, 1783–1850

THE IMAGE of the businessman in Canadian history is in a state of flux. Once viewed as the architect of nationhood, more recently he has tended to be portrayed as the agent of continental assimilation.• Until now, assessment of entrepreneurial performance has largely concentrated on activities within central Canada. This paper seeks to broaden the geographic scope of the inquiry by analyzing the eighteenthand early nineteenth-century development strategy of the merchant community in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The inquiry seeks to establish the extent to which this east-coast business Elite consciously attempted and in fact succeeded in building a northern regional economy distinct from that of the United States. The analysis focuses on the period between the end of the American Revolution and the coming of free trade. 2