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History General

The Ordinary People of Essex

Environment, Culture, and Economy on the Frontier of Upper Canada

by (author) John Clarke

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Nov 2010
Category
General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780773537774
    Publish Date
    Sep 2011
    List Price
    $45.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773536746
    Publish Date
    Nov 2010
    List Price
    $150.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780773581258
    Publish Date
    Nov 2010
    List Price
    $135.00

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Description

Clarke covers a remarkable number of topics, including geographic factors in the choice of agricultural land, land acquisition and clearance, energy expended in clearing and planting the land, and selection of specific crops and their extent and yields in particular combinations of soils. He also investigates the geographic parameters for wheat production – which drove the local economy – and the cultural origins of farmers as it relates to their use of intensive and extensive agriculture. Brimming with detail and expert analysis, The Ordinary People of Essex is an illuminating study of settler life and the conditions that make it possible to found a community. It complements the author’s award–winning Land, Power, and Economics.

About the author

John Clarke has been involved in anti-poverty struggles since he helped to form a union of unemployed workers in London, Ontario, in 1983. He is a founding member of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and worked as one of its organizers from 1990 to 2019. He is currently the Packer Visitor in Social Justice at York University in Toronto.

John Clarke's profile page