This study of Prince Edward Island until 1873 traces the island's history from pre-history through to the colony's reluctant entry into Confederation. Topics will include the nature and impact of settlement in the colony, the French Regime, the development of colonial institutions and the colonial economy, the struggle for Responsible Government, and the influence of the land tenure system on the economic, political, and social development of the Island.
'The Island Magazine' is a publication of the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation; the Foundation recently granted permission for the UPEI Library to digitize the full print back-file of this magazine, from 1976 through 2007. Arrangements to present the full digital archive of the Island Magazine on-line are being finalized, but in the meantime, we are pleased to offer Island Magazine articles from the reading list for this course as electronic reserves. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation, and the work of Kris Bulman, UPEI Library Digitization Technician, for making this possible.
The scans are archive quality so they may be quite sizable. You may wish to save the files to your own computer rather than trying to open them directly from the internet. To do so, simply right click on the link and select Save as... or Save Link as.. and after they download, they will open much more quickly, especially if you are on dial-up.
Topic 1: The Making of an Island: Pre-History to Contact
John R. DeGrace, "In the Story of the Earth, the Page Called Prince Edward Island," The Island Magazine, 46(Fall/Winter 1999).
David L. Keenlyside and Helen Kristmanson, "The Palaeo-Environment and the People of Prince Edward Island: An Archaeological Perspective," in Time and a Place: An Environmental History of Prince Edward Island (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press & Island Studies Press, 2016): 59-74.
Topic 2: The French Regime on Île St.-Jean: A Study in Adversity
Earle Lockerby, "The Comte de Saint-Pierre and Ile Saint-Jean," The Island Magazine, 61(Spring/Summer 2007): 7-14.
Georges Arsenault, "The Settlement of Havre Saint-Pierre," The Island Magazine 53(Spring/Summer 2003).
Earle Lockerby, "Deportation of the Acadians from Île St.-Jean, 1758," The Island Magazine 46(Fall/Winter 1999).
16 Sept: Reading for Quick Write
Helen Kristmanson’s “Pitawellek: A 2000 Year-Old Archaeological Site in Malpeque Bay,” The Island Magazine, no. 84 (Fall/Winter 2019).
Topic 3: The Creation of St. John’s Island – and the Birth of the Land Question
J. M. Bumsted, Land, Settlement, and Politics on Eighteenth-Century Prince Edward Island (Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1987): 12-26.
Ian Ross Robertson, The Prince Edward Island Land Commission of 1860 (Fredericton: Acadiensis Press, 1988): introduction.
Rusty Bittermann, Rural Protest on Prince Edward Island from British Colonization to the Escheat Movement (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006): 9-26.
23 Sept: Reading for Quick Write
Matthew G. Hatvany, “'Wedded to the Marshes': Salt Marshes and Socio-Economic Differentiation in Early Prince Edward Island,” Acadiensis 30, no. 2(March 2001): 40—55.
Topic 4: Entrenching the Land Question: from Walter Patterson to C.D. Smith
J. M. Bumsted, Land, Settlement, and Politics on Eighteenth-Century Prince Edward Island (Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1987): 83-97.
"Patterson, Walter," and "Fanning, Edmund," in Dictionary of Canadian Biography On-Line.
J. M. Bumsted, “The Stewart Family and the Origins of Political Conflict on Prince Edward Island,” The Island Magazine, 9(Spring/Summer 1981: 12-18.
J. M. Bumsted, “One-and-A-Half, Maybe Two Cheers for Charles Douglass Smith,” The Island Magazine, 40(Fall/Winter 1996) 28-35.
“Smith, Charles Douglass,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
7 October: Reading for Quick Write
Harvey Amani Whitfield, “Slave Life and Slave Law in Colonial Prince Edward Island, 1769-1825.” Acadiensis 38, no. 2 (2009): 29-51.
Topic 5: The Immigrants: Fear, Loathing, Greed, Hope — and Social Status!
For the Scots: Mike Kennedy, "‘The People Are Leaving': Highland Emigration to Prince Edward Island," The Island Magazine 53(Spring/Summer 2003).
For the Irish: Edward MacDonald, New Ireland: The Irish on Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown: Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation, 1990).
For the English: Bruce S. Elliott, "English Immigration to Prince Edward Island," The Island Magazine 40(Fall/Winter 1996) and 41(Spring/Summer 1997).
Topic 6: Life on the Land
Stephen A. Royle & Caitríona Ní Laoire, "‘Do Not Send My Dear Babies Here to Starve': St. John's Island in 1772," The Island Magazine 53(Spring/Summer 2003).
David Weale, "The Gloomy Forest," The Island Magazine 13(Spring/Summer 1983).
Douglas Sobey, “Log Houses on Prince Edward Island,” The Island Magazine, 86 (Fall/Winter 2019).
Topic 7: Currents of Reform: Escheat, Responsible Government, and the Tenant League
Rusty Bittermann, Rural Protest on Prince Edward Island from British Colonization to the Escheat Movement (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006): 43-59.
Harry Baglole, "William Cooper of Sailor's Hope," The Island Magazine 7(Fall/Winter 1979).
Ian Ross Robertson, "Coles, George," in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. X.
W. S. MacNutt, “Political Advance and Social Reform, 1842-1861,” in Canada’s Smallest Province, ed. F. W. P. Bolger (Charlottetown: Prince Edward Island 1973 Centennial Commission), 115-125.
4 November: Reading for Quick Write
Rusty Bittermann and Margaret McCallum, “The Pursuit of Gentility in an Age of Revolution: The Family of Jonathan Worrell, Acadiensis 43, no. 2 (Spring/Summer 2014): 31—56.
Topic 8: Industrious Islanders: The Colonial Economy & Colonial Confidence
Lewis R. Fischer, "The Shipping History of Nineteenth Century Prince Edward Island," The Island Magazine (Spring/Summer 1978)
Douglas Sobey, "The Forests of Prince Edward Island, 1720-1900," pp. 82-109 and Boyde Beck and Edward MacDonald, "Lines in the Water: Time and Place in a Fishery," both in Time and a Place: An Environmental History of Prince Edward Island (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press & Island Studies Press, 2016): 218-226.
18 November: Reading for Quick Write
Anna K. G. Jarvis, “Murder, Manslaughter, or Justified Retribution? Tom Williams, Mi'kmaw Law, and Colonial Justice on Prince Edward Island, 1839,” Acadiensis 51, no. 1 (Spring 2022): 39—65.
Topic 9: Faith & Factionalism: Politics, Education, and Sectarianism
Ian Ross Robertson, "The Bible Question in Prince Edward Island from 1856 to 1860," Acadiensis, 5(1976)2: 3-25.
Ian Ross Robertson, "Political Realignment in Pre-Confederation Prince Edward Island," Acadiensis, 15, no. 1 (Autumn 1985)
Topic 10: The Road to Confederation
Edward MacDonald, “Charlottetown and Confederation,” (pdf of wpd) or (pdf of doc) from Catherine G. Hennessey, David L. Keenlyside, and Edward MacDonald, The Landscapes of Confederation: Charlottetown, 1864 (Charlottetown: Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation, 2010).
F.W.P. Bolger, Canada's Smallest Province: A History of P.E.I. (Charlottetown: Prince Edward Island 1973 Centennial Commission, 1972) Chapters 8, 9.
2 December: Reading for Quick Write
Edward MacDonald, “Who’s Afraid of the Fenians? The Fenian Scare on Prince Edward Island, 1865—1867,” Acadiensis 38, no. 1 (Winter/Spring 2009): 33—51.
Fall 2023
Alan MacEachern, “Theophilus Stewart and the Plight of the Micmac,” The Island Magazine no. 28 (Fall/Winter 1990): 3—11.
"Ready, John," in Dictionary of Canadian Biography On-Line.
Matthew G. Hatvany, "The Proprietary Burden," The Island Magazine, 44(Fall/Winter 1998).
Ian Ross Robertson, "The Posse Comitatus Incident of 1865," The Island Magazine 24(Fall/Winter 1988)
Georges Arsenault, "The Malpeque Bay Acadians: 1728-1758," The Island Magazine, 66(Fall/Winter 2009): 2-10.
Jim Hornby. 1998. Black Islanders: Prince Edward Island’s Historical Black Community. Island Studies, Institute of Island Studies, pp. 25-32; Harvey Amani Whitfield. 2022, The Biographical Dictionary of Enslaved Black People in the Maritimes, Studies in Atlantic Canada History, University of Toronto Press, Toronto: “70. Allen, Freelove”: p. 13, and “1071. Susannah”, p. 178, and “1462. Wise, Jupiter”, p. 235;
Gisli Sigurdsson, "Vikings on Prince Edward Island?" The Island Magazine, 44(Fall/Winter 1998).
J. M. Bumsted, "The Loyal Electors of Prince Edward Island," The Island Magazine, 8(Fall/Winter 1980): 8-14.