Almanacs and the New Middle Class: New England and Nova Scotian Influences and Middle-Class Hegemony in Early Prince Edward Island

The dichotomous messages found in the almanacs of Prince Edward Island in the early nineteenth century reveal much about the emergence of an often conservative and yet commercially oriented middle class in the colony. A close analysis of almanacs clearly indicates the presence of intricate sets of socio-economic relationships between this rising middle class and the humbler classes. The editor’s choice of materials was intended for two distinct audiences: the underclasses of tenants and labourers, who were encouraged to be industrious and were forewarned of the results of indolence; and an upper class which was in a position to benefit from advice on labour management and capitalist relations.Les messages dichotomiques trouvés dans las almanachs de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard du début du XIXe siècle en disent long sur l’émergence, dans la colonie, d’une classe moyenne souvent conservatrice, mais commerçante. Une analyse serrée des almanachs montre clairement la présence de toiles complexes de liens socioéconomiques entre cette classe moyenne montante et les classes plus humbles. Le choix documentaire des directeurs visait deux auditoires distincts : les classes marginales de locataires et d’ouvriers non qualifiés, que l’on encourageait au zèle et que l’on mettait en garde contre les résultats de l’indolence et de la classe supérieure, qui pouvait tirer profit des conseils qu’on leur prodiguait sur la gestion de la main-d’oeuvre et les relations capitalistes

Book Reviews

Review of the following books: Revolutionary Outlaws: Ethan Allen and the Struggle for Independence on the Early American Frontier by Michael A. Bellesiles; The Salem Witch Crisis by Larry Gragg; Hard Times, Hard Men: Maine and the Irish, 1830-1860 by James H. Mundy; Keepers of Our Past: Local Historical Writing in the United States, 1820s-1930s by David J. Russo; Woodsmen and Whigs: Historic Images of Bangor, Maine by Abigail Ewing Zelz and Marily Zoidis; Bethel, Maine: An Illustrated History by Randall H. Bennett; Dearest Father: The Civil War Letters of Lt. Frank Dickerson, a Son of Belfast, Maine by H. Draper Hunt