“Artisans in Merchant Towns” by Sean Cadigan Essay (Critical Writing)

Sean Cadigan describes the artisans as a political and economic fraternity of labor aristocrats and petite bourgeoisie struggling against the interest of the great merchants in staple trade. He also describes them as those capable of becoming other than workers, industrialists, or petty producers locked into conflict with staple merchants.

In his thesis, he is right in the way he describes or defines the merchants because from his article we can see the artisans constantly locked in a tussle or in a battle of supremacy with the merchants over control of trade. This can be seen when he talks about the building of the Anglican Church in which John Sawer, an artisan, is blamed by the merchants for underestimating the building expense. Governor Waldegrave on the other hand blames the merchants for their over-pricing of the building materials. This highlights the conflict between the merchants and the artisans in their quest for actualization and Sean’s definition of the artisans best captures this.

In this discussion, the author talks about the rise of the artisans, their struggle to make ends meet and to succeed in their trade. The artisan’s labor under economic disparities comes from the way in which fishery dominated the economy. They employed most of the labor force leaving little for the artisans. He also mentions the high pricing of goods and raw materials by merchants as problems that affected the artisans which is definitely an economic truth.

The increase in economic activities and administration, the increased growth in population not forgetting the Napoleonic war which generated demand for artisans and the need to increase buildings are some of the factors he mentioned as having contributed to the growth of the artisans. This is definitely a true fact considering the town and its opportunities.

Sean Cadigan’s discussion of artisans in a town is very detailed and idea-based whilst informative and well researched. For example, is when he talks about the problems faced by the artisans he gives evidence of these problems. For instance, when he talks about economic problems facing the artisans like homeownership, he depicts how few artisans owned homes and he gives a number that is 139 out of 591 households in the town. This coupled with other evidence like the court cases he mentions that faced the artisans clearly gives evidence or clearly describes the lives of the artisans.

It will be untrue or unrealistic to conclude or surmise that all of Cadigan’s evidence is tangible or factual. Some are clearly speculative thus undermining the credibility of this thesis. For instance, he says that “Little evidence exists to allow an assessment of the place of the place of the artisans within the social and economic structure of St.Johns although artisan in other parts of North America generally fell into the upper strata of producing classes as marketers of skill instead of labor”¹. He also says that “After 1699 other planters could have established rights to land by interrupted usage in fish trade….”² All this is mere speculation or deduced evidence that might be true or not and needs further research to authenticate.

The evidence he implored in his thesis supports his argument and it makes clear all that he says about this merchant as he discusses them. The text is also very much logical because it talks about the artisans, the challenges they faced in their quest for success, and how they overcame them giving all the evidence to support his argument.

In comparison with Bumsteads writing, Cadigan’s writing is quite detailed with great dwelling on the economic perspective on the lives of the artisans. Bumstead’s writing on the other hand dwells more on the ethnic perspective of the lives of the native Americans. The detailed level of coverage of the topic exhibits a great understanding and research effort he has put into it. Bumstead’s writing has a general outlook on the lives of the Native Americans in Canada, but Cardigans article is more specific on the nature and struggles in the economic lives of the artisans in Newfoundland in particular. The reason why this particular topic is not covered by Bumstead is that his writing in general, but this article concentrates on a particular issue in a specific area.

Sean Cadigan being a historian majorly uses historical evidence, for instance, the Napoleonic war and others, and this influences his writing and can explain why he relies on historical information and possibly not other factors that might have contributed to the same like economic factors.

Reference

Bumstead J.M. A history of the Canadian peoples Oxford University Press 2007.

Sean Cadigan. Artisans in Merchant Towns. St. Johns Newfoundland, 1775-1816.

Footnotes

1. Howard B. Rock, Artisans of the New Republic: The Trades Men of Newyork City In the Age of Jefferson (New York 1979), 3.
2. Melvin Baker, “Absentee Landlord and Municipal Government in 19^th century St. John’s paper presented to the Canadian Historical Association, Guelph, 1984.