Canada Corn Act 1843

The Canada Corn Act was passed in 1843 by the British Parliament and allowed Canadian grains (then referred to as corn) to enter the British market at reduced duties.[1] The act was repealed in 1846.

Duties on Wheat, etc. Act 1843
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Citation6 & 7 Vict. c. 29

History

Origins

British passage of the Importation Act 1815 – the Corn Law – impacted the market for Canadian grains by restricting their importation into Britain, despite the fact Canada was part of the British Empire.[2]

Enactment

The 1843 act was enacted to provide some relief to grain farmers in Upper Canada, by reducing the duty of Canada wheat imported into Britain to (a nominal) 1 shilling a quarter.[3]

The reduced tariff led to increasingly profitable shipping through the St. Lawrence route.[4] To attract business for shipping businesses in the United States, the American government responded by allowing Canadian grain bound for Britain to pass through the Erie Canal without import duties.[5]

The Act allowed for the importation to the UK of Canadian grain, be it processed or not. Accordingly, a trade sprung up in American grain, shipped to Canada for milling, and then on to the UK. This impetus caused a boom in the Canadian flour-milling industry.[6]

Repeal

After a short time, the advantages to Canada of the Corn Act were undone when British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel moved Britain towards free trade. A shortage of food caused by the Great Famine of Ireland created the need for cheap imported grain,[7] and the act was repealed in 1846.[8]

This was seen at the time as blow to Canada by abolition of the (effective) imperial preference the act had created;[9] the impact of the repeal to grain exports in practice, in the later 1840s and 1850s,[8] remains a subject of historical debate.[1]

See also

References
  1. D. L. Burn (January 1928). "V. Canada and the Repeal of the Corn Laws". Cambridge Historical Journal. Cambridge University Press. 2 (3): 252–272. doi:10.1017/S1474691300003528. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  2. The National Review. W.H. Allen. 1905. pp. 871–873.
  3. E Halevy, Victorian Years (London 1961) p. 42-3
  4. William Edward Mann; Les Wheatcroft (1976). Canada: A Sociological Profile. Copp Clark Pub. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-7730-2162-4.
  5. William Thomas Easterbrook; Hugh G. J. Aitken (1988). Canadian Economic History. University of Toronto Press. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-8020-6696-1.
  6. Denison 1955, p. 196
  7. Roger E. Riendeau (2007). A Brief History of Canada. Infobase Publishing. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-4381-0822-3.
  8. "Canada Corn Act". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  9. G M Trevelyan, British History in the 19th Century (London 1922) p. 263

Sources
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