From Outpost to Outport (eBook)

In 1766 Gasp became an outpost of the Jersey metropole, in 1886 the Channel island of Jersey abandoned the region, reducing Gasp, on Quebec's Atlantic coast, to Canadian outport status. From Outpost to Outport provides a structural and theoretical examination of the economic relationship between Jersey and Gasp, explaining the development of codfish as a staple which, under merchant capital, secured success for Jersey at the expense of underdevelopment in Gasp.
Using the extensive papers of the firm Charles Robin and Company of Jersey and Paspebiac, and the records of the Jersey mercantile establishment, Rosemary Ommer presents a detailed case study of commodity trade, uncovering the development, function, and strengths and weaknesses of all aspects of the fishery. Her analysis clearly reveals a functional three-point trading system: production in Gasp, management in Jersey, and markets in the Mediterranean, the West Indies, and Brazil.

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Using the extensive papers of the firm Charles Robin and Company of Jersey and Paspebiac, and the records of the Jersey mercantile establishment, Rosemary Ommer presents a detailed case study of commodity trade, uncovering the development, function, and strengths and weaknesses of all aspects of the fishery. Her analysis clearly reveals a functional three-point trading system: production in Gaspe, management in Jersey, and markets in the Mediterranean, the West Indies, and Brazil. Employing a new set of methodologies developed for this study, Ommer is able to escape the myopic perspective of works which assume that staple-based development comprises only "e;good"e; and "e;bad"e; staples that inevitably lead to development and underdevelopment respectively. She has instead produced a rich and complex analysis which broadens our understanding of colonial staple development and commodity trade and introduces new insights on regional development.