"During its formative years from 1788 to 1850, Ontario was a conservative society, rejecting everything American while attempting to preserve the best of British culture. The social and political elite believed they possessed "natural virtue" and the few at the top of the hierarchy came to control the bulk of the land, the basis of the economy. At the other end of the spectrum were many powerless individuals who transformed the land and themselves through their own labour. Blending qualitative and quantitative approaches, John Clarke measures the pulse of Ontario's pre-industrial society."--BOOK JACKET.