SOURCE: Taylor, M. Brook. “Haliburton as a Historian.” In The Thomas Chandler Haliburton Symposium, edited by Frank M. Tierney, pp. 103-22. Ottawa, Ont.: University of Ottawa Press, 1985.

In the following essay, an earlier version of which was published in Acadiensis: Journal of the History of the Atlantic Region in spring 1984, Brook shows how Haliburton used historical narrative and promotional description to bolster Nova Scotian patriotism by suggesting that the colony embodied the best and most vital qualities of British civilization.

“This is my own my native land.”(1) 

Thomas Chandler Haliburton needs little introduction to students of Maritime history and literature. From the moment the first of his satirical Clockmaker series appeared in 1836, Haliburton and his fictional hero “Sam Slick” became international celebrities. And if Haliburton's reputation has subsequently faded abroad, and suffered periods of quiescence at home, he has never wanted for readers, and is even now the...