Allan Greer
Historian and author specializing in early colonial Canadian history, here appearing to discuss his 2026 book Canada in the Age of Rum and its findings about rum's role in early Canadian economy and society.
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Mar 31, 2026 • 45min
Allan Greer, "Canada in the Age of Rum" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2026)
Allan Greer, historian of early colonial Canada, explores why massive quantities of rum flowed into North America from the 1670s to the 1830s. He traces rum’s role in fisheries, the fur trade, and employer tactics to extract labor. He also discusses how traders used rum in Indigenous trade, Indigenous responses to alcohol, and why rum’s dominance later collapsed.
Mar 31, 2026 • 45min
Allan Greer, "Canada in the Age of Rum" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2026)
Allan Greer, a Canadian historian of early colonial life and author of Canada in the Age of Rum, traces how massive rum imports reshaped work and trade from the 1670s to the 1830s. He explores rum’s role in fisheries and the fur trade, its use to control labour and trade with Indigenous peoples, Indigenous responses and resistance, and why rum’s dominance faded by the 1830s.
