Each phase of settlement in the Eastern Townships underwent many different types of impediments, which hindered the establishment of any one cultural group in the area. These impediments were rivers, roads and absentee landlords, all of which had to do with the geography of the land in one way or another.

 

Rivers:

            The intricate river system of the Eastern Townships was one of the major points addressed in a positive light in settlement literature, implying that they were navigable and convenient. Contrary to this however, the St. Francis River and its tributaries were almost impossible to travel on due to the presence of rapids, narrows, shallow areas, rocks, drops and turbulence. Because the earlier settlers in the Eastern Townships were unaware of the impassability of the river system, they would often attempt to enter the region via the port in Quebec City or Montreal and were therefore unable to access the area without risking their lives and possessions.

            Although the Abenaki Peoples were able to manage the rough waterways of the Eastern Townships, the American and European settlers who came later, found it much more convenient to settle elsewhere. The complex river network of the region ensured that early populations were kept small and to specific areas of the area, as it was not until a certain degree of industrialization tamed the waterways and reliable road systems were in place that settlement in the Eastern Townships was possible.

 

Roads:

            Although the Eastern Townships desperately needed roads to encourage and aid settlement in the area, what was originally constructed actually did little to help raise the population of the region. The early roads in the region were so poorly built that they resembled nature trails more than major transportation routes. Many settlers sent petitions to the British Crown in hopes of receiving financial support for the construction and maintenance of a decent road system, but these were ignored for the first thirty years of the nineteenth century.

            The reason the request for better roads was denied for so long was because the common British belief was that by constructing a reliable road network, they would be making the region more attractive to American settlers when it was British subjects they wanted in the area. It was not until the British population was greater than that of the Americans in the region that funding was finally granted to improve the Eastern Townships’ roads.

            Once roads were constructed and maintained in a respectable manner with the funding coming from land taxes, settlers in the region were removed from isolation and were able to export agricultural goods as a means of supporting themselves. Along with this, came a rise in population in the area because it was not so secluded. However, the increase of taxes on land that benefited from the new roads eventually turned settlers off the region as they did not want to pay the high tax rate even if they could afford to do so. This further hindered the population of the Eastern Townships and was routed in the presence of absentee landlords.

 

Proprietors:

            Once the Eastern Townships began to generate a system of settlement and production due to improvements in the area’s road network, absentee proprietors began to hinder the success f the region, socially and economically. Absentee proprietors were those who had been granted land by the British Crown but had never settled it. This included military officers and political figures that obtained the land, yet saw no use for it.

            As settlement in the region developed and grew, absentee proprietors began to own a significant amount of land, making less of the area available for purchase, and the portion of roads running by their land were not maintained because they did not pay taxes, making travel extremely difficult in some areas. Settlers would often build their homes on the land that belonged to these proprietors, and they were then either asked to vacate the land as it was not their property, or they were compensated for the work they had done in such a way that it would go towards the purchase of the land.

            Land sold to settlers by absentee proprietors was extremely expensive and included burdensome conditions for the purchaser. Some of these conditions were that the land would be taken away if the owner or his heirs no longer lived on the property, or that once the new owner passed away, the land would not be passed down to his heirs. These added catches to absentee proprietor’s land made it very unattractive to settlement, and since they owned so much of the land in the Eastern Townships, this reflected poorly on the entire region, preventing a growth in population and one specific cultural group to remain in the area until the French, who came to the region after many of these impediments had been worked out.