CANADIAN CONFEDERATIONThe Unification of a Country
First Thing’s First ~ K-W-L Take out a piece of paper Create three columns 1st – Knowledge: What do you know
about Confederation already? 2nd – Want: What do you want to learn
about Confederation? 3rd – Learned: You’ll fill this out when
we’re done.
American Influences
Manifest Destiny American Civil War
The Alabama Affair○ Built in a British dock for the Confederates○ Caused a lot of destruction
The Trent Affair○ Raised tensions between America and the UK
Manifest Destiny
Internal Influences
The End of the Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty
Political Deadlock The Possibility of Economic
Development.
The Charlottetown Conference
Originally intended to just be attended by the Atlantic Provinces
Maritime UnionDefenseMore Independence
Each province selected delegates but not a date!
The Charlottetown Conference
Then J.A.M. Heard of the meeting and asked to tag along.
He had is own ideas for a union. The Conference was set for Sept. 1st,
1864. Newfoundland was asked if they would
like to attend with mere weeks before the conference and were unable to attend.
The Charlottetown Conference
The first day, nothing much happened. The second day, the Canadians were
invited to present their ideas on Union. Once this was done, Maritime Union
was mostly forgotten. Cartier and MacDonald spear-headed
the proposition.
Sir George-Étienne Cartier
•Was Born in Lower Canada (modern day Quebec)•He was a lawyer•Entered politics in 1848•Formed the government of Upper Canada with John A. Macdonald and served as co-premiers between 1857 and 1862
John A. MacDonald•born in Glasgow, Scotland•moved to Kingston, Upper Canada when he was 5•Began to study law at 15•In 1844 he entered provincial politics in Upper Canada
The Charlottetown Conference
The main points of J.A.M. and G.E.C.’s proposition included: preservation of ties with Great Britain residual jurisdiction left to a central authority a bicameral system (a Lower House with rep. by
population [rep by pop] and an Upper House with rep. based on regional, rather than provincial, equality
responsible government at the federal and provincial levels the appointment of a governor general by the British
Crown. The rest of the conference was spent in discussions
regarding the merits of the proposed unions.
Post Conference
After the conference ended on Sept 9th, the delegates went back to their provinces and met with local governments.
It was decided that this proposition had enough interest to hold another meeting.
J.A.M asked, Canadian Governor Monck to extend an invitation to the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland to attend another meeting in Quebec.
The Quebec Conference
Took place between Oct 10th and 27 1886. This time Newfoundland made it, but only
observed There was still no representation from any
territories further west than Upper Canada.
After two weeks of negotiations, the delegates came up with the Seventy-Two Resolutions
The Seventy-Two Resolutions Also known as the Quebec resolutions Set the guide lines for unification and how
the country was to be run. Set the numbers of representation to both
houses Also Set out the option for Newfoundland
to join as well as provisions for the inclusion of the western territories (which included the North West Territory and B.C.)
Post-Québec Reaction – N.B.
The politicians who attended were in for a rude awakening when they returned home.
Public reaction was harsh and the legislature was mostly against the idea.
Premier Samuel Leonard Tilley had his work cut out for him
Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley
•Born in Gagetown, New Brunswick•He became a certified pharmacist in 1838•His political career began in 1850 and centered around temperance, responsible government and connecting NB with the rest of the country with a railway.•He heavily supported Confederation.
New Brunswick Resistance Lead by Albert Smith, who became the
unofficial opposition leader Supported mostly by merchants and
shippers who feared a variety of new costs including higher taxes, higher tariffs, and an increase in competion.
Minorities were also untrusting of Tilley and this unification idea.
New Brunswick Resistance Tilley called a snap election in 1865 and
lost a significant majority to Smith and his coalition of Reformers and Conservatives
Infighting became a significant issue The Fenian raids also caused a significant
loss of support for smith Smith resigned in the spring of 1886 and
Tilley’s pro-Confederation gov’t took over yet again.
Nova Scotian Resistance
Charles Tupper was also surprised to find much displeasure when he returned home to Nova Scotia
However, Tupper was not overly concerned since his party held a wide majority in the NS legislature
That is until Joseph Howe got involved
Joseph Howe•Born in Halifax•A printer and a journalist•Got into politics in 1841
Nova Scotian Resistance
Howe became one of the most vocal opponents to the idea of confederation
He believed that NS lacked the railroads, and social and economic resources needed to make confederation worth while
He also believed that such a unification would lead to a severe drop in NS independence and financial ruin.
Nova Scotian Resistance
In the end, Tupper was able to push through the Quebec resolution without consulting the general public
Howe couldn’t let it go Over the next few years he would
campaign against the idea to anyone who would listen.
He would end up heading a delegation to England to oppose the passage of an act of union
PEI & NL
Decided against joining Confederation Both were afraid that in a government
based on representation by population they would have no influence
They also believed, NL especially, that they could be more economically successful without taking on the debt of the other provinces
The London Conference
Took place in London, England Attended by New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, and the Province of Canada The goal of this final conference was to
write the British North America Act In December 1866 the conference
began with a thorough review of the Québec Resolutions
The London Conference
Once the review was completed in late December, the "London Resolutions" were sent to the Colonial Office.
These resolutions would be the basis of the proposed bill
The conference then met with British officials to hammer out the details of the bill
All the while, Howe was still attempting to have any union agreement overturned.
The London Conference Because of this, most of Tupper’s time was
dedicated to countering Howe’s arguments. The delegates had a completed text for the bill
by the first week of February 1867 The British North America act was submitted
to the Queen on February 11th and received Royal Assent March 29, 1867.
Canada became dominion on July 1st, 1867
As a side note:
PEI joined Confederation in 1873They were in massive debtAbsentee land ownersYear-round ferry service
NL only joined in 1949The idea of Confederation was brought up
several times between 1867 and 1949Massive debt and decreasing value of
fisheriesDissatisfaction with a Commissioned Gov’t
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