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 Union

DefenseMore 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 1873

They 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