The Drive to Confederation

Post Rebellion After Lord Durham’s Report the British were willing to change the way they governed the Canadian colonies. There was little choice as it was apparent that if they did not reform more rebellions would be likely. By the 1860s there were a number of internal and external factors that made Confederation or a union of the colonies in British North America.

Internal Factors 1. Cultural maturity –By the 1850’s Canada West and East were large, self supporting colonies. While it tended to mimic the culture of Great Britain, there was an increasing sense of a separate independent cultural scene. 2. Political maturity –Colonists had been involved in the running of their colonies for up to 100 years by By the middle of the nineteenth century local politicians were experienced and wanted a greater say in how British North America was run. 3. Identity –The influx of immigrants, as well as the development of political and cultural maturity, led to an increased sense of “Canadianism”. While no one argued that they were not part of the British Empire, there was an increased sense that by living in Canada they were different from the “mother country”.

External Factors 1.United States / Great Britain Relations –a. Slavery: Starting in the late 1700s, cotton took over from tobacco as the “cash” crop in the Southern United States. It was extremely profitable due the reliance on slaves to grow it. At the same time Great Britain needed cotton for its cloth factories. But as of 1832 slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire and the British Royal Navy actively hunted and ships trying to transport slaves. This meant restricting the labour pool for Southern plantation owners. As well as restricting the trade of slaves, Canada served as a refuge for slaves who ran away from their owners. Canada became the “Holy Land” in gospel songs and was the final destination on the Underground Railway. –b. American Civil War: The war started out over the political right for states to support slavery. Great Britain initially supported the Southern slave owners. But when the Northern states promised to abolish slavery they withdrew their support from the South. Both sides harboured resentment towards Great Britain. The United States could not pressure or attack Great Britain directly but could easily threaten British North America. By the end of the American Civil War the victorious Northern States had almost 1,000,000 soldiers to do this.

–c. Irish Nationalism: By the 1860s the Irish were increasingly frustrated with British occupation of Ireland. A small core group of Irish nationalists advocated violence against Great Britain. Helping them were the Fenians. Fenians were Irish nationalists who had fought in the Northern United States Army. Trained and battle hardened, they wanted to strike a blow at the British in North America. They staged a number of raids across the border in the expectations that the British would pull out of Ireland.

2. Free Trade a. Reciprocity: In 1855, the United States signed a trade agreement with British North America. It allowed the United States access to British markets by trading through the Canadian colonies. American merchants sold goods to Canadian merchants who then sold it to Britain at a profit. In return the Canadian colonies could trade with the United States and not pay a tariff (tax) to do so. The treaty was to last for 10 years and then be reviewed but by 1865, the United States was angry over British attitudes to them during the Civil War. b. Free Trade: At the same time as the Reciprocity Treaty expired, Great Britain was no longer willing to keep the older closed system of trading: the Corn Laws. The Corn Laws were passed during the Napoleonic Wars to make it easier for British farmers to make money. By 1850, Britain was the superpower and no longer felt the need for the corn laws. They were abolished in the 1840s and this meant that anyone could trade with Great Britain directly. In Canada this change meant that the United States did not need to ship their goods to Canada.

British North America Act (1867) After the Quebec Conference in 1866, the remaining colonies (NS, NB, Canada East / West) took the 72 Resolutions back to their governments. Prince Edward Island walked away from Confederation over a reluctance of the other colonies to pay off the landlords in P.E.I. When the delegates returned to their colonies, the people though that the politicians had not tried hard enough to get the best deal for their colony. After a lot of hard work, the delegates were able to get the 72 Resolutions ratified (passed). With the acceptance of the 72 Resolutions, John A. Macdonald led the Canadian delegates to Great Britain to have it ratified by the British Government. It passed through the House of Commons and the House of Lords without opposition or interest. The 72 Resolutions were passed on July 1, 1867 and renamed as the British North America Act (BNA Act). Canada was born.