Confederation: The Making of a Nation BIG QUESTION: Was Confederation Inevitable?

Where did we leave BNA?

Who were ‘The People’ in BNA ?

Who were ‘The People’ ? The origin of people varied from region to region Canada East – French Canada West and Maritimes- British Prairies- First Nations and Metis, British and French fur traders British Columbia- British and Amercian Who were ‘The People’? The origin of people varied from region to region Canada East – French Canada West and Maritimes- British Prairies- First Nations and Metis, British and French fur traders British Columbia- British and Amercian

How did they get here? People emigrated into various regions for different reasons EMIGRATE: leave one’s country to settle elsewhere

1) Gold Rush Def’n: a mass movement to an area where gold has been discovered When gold was found in British Columbia, many British and American descendents moved into the area Gold Rush Def’n: a mass movement to an area where gold has been discovered When gold was found in British Columbia, many British and American descendents moved into the area

2) The Great Migration Between the 1830s and 1840s, there was a great emigration of people from Europe This increased the ethnic diversity of British North America to include Dutch, German and Irish peoples

The Irish Potato Famine When disease destroyed most of the country’s main crop, potatoes, many Irishmen and their families were forced to migrate to Canada

3) The Underground Railroad In 1833, slavery was made illegal in British North America Heritage In order to escape imprisonment south of the border, about 30 000 American slaves escaped to Canada West and Nova Scotia through the Underground Railroad In general, life was better for escaped slaves in BNA, but they were not always welcomed Many lived in separate communities rather than in the villages

First Nations Peoples It is uncertain how many First Nations peoples were living in the colonies during this time They mostly lived on the fringes of settlements Were not included in census takings until later, and even then their numbers were uncertain WHY WAS THIS??

First Nations Peoples con’t First Nations leaders soon realized they were no longer respected or treated as friends and allies

Political Features of BNA The British North American colonies had similar government structures Remember, colonies are: Canada West Canada East Maritimes British Columbia

The political system of the Canadas in the 1850s

The political system was fairly simple The CROWN (king/queen) appointed the governor The GOVERNOR appointed members of the legislative council and executive council EXECUTIVE COUNCIL: decided what bills would be introduced into the legislature LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY: chosen by voters VOTERS: consisted of male property owners For a Bill to become a Law, it had to be approved by the legislative assembly, the legislative council and the governor

Even though the legislative assembly was elected by the voters, the Crown still held power because it elected the Governor (WHO ALWAYS GOT THE FINAL SAY!!!) Crown generally chose a member of British nobility to be Governor The Governor then tended to choose CONSERVATIVE men to be members of the legislative council

Political Deadlock The two colonies, Canada West and Canada East, had the same number of seats in the legislative assembly This could lead to POLITICAL DEADLOCK, because the two sides could not agree on a way to solve the economic challenges faced by BNA Political deadlock: a situation where progress cannot be made b/c the parties involved do not agree

Two main issues ‘Deadlocked’ the Canadas 1) Transportation Canada West: wanted to expand transportation facilities to increase trade and wealth Canada East: did not want to change their existing way of life : They felt that better links with Canada West would threaten their identity and they did not want to tax their people to just spend the money on transportation

2) Representation THINK BACK TO GRADE 7!!! Canada West supported Representation by Population (Rep by Pop), while Canada East wanted to keep Equal Representation

But what about the Maritimes??? Government in the Maritimes Before 1784, there were only two colonies int eh Maritime region: Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island 1784: Nova Scotia divides into 3 colonies to include New Brunswick and Cape Breton Cape Breton would later join with New Brunswick

But by the 1850s… Many were talking about joining Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into one colony, with more control… so why not include P.E.I.? The British gov’t liked the idea because it would be less expensive to have one gov’t than two By 1864, the Maritime colonies had scheduled a conference in Charlottetown, P.E.I. to talk about a Maritime union

WORK WITH THE EVIDENCE P.E.I.’s Absentee Landlord problem Read provided handout Discuss with a small group: Why would the farmers of P.E.I. want to own their own land, rather than rent it from absentee landlords?

Other Distant Colonies There were other colonies in BNA, but they were too far away to have close relations with the Canadas and the Maritimes East= Newfoundland Sea crossing was dangerous/unpredictable and the colony tended to mind its own business, but watched the Maritimes closely

West= British Columbia United into a single colony in 1866 Traditionalist British gov’t system (Like the Canadas) Greatly affected by American influence Some in B.C. felt that the rest of BNA was too far away They felt that if the colony wanted to improve its status, it should join the U.S.