Pathway to Confederation Charlottetown Conference

The colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were considering uniting under a central government They agreed to meet in Charlottetown to discuss a Maritime union Newfoundland was thought not to be interested in the union, so they were not invited to attend

Charlottetown Conference The United Province of Canada (Canada East and West) heard about the meeting and asked to join the conference They hoped to convince the Atlantic colonies to join with them in an even larger union The official representative of Great Britain, Governor General Lord Monck, had to approve the meeting

Charlottetown Conference The meeting took place on September 1, 1864 Eight representatives from the United Province of Canada attended, and John A. MacDonald and George Etienne- Cartier acted as leaders All representatives from the United Province of Canada argued that the Maritime union should become a British North American union

Charlottetown Conference The representatives from the Atlantic colonies had mixed feelings about Confederation The representatives from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick wanted to discuss Confederation, but were divided Representatives from Prince Edward Island were opposed

Charlottetown Conference The United Province of Canada promised that a new railway would be built joining Canada and the Atlantic colonies if a union was agreed upon The conference ended with an agreement to consider a larger union, and another meeting would be held in a month in Quebec to work out the terms