Canadian Confederation The 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 Defense More 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 debt Absentee land owners Year-round ferry service NL only joined in 1949 The idea of Confederation was brought up several times between 1867 and 1949 Massive debt and decreasing value of fisheries Dissatisfaction with a Commissioned Gov’t