Today’s Plan Debt today, why it matters, and a connection to early British Columbia Presentation: The Colony of British Columbia and Confederation Activity: The Confederation Question

Debt Today… Debt in Canada is over Trillion Dollars  ada Debt in the USA is at Trillion Dollars  tedstates

The Colony of British Columbia

The Impact of the Gold Rush During the Gold Rush ( ), prospectors came to the new colony of British Columbia As the gold ran out, however, these prospectors left British Columbia and so did their revenue On top of this the Cariboo road had created $1,000,000 in debt in British Columbia

The Union of the Colonies Up until this point, Vancouver Island and British Columbia had been two separate colonies, and neither had money Like British Columbia, Vancouver Island had lost considerable money and was $300,000 in debt (today Britain is $ Billion in debt The two colonies decided to ask Britain to create a union and their request was granted on August 6, 1866

A New Leader In 1864, the Governor of the two colonies, James Douglas had retired He was replaced by Frederick Seymour in British Columbia and Arthur Kennedy on Vancouver Island When the two colonies were formally joined in 1866, Frederick Seymour would be the new colony’s first governor

The Legislative Assembly Under Governor Seymour was a Legislative Council of twenty three members Of these, only nine were elected leaving the population of BC with little say in their government Responsible government would not exist in BC until later in the century

Pre Confederate Cities in British Columbia

Life in British Columbia In the colony of British Columbia, most people in the area were retired miners or traders Most people were illiterate and could not write so few documents on of how poor people lived remain At this point, many Chinese were also living in British Columbia now often owning or working at grocery stores, hardware stores, and lodging

The Life of Women in British Columbia Even less is know about women in early British Columbia yet historians can tell a lot about how they lived through surviving pictures and journals from the few that could write Most common women worked in selling “food, liquor, and lodging” On top of this, some women were able to work in the arts and in music

A Call for Confederation Shortly after the joining of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, BC would join Canada on July 20, 1871 Confederation wasn’t a welcome choice amongst all Canadians Activity o Read pages and fill in a T-Chart with positive outcomes of joining British Columbia on one side, and negative outcomes on the other o When you are finished create a poster to advertise the cause of a: o Confederationist o Anti-Confederationist o Annexationist