1. Just Before Confederation A TIME OF CHANGE

2. Politics in Canada Politics in Canada in the mid 1800’s was a stormy affair. The provinces were divided by language, religion and different opinions on what direction the new provinces should take. In 1841 there were two main political groups. The Conservatives or Tories (known as the Parti Bleu) in Quebec. The Reform Party or Clear Grits (Parti Rouge) in Quebec.

3. Ottawa as a Capital In 1857 the issue of choosing a capital for the province created a major crisis. Since 1841 the assembly had met at different times in Kingston, Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto. In 1857 the government left the decision to Queen Victoria. The Queen chose Ottawa, for several reasons; 1) Ottawa was far from the U.S. border and could be protected in an attack. 2) It had good water transportation routes for moving troops in case of war with the U.S. 3) Ottawa was right on the border between Canada East and Canada West. Not everyone was pleased with the Queen’s choice. When a vote was taken to move the capital to Ottawa, most voted against the move. Even though Sir John A. government had a majority of the seats, the vote toppled his government. George Brown and his Grits became the government, but they suffered a “non- confidence vote”. He was only PM for 48 hours. Sir John A. and his Conservative government were returned to power.

4. Aerial shot of Downtown Ottawa

5. Construction of the Parliament Buildings Early picture of Downtown Ottawa

6. Early photo of Ottawa Locks connecting Rideau Canal to the Ottawa River

7. Main Street in Ottawa 1905

8. More Photos of Ottawa University of Ottawa and the National War Memorial

9. The Rideau Canal Map of the Eastern section of the Rideau Canal

10. Political Deadlock and Coalition Governments During the 1860’s getting any bills (new laws) passed through the assembly was almost impossible. Members of the government and the opposition in the assembly were almost equal. Each would vote against the other, so the system came to a grinding halt. George Brown and his Reform Party wanted representation by population because Canada West was much larger than Canada East. Canada East hated the idea because they would be severely outnumbered. George Brown

11. Political Deadlock and Coalition Governments Political deadlock continued. In the three years before 1864, four governments resigned and there were two general elections. Neither party could get enough votes to win a government. Sir John A. almost quit politics. George Brown came up with a solution. He suggested a coalition government. A coalition government is the joining of different political parties in the time of emergency. Portrait of Sir John A. Macdonald

12. Sir John A. Macdonald He arrived in Canada from Scotland in 1820. In those days a young man could work in a lawyer’s office during the day and study at law at night. So at age 15, John went to work for a prominent Kingston lawyer. In 1836 at the age of 21 he opened his own law office in Kingston. Due to numerous family problems, Sir John began to drink heavily. In 1867 he was elected as the first Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada. Prime Minister 1867-

13. Sir John A. Macdonald

14. Chapter 2 - The Push to Nationhood Why did the British North American colonies want an independent country??? There were 5 major reasons; Reason #1 - The Threat of American Takeover Between 1861 and 1865 the U.S. was embroiled in a nasty civil war. The Northern states of the U.S. were fighting their own country men from the Southern states. The Civil war really had nothing to do with Canada or Britain, but wars have a terrible habit of affecting the countries around them. The British supported the Southern states, which did not sit well with the larger and better equipped Northern states. After the North won the war in 1865, many felt they may now turn North to conquer Canada. For either being part of the British Empire or so the Americans would control North America.

15. American Civil War Map

16. The American Civil War - The Union Union Calvary Union soldiers resting

18. The American Civil War Civil war hospital

20. The Confederates

21. General Lee and his soldiers

22. Abraham Lincoln

23. The Push to Nationhood Reason #2 - Trouble with Trade The British North American colonies enjoyed a special position, called a preference, in trading with Britain. In 1846 the British ended the preference and moved to a system of free trade. Many Canadians had invest lots of money into business so they could take advantage of the preference system. Now they had to compete with other countries. In 1854, The British North American colonies signed a reciprocity agreement with the U.S. Under the agreement, certain goods could be traded between the countries without tariffs. In 1865 the American ended the reciprocity agreement and the colonies again faced economic uncertainty.

24. The Push to Nationhood Reasons #3 - The Fenian Raids The Fenians were Irish or of Irish descent and their goal was the humiliation of the British government. The Fenians lived on the American side of the boarder. They would cross in raids and attach settlements from Niagara all the way to New Brunswick. John A. Macdonald turned these raids into an argument for the need to unify the colonies. The Fenian raids also united the colonies against the U.S. government. Many felt the American newspapers were encouraging the Fenians and the American government should have helped to stop them.

25. The Fenian Raids Medal presented to veterans of the Fenian Raids Monument to Fenian Raids at Queen’s Park in Toronto

26. The Fenian Raids

27. Picture of Fenian Raiders

28. The Push to Nationhood Reason #4 - The Need for Rail Links If there was going to be trade among the colonies they needed a rail link. In 1850 there was only 106 km of track in Canada, compared to 14, 484 km in the U.S. Between 1850 and 1867, 3, 570km of track was added to the colonies. The railway would also provided a communication link between the colonies and would help with the dreams of extending Canada to the Pacific ocean. A railway link to the maritimes was essential for defense of Canada.

29. The Push to Nationhood Reason #5 - Changing British Attitudes Support for the colonies was growing weak in Britain. They were upset of the tariffs the colonies now placed on their goods. Many felt that if they remained colonies they had the ability to continue to ask for loans to build infrastructure. It was time for them to find their own independence.