After Confederation

Question 1

What role did women have at the Charlottetown Conference?

Answer 1

Some of the colony leads would talk about what was happening with their wives and ask for their wives opinions. Also, the wives were there to make their husbands look good.

Question 2

At the Quebec Conference, one of the major items discussed was dividing responsibilities between the federal government and the provincial governments, the federal government would be responsible for some things and provincial governments responsible for different things. Why was this important?

Answer 2

This was important because it allows some of the smaller provinces to have a say in what happened in their Provence instead of Ottawa telling them what to do. Also, it allowed the Federal Government to have fewer things to focus on while running the country.

Question 3

At the Quebec Conference it was decided that the federal government would consist of 2 houses, what were they and how would they work?

Answer 3

The two houses were the House of Commons where their leaders were elected by the people and there was the Senate, the members for Senate were elected by the Prime Minister. The House of Commons was the lower house and Senate the Upper.

Question 4

On July 1, 1867 Canada became a country, what were the 4 provinces that made up Canada on that day?

Answer 4

1. Nova Scotia
2. New Brunswick
3. Ontario (formerly Canada West)
4. Quebec (formerly Canada East)

Question 5

When was the Charlottetown Conference?

Answer 5

September 1864

Question 6

When was the Quebec Conference?

Answer 6

October 1864

Question 7

When was the London (England) Conference?

Answer 7

December 1866

Question 8

What representatives (colonies) attended the Charlottetown conference?

Answer 8

Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
PEI
The Canadas (East and West)

Question 9

What representatives (colonies) attended the Quebec conference?

Answer 9

Canada West
Canada East
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
PEI
Newfoundland

Question 10

What representatives (colonies) attended the London (England) conference?

Answer 10

Canada West
Canada East
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
British government
Queen Victoria

Question 11

What happened at the Charlottetown conference?

Answer 11

1. Maritimes wanted to access new trade partners
2. Originally to discuss a Maritime Union
3. The Canadas offer a wider union with the Canadas and the Maritime Colonies
4. They agree to meet again the following month in Quebec City

Question 12

What happened at the Quebec Conference?

Answer 12

1. Newfoundland decides not to join - loyal to England
2. PEI can’t join - don’t own their own land
3. The framework for the Dominion of Canada was agreed upon - 2 houses of government, The House of Commons and the Senate.
4. The federal and provincial system was worked out - federal government would deal with issues that affected multiple provinces or other countries, provincial governments would be responsible for things that only impacted the province

Question 13

What happened at the London (England) Conference?

Answer 13

1. The British North America Act was drafted
2. It was agreed that on July 1, 1867 The new country known as the Dominion of Canada would be created, governed by the elected and appointed leaders within Canada but the monarchy of England would still be the head of the government and would have final say over any decisions

Question 14

Who were the Metis?

Answer 14

The metis were primarily French-speaking and catholic, they were Protestant settlers of Scottish and English descent and indigenous heritage. Later they were identified as their own distinct group.

Question 15

Why did Louis Riel set up a provincial government?

Answer 15

He set up a provincial government because he wanted local governing. So people from places like Manitoba weren’t being told what to do from Ottawa. He wanted rights for the people living in-what is today Southern Manitoba. He felt that establishing a government would give the Metis more bargaining power.

Question 16

Were the Métis treated fairly by the government? Explain your answer

Answer 16

No, the metis weren’t treated fairly. Their claims for land were ignored or delayed for so long that the European settlers had already taken their land.

Question 17

Explain the Pacific Scandal

Answer 17

The pacific scandal was when John. A. Macdonald asked for campaign donations to help his party win the election. Sir Hugh Allan, a person often considered to be the richest person in Canada at the time, and who was also a railway builder donated $350,000 to Macdonald’s campaign. Macdonald won in 1873. Then, Allan’s company won the contract to build the transcontinental railway.
Later, a rival politician discovered evidence that Macdonald took a bribe from Allan.

Question 18

What were the key points of Macdonald’s National Policy?

Answer 18

1. Have the prairie farms grow crops for Eastern Canada, have Eastern Canada build equipment for the prairie farms, for this he would need the railway.
2. Fill the rich prairies with settlers
3. Raise tariffs on foreign made goods coming into Canada, this made Canadian made goods cheaper to consumers and created jobs

Question 19

Explain the importance of Chinese Labour in building the railway

Answer 19

The importance of Chinese Labour was that the Chinese workers were the people who constructed the most dangerous and challenging parts of the railway. One of these jobs was to light explosives to blast tunnels. These Chinese workers were paid $1.00 per day, while the white workers were paid $1.50.

Question 20

What impact did the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) have on Canada (positive and negative)?

Answer 20

Positive: It was easy fast travel across the country, it opened up the west for settlement, and it created a trade route

Negative: Trains brought more settlers to the west, who took more of the First Nations land. Natural Habitat was destroyed to build the railway (e.g swamps were filled in.)

Question 21

How did the settlers moving into western Canada affect the way the First Nations people lived?

Answer 21

The settlers hunted the buffalo to near extinction. This forced the First Nation people to give up their traditional nomadic lifestyles and take up farming.

Question 22

What impact did the residential schools have on First Nations families?

Answer 22

The Residential Schools had a very negative impact on the First Nation families. Children were removed as young as 4 years old and taken to the schools. In these schools the children were forbidden from speaking their own language and practicing their own religion. The children often suffered abuse in these schools.

Question 23

Why was the North West Mounted Police force created?

Answer 23

The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was created to ensure the First Nations people followed the Indian act
They were also responsible for upholding the law of Canada in prairies and to control the illegal whiskey trade out west.

Question 24

Why do you think a police force was created instead of using the army?

Answer 24

The government wanted to create a police force instead if using the army out west because of the different ways that the 2 groups would approach a situation
The military is trained to kill, whereas the police are trained to investigate and uphold the law. The government wanted to be seen as protecting the people out west, not intimidating them to uphold the law.

Question 25

What was the Indian Act?

Answer 25

The Indian Act was a set of laws the government created to control the First Nations people, The Metis and Inuit were not included in the Indian Act. Sir John. A. Macdonald publicly stated the goal of the Indian act was to assimilate the First Nations people.

Question 26

Why did Louis Riel return to Canada?

Answer 26

Louis Riel returned to Canada because he was convinced that his invitation to lead the Metis was a part of God’s plan for him to lead them and to negotiate the Metis’ rights with the government. The Metis of the Northwest Territories felt that Reil had been successful the last time they had problems with the Canadian government.

Question 27

Why was the railway important to the military?

Answer 27

The railway was important because it got the soldiers around faster. If they had to march all the way into battle it would’ve taken a very long time and they would’ve been very exhausted. The railway also allowed them to carry large sums of weapons at a time.

Question 28

Why did Riel surrender after the battle of Batoche?

Answer 28

He surrendered because he thought that if he did surrender the trial might bring some attention to the Metis struggles against the government. He felt the Metis would be left alone if he surrendered.

Question 29

Why did Riel refuse to go along with his lawyers’ defence that he was insane?

Answer 29

He refused to go along with them because if everyone thought that he was insane then what would that make the Metis for following him and if he did plead insane they wouldn’t be recognized properly.

Question 30

What happened to Canada as a result of Riel’s execution?

Answer 30

Canada was split into two sides, English Canadians, who wanted him to be executed, and the people of Quebec who thought he was just defending the rights of his people and didn’t want him to be executed.

Question 31

Explain how the land was divided and made ready for the settlers.

Answer 31

1. The land was divided into Townships, approximately 10km x 10km
2. Each Township was subdivided into 36 sections, each section was a perfect square measuring 1.6km per side. Some land was set aside for schools, the HBC, and the railway.
3. Each section was divided into quarters. Each quarter measured 800m per side and contained 64 hectares (ha)

Question 32

How could a family acquire their “free” land?

Answer 32

A family could claim a 64ha section of land for free if they paid a $10 registration fee.
After 3 years they got to keep the land if they had:
1. Built a house
2. Lived on the property for at least 6 months of each year
3. Begun to farm the land
Extra land could be bought for $5 a hectare.

Question 33

Describe the type of house that most of the settlers on the prairies first built and explain the pros and cons of it.

Answer 33

The houses that most settlers first lived in on the prairies were sod hut or dugouts. They were made out of the sod, grass, the roots, and dirt stacked up to make the walls.
Pros: Very insulated due to the thickness of the walls, in summer they were cool inside and winter they were warm, fast to build, and by building your house you started to clear your land for farming.
Cons: in dugouts people and animals sometimes fell through the roof, when it rained the rain would leak into the house for days after, and there was critters, insects, grubs, and worms.

Question 34

When was Louis Riel born?

Answer 34

1844

Question 35

When did Louis Riel die?

Answer 35

1885

Question 36

Who was Louis Riel?

Answer 36

Louis Riel was a Metis man who fought for Metis rights and when he was executed his execution spit Canada into two sides.

Question 37

When did Louis Riel return to St. Boniface?

Answer 37

1869

Question 38

What effect did the execution of Thomas Scott have on the new country of Canada?

Answer 38

The execution of Thomas Scott divided Canada by language and religion.

Question 39

When was the Dominion of Canada formed?

Answer 39

July 1, 1867