Confederation Flashcards
Name the 3 main pushes towards confederation.
America as an external factor
Britain as an external factor
Political deadlock
Explain the America as an external factor of confederation.
The Americans were in the civil war at this point, and threatened BNA on several occasions. Many people in BNA believed that if they united in confederation, they would be better protected from the U.S. Some events proving the U.S threat were:
- The trent: A mail ship was seized by a Union warship. They found a letter saying that Britain acknowledged Confederacy as a country, so Union was upset and threatened BNA
- St. Albans raid: Confederate men robbed and attacked the union through Canada. When arrested in Canada, the judge let them free and let them keep some of their treasure. So, U.S was annoyed at Canada and posed a threat.
- Manifest Destiny: Many U.S people believed in Manifest Destiny, meaning that it was God’s will that the States take over all of North America. Next stop would be Canada, so Canadians were worried.
- Fenians: The Fenians were Irish men who had come to the U.S during the Irish famine. After fighting in the civil war, they had guns and battle experience. Meanwhile, British had taken hold of Ireland. The Fenians thought that if they attacked BNA, British in Ireland would leave to protect BNA, and the Irish could rise up and win. This was a threat as well.
- End of Reciprocity: The U.S and BNA had made a trading deal that lasted 10 years. However, when it ended, it was during the civil war and the U.S declined to continue the deal. This left BNA without a trading partner, and proved that the U.S did not like them much anymore. Without a trading partner, it looked like a good idea to join other colonies and trade with them.
Explain Britain as an external cause of confederation.
Britain did not want its colonies anymore, and was purposefully pushing them to become independent. Some things that pushed towards confederation were:
- Change in defence policy: Britain used to send troops to Canada’s aid whenever anything happened. However, now, Britain would simply stand by as Canada was threatened, and it would do nothing to help. Canada did not feel that Britain would help them at all in a crisis. Ex of trent crisis vs. Fenians.
- Repeal of the corn laws: The British also used to protect farmers with the “corn laws” which gave farmers guaranteed customers in Britain. Grain coming from outside of britain had tarrifs, so canadian grain could be sold more expensively because other grain was even more expensive. However, consumers didn’t like it. Now, they repealed the corn laws which left farmers without their customer, so they needed other trading ties. Confederation!
- Railroad depts: British investing in railways, however, they were in big dept. They pushed towards confederation because with confederation, all colonies would work together to pay the dept and finish the railway, and the investors would get their money.
What caused political deadlock in the Province of Canada?
Upper and Lower Canada were separate colonies with separate governments because Upper was English and Lower was French, and neither wanted anything to do with each other. When Britain passed the act of Union, both sides were united so they would have one government. However, neither agreed on anything and uncomfortable compromises always had to be made, if any change was made at all. This meant that nothing could get done, causing political deadlock.
Explain the views of the main players in confederation and during political deadlock.
John A. Macdonald (english minority): Says the problem is that people disagree on everything and everything is unsure. His solution is to become independent with a Federal government system. George Etienne Cartier (french majority): Worried about both the deadlock and preserving French culture. His solution is the same as Macdonald's. George Brown (english majority): He says the problem is that there is no representation by population- which is unfair to English. He says that a larger group of colonies would accept this more easily. A.A. Dorion (french minority): Says he is completely against confederation, and offers no solution.
How were major players brought together by confederation?
Normally, George Brown very much opposed Macdonald and Cartier. However, all found issues with Canada and all had the same solution- confederation. So, besides their differences, the three formed the great Coalition and worked together to achieve confederation.
Explain the Charlottetown conference.
The conference was originally meant to discuss a union of the Maritime colonies. However, the coalition asked to join as “observers”. Nobody in the Maritimes was particularly excited about their attendence. However, they quickly lost their bystander status and became the main part of the conference, because all three were very good politicians and knew how to manipulate, and had convincing answers to all of their concerns. Having provinces would protect culture, and the government would send per capita grants. They also held parties to build trust with Maritime people and have a better chance. They ended up convincing the Maritimes to consider confederation, and set up the Quebec conference to discuss it.
Explain the Quebec conference.
The real work was done at this conference. Now that confederation was agreed upon, they had to write the 72 Resolutions, which became the backbone of Canada’s first constitution. They decided upon a bicameral parliamentary system, they would still keep ties with the queen, and would have a federal system of government. They wanted a strong federal government because if provincial governments were given too much power, they would cause problems, which is what happened in the civil war. Many other things such as representation by population were agreed upon.
Explain the bicameral system.
While passing a bill, the house of commons first votes. If it passes, the senate looks at the bill in consideration of whether this would be good for Canada, to filter out bad ideas. Then, the governor general signs the bill.
After the Quebec conference, explain what happened in the different colonies while trying to convince the rest of the population to support confederation.
Both Quebec and Ontario were already sold on the idea of confederation. However:
New Brunswick: Mr. Tilley called an election, saying vote for me for confederation. He lost. Meanwhile, British had invested in the Canadian railway. If confederation did not happen, there would be no railway, and they would lose money. So, British refused to give the opposition, Smith, money to do what he had been elected to do. Now that Smith was worthless, Britain called another election. The railway company also donated money to Tilley. Tilley won the election, and Confederation was a go.
Nova Scotia: Charles Tupper was for confederation, but he was sneaky about it. His opposition, led by Joseph Howe, hated confederation and had a news paper column against it. At parliament, after the opposition had gone home,Tupper snuck a resolution through, and Nova Scotia was stuck in confederation. They tried to get out of it, but couldn’t.
PEI and Newfoundland decided not to join.
Explain the wrapping up of confederation.
The last conference in London fixed and confirmed everything. The queen finally gives consent, and confederation takes effect on July 1st, 1867.
How did Manitoba come to be?
At this time, Canada was planning to buy Rupert’s land from Britain. However, it was largely inhabited by Metis, but they were not respected and their rights were ignored. Louis Riel lead them on a rebellion, and finally, their demands were granted. After buying Rupert’s land, John A. Macdonald gave them a small piece of land called Manitoba, and declared it a province.
Explain the gold rush, and the creation of British Columbia.
Gold was found in the Cariboo river. 10-20 thousand people, mostly from San Francisco, flocked to current day British Columbia in search of riches. At this time, British Columbia is just land with trading posts, and is not considered a colony, so it has no form of ruling. One man did not know what to do to control this new influx of people. So, he appointed himself the leader and took charge. Meanwhile, the Queen was worried that the land would be taken over by the U.S because most of the men coming were American. She then granted the land Colonial status and appointed the man as the governor. After the gold rush, British Columbia felt isolated and surrounded by U.S territory, so it decided to join confederation.
