Confederation

Confederation Confederation means the union of all the British colonies – British Columbia, Canada West, Canada East, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward, Newfoundland – in North America into one nation

Confederation is about Canada becoming a country in 1867

The idea of confederation had been around for a long time Lord Durham, in the early 1840s, had dreamed about some day uniting all the colonies under a central government

Factors Leading to Confederation In the 1860s, a number of important factors provided the final push towards confederation

1. Fear of War and Expansion in the United States Relations between Britain and United States were poor United States had fought a revolution to gain its independence from Britain From 1861 to 1865, a civil war was being fought in the United States – war between the Northern States and Southern States

British supported the Southern states The North won the war and was angry at Britain for helping the South Many Americans wanted to take over all of what is now Canada The fear of an American takeover was one factor drawing the colonies together

2. Fenian Raids Fenians were Irish American troops who wanted to free Ireland from British rule They thought that if they captured the British North American colonies, they might be able to force Britain to give control of Ireland Fenians invaded the colonies at a number of different points

In 1866, 1500 Fenians crossed the border at Fort Erie and won a victory over a Canadian force – 6 Canadians were killed and 30 wounded

Later that year, a British warship prevented a Fenian attack on New Brunswick People living on the border were always on the alert for Fenian attacks

John A. Macdonald turned the Fenian raids into an argument for uniting the colonies A united country would be better able to resist such invasions Fenian attacks provided another push towards Confederation

3. Trouble with Trade Before 1846, the British North American colonies had a special trading arrangement with Britain Britain allowed wheat and flour from the colonies to enter its ports with a low tax Britain then cancelled this special preference in 1846 – it now allowed goods from any country into its markets without a tax

British colonies no longer had a guaranteed market with Britain The British colonies signed a Reciprocity Treaty with the United States in 1854 Treaty allowed trade in certain goods between countries without tariffs or taxes

During the 1860s, the colonies worried that the United States would end the Reciprocity Treaty – U.S. claimed that allowing goods from British North America into the States tax free was costing it money In 1865, U.S. announced it intended to end the Reciprocity Treaty

Colonies decided that the only solution was to have free trade among themselves Prior to this, the colonies had traded very little with one another When they did exchange goods, they always charged high tariffs If the colonies united, it would be easier for them to trade with one another

4. Need for Railway If the colonies were to trade with one another, there had to be a railway In 1850, there was only 106 km of track Between 1850 and 1867, 3570 km of track were added in the colonies Work began on the Grand Trunk Railway – link Canada West with Atlantic Ocean at Halifax

Building the railway cost a lot of money and by 1860, the Grand Trunk was on the brink of bankruptcy Many believed that the only way to get the Grand Trunk completed to Halifax was if the colonies were united

Railways would also provide a communication and trade link among the colonies Some dreamed of extending the railway across the continent to British Columbia and the Pacific Ocean

Railway would also be critical to defending British North America from the Americans

5. Changing British Attitudes A number of people in England believed that the colonies were a great burden to Britain It cost Britain a lot to defend the colonies Some believed that it was time that the British North America colonies became independent and paid their own way

6. Political Problems In the 1860s, there was a situation of political deadlock in the united Canada It was not possible to get any bills passed through the Assembly or to make new laws This problem resulted from both Upper and Lower Canada getting an equal number of seats in the Assembly

At first, this was unfair to Canada East because it had more people – thought they should have more seats By 1861, however, Canada West’s English speaking population outnumbered the French-speaking population by 300, 000 Now Canada West wanted more seats – representation by population – but Canada East resisted

Political deadlock continued Between 1849 and 1860, there were twelve different governments! No government had won enough seats to get anything done The government was at a standstill

George Brown, leader of the Clear Grits or Reform Party, suggested a coalition government Coalition is the joining of different political parties into one government

Brown said he would cooperate with any government to settle the problems of deadlock in Canada – even if it meant cooperating with his old enemy, John A. Macdonald, leader of the Tories

Brown persuaded many Grits to join with Macdonald and the Tories to break the deadlock The coalition had two plans. First plan was to try to form a union, or confederation, of all British colonies in North America

All the colonies would be united under one central government – it would govern over all the provinces Each province would have its own government to look after local concerns

If the first plan failed, the alternative was to split Canada again into two provinces (Ontario and Quebec) Each province would run its own local affairs, but there would be a central government based on representation by population to look after matters of concern to both provinces Other colonies would come in later if they desired The idea of Confederation was beginning to pick up speed in Canada