1. Chapter Two The six primary reasons for The Confederation of Canada Argue whether or not Confederation was beneficial to all regions and peoples of Canada.

2. The path to Canadian Confederation There are six main factors that drove the British colonies of North America into Confederation, thus forming the Nation of Canada 1. The Civil War in the United States and the desire of the United States to expand into what is now Canada 2. The Fenian Raids. 3. The trouble with trade 4. The need to link the colonies via railways. 5. The desire of the people in Britain to stop financing the defence of colonies overseas. 6. Political gridlock within Canada.

3. The Civil war in the USA and the impact of Manifest Destiny on Canadian Confederation Between 1861 and 1865 the US was fighting a bitter civil war between the Northern and Southern States. The reasons for the war are complex, however the issue of separating into two independent countries and the legality of slavery dominated the conflict. By 1865 the North had emerged the winner and slavery became illegal in the United States.

4. Impact of the American Civil War on Canadian Confederation During the war a ship from the Northern States stopped a British ship called the Trent. They boarded the ship and took two Southerners on board as their prisoners. This incident could have led to a war between the British and the Northern States, however Queen Victoria urged the British government to settle for an apology from the North. The British helped to supply the Southern United States during the war. They built armed cruisers and sold them to the South. A British built ship named the Alabama either captured or destroyed sixty-five Northern ships during the war. When the conflict ended the US charged Britain for the damages. The British ended up paying over $15 million to the US over this issue. This had an impact on the taxpayers back in Britain who resented paying for events happening across the ocean. British support for the Southern States had another affect, when the Northern States emerged victorious they were not very happy with the British.

5. Manifest Destiny Many Americans believed in what they call Manifest Destiny this is the concept that the US would inevitably expand to control all of North America. When the US buys Alaska from Russia in 1867 some people worried that the US would move to take over the plains to the northwest of Canada. More Americans and American railways were moving in to the Red River Settlement, close to modern day Winnipeg. There was concern that this are would become “Americanized” and join the US. The same thing was happening on the west coast where the gold rush in British Columbia was drawing thousands of Americans. With the purchase of Alaska the Americans controlled the territory to the north and south of BC. Fear of an American takeover was one of the factors that drew the colonies towards confederation.

6. The Fenian RaidsFenian Raids The Fenians were Americans of Irish origin or decent. They were deeply hostile towards Britain. Many Fenians had fought for the north in the American civil war they had battle experience and were bitterly angry that the British still ruled Ireland. The Fenians believed that if they were able to take Britain’s colonies in British North America they might be able to force Britain out of Ireland and thus free their homeland from British control. The Fenians had some pretty good reasons to be angry about British rule in Ireland. Irish Potato FamineBritish rule in IrelandPotato Famine

7. Fenian Plans for a take over The Fenians planned to invade at a variety of different positions: at Niagara, along the border between New Brunswick and Maine and into Canada East’s Eastern Townships.Fenians In May of 1866, Fenians crossed the boarder between Canada and the US at Buffalo. They won a victory at Ridgeway and captured Fort Erie. Six Canadians were killed and thirty more were wounded. The 1500 Fenians waited for re-enforcements which failed to arrive, the Fenians retreated back across the US boarder. In 1866 the Fenians were stopped from attacking in New Brunswick by British warships. Raids across the boarder continued for the next several years. The Fenian raids impacted confederation in two ways. First John A. Macdonald used the raids to argue in favour of confederation. Asserting that an united country could better resist invasion from outside forces. Secondly many people in the British colonies believed that the US had encouraged the Fenian raids in newspapers and by failing to stop them at the US boarder. Both of these factors are credited with encouraging the colonies to confederate into Canada,

8. The Trouble with Trade Until 1846, the colonies had a beneficial trade agreement with Britain. The British let the colonies ship wheat and flour to enter British ports for a low tax. This agreement is known as a preference. In 1846 the British cancelled this agreement and began a policy of free trade, which allowed any country to ship goods to British markets without tax. This was bad for the economy of British North America and meant they needed to find new trading partners. The natural choice was the US. The British North American colonies made a Reciprocity Treaty with the US in 1854.

9. Reciprocity with the USA Leads to trade between the colonies Reciprocity is a kind of limited free trade between countries. This means that certain goods and/or services can be traded between the two countries without either paying taxes/tariffs to the other countries government. Under the treaty the USA was given the right to fish along the shores of Atlantic Canada and British North Americans (which is what future Canadians were called) could fish in some of the USA’s waters. Products of farms, mines and the Ocean were all traded tax free. The Reciprocity treaty was guaranteed for ten years and then open to revision. By the 1860’s the colonies started to worry that the US would not want to renew the Reciprocity agreement. The Americans were unhappy about British support for the Southern States during the American Civil War and they thought that reciprocity was serving the colonies better than the US. In 1865 the US said it wanted to end Reciprocity This worried the colonies. They began to discuss free trade within the colonies. Up to this point little trading between the colonies had occurred and what trade there was, was hindered by high tariffs/taxes. It was also clear that if the colonies united it would make trade between them much easier.

10. The Need For Railway Connection If the Colonies of British North America were going to trade amongst themselves then they needed to be connected to each other. In the 1800’s that meant railways. Unfortunately by 1850 BNA had only 106 kilometers of Rail track. Most of the Railways went to the USA. The colonists needed there own rail system. 3570 kilometers of rail was added to the BNA lines between 1850 and 1867. The biggest railway project of this period was the Grand Trunk Railway. This was meant to be an all British route that would link the colonies from Canada West to the Atlantic Ocean at the port of Halifax. However by 1860 the Grand Trunk had only reached Riviere du Loup in Quebec, was running out of money and on the verge of bankruptcy. People began to suggest that the only way the Grand Trunk could reach Halifax would be if the colonies were united and the expense of the railway shared. There was even talk of extending the railway across the entire continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in BC. If the rest of the BNA colonies were not connected to the Maritime colonies, then the BNA colonies were at significant risk if the US decided to attack. If the USA decided to attack Canada during the winter, ice would have blocked the St. Lawrence River and British troops would have to travel through American territory by rail in order to defend the Maritime provinces. This desire to trade internally combined with significant defense issues contributed to both the building of Canada’s rail system and the push for Confederation

11. The Little Englanders A Shift in British Attitudes The Little Englanders were a small but fairly loud group who believed that the colonies were a massive burden to the British people. The Colonies were expensive, especially the defence of the Colonies. The Little Englanders believed it was time for Britain's colonies to pay their own way as independent nations.

12. Little Englanders and Confederation Many people in Britain agreed with the Little Englanders. This movement was poorly timed from the perspective of the BNA colonies. The movement came at the same time as the Fenians were raiding the borders of BNA and the Americans were making moves to expand westward. The Little Englander movement is credited with helping to push the BNA colonies towards confederation.

13. Political Deadlock In 1860 the party in power (the government) and the opposition (second largest party in government) were so evenly matched that it became very difficult to actually pass laws or move bills through the assembly. The balance between the two parties had created political deadlock. This was the result of how seats in the Assembly were distributed when Upper and Lower Canada were united in 1841. Initially both Upper and Lower Canada were given the same number of seats. This was unfair (in a democratic sense) as Canada East had a larger population than Canada West. Canada East demanded that it receive more seats because it had a larger population. This distribution of power is known as representation by population.

14. Representation by Population Canada East vs. Canada West By 1861 so many English speaking people had immigrated to Upper Canada that they outnumbered the French-speaking population by 300 000 and Canada West began to demand representation by population and Canada East began to protest. The situation had reversed, however the political deadlock continued. There were 12 governments in power between 1849 and 1864. No single government was able to break the deadlock.

15. George Brown and the Coalition Government John A. Macdonald’s government was defeated by two votes in the June 14, 1864. Everybody realized that if Macdonald called another election the results would not change the political deadlock. The leader of a different party the “Clear Grits” or Reform Party George Brown came up with an idea to solve the deadlock in the Assembly. Brown suggested a coalition government A coalition is when different political parties join together to form a government. Brown said he was willing to cooperate (even with J. A. Macdonald who was his political enemy) in order to settle the problem of the deadlock

16. Coalition Brown was able to gain the support of enough Grits to join Macdonald’s Tories to break the political deadlock. The Coalition planed to confederate all of the British colonies in North America. (a dream of both John A. Macdonald and Lord Durham) This plan involved giving each province its own government to look after local issues and a central or Federal government based on representation by population to govern all of the provinces. If that did not work they had a backup plan to break Canada into two provinces (Ontario and Quebec) The two provinces would run their local affairs and a central government based on representation by population would deal with matters that concerned both provinces. They also had provisions to allow other colonies to join later if they desired. The idea of Confederation was gaining popularity in Canada.

17. Charlottetown Conference 1864 Politicians from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island were planning to meet in Charlottetown to discuss confederation of the Maritime colonies. They received a request from the politicians in Upper and Lower Canada to attend and the Maritime colonies agreed. On August 29 1864 a ship called the Queen Victoria left Quebec city and headed for Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island. On board were a number of important politicians including John A. Macdonald, George Brown, George-Etienne Cartier, Alexander Galt and D’Arcy McGee. This group had developed a plan to unite all of the BNA colonies and wanted the leaders of the Maritime colonies to hear them out. They discussed for a week how the Maritime colonies would benefit from a confederation with the rest of the colonies of British North America. The longer they talked the more persuasive the Maritime colonies found their arguments, the delegates began to be convinced that Confederation could work. At what was apparently an incredible lunch aboard the Queen Victoria the delegates decided that Confederation was a genuine possibility. The result of the Charlottetown Conference was that the Maritime colonies set aside their plan for Confederation and agreed to meet with the Canadians in Quebec City in October.

18. 1864 The Quebec Conference In October of 1864 Seven delegates from Prince Edward Island, seven from New Brunswick, five from Nova Scotia met with the twelve delegates from Canada West and Canada East, Newfoundland (not at the Charlottetown Conference) sent two delegates At the Quebec Conference the delegates agreed that any union must be strong enough not to be broken by any one province. This meant that the central government of a Confederated Canada would have to be stronger than the governments of the provinces.

19. Creating a Country The Seventy-two Resolutions The Seventy-two Resolutions were designed to provide a framework for a new Canada to function within. The Seventy-two Resolutions answered questions like How many representatives would each province have? Where would the central government find money to support it’s initiatives? What kind of power would be held by the Prime Minister? How many houses of Parliament would there be? Would there be an elected House of Commons to make law Would there be a house of lords? (not elected, like the British system) How would other colonies (like BC) enter Confederation?

20. The Reaction to the Seventy-two Resolutions: New Brunswick New Brunswick was led by a pro-Confederation Premier named Leonard Tilly. After the Quebec Conference New Brunswick had an election in which Confederation was the key issue. The argument the anti-Confederationists put forward was, that because of New Brunswick’s small population, they would be under represented in a confederation designed on the principles of popular representation. The anti-Confederationists also had problems with the central governments promise of a provincial subsidy (an annual financial grant to the provinces from the federal government, based on a provinces population) Because of New Brunswick’s small population this worked out to $0.80 a person per year. In 1865 the anti-Confederationists won an easy victory (partially by claiming that Tilly wanted to sell them out at 80 cents per person) This posed a significant problem to Confederation, as New Brunswick provided the land link between Canada and the other Atlantic colonies. Tilly continued to promote Confederation through out the colony. Three factors helped him 1. The US ended the Reciprocity agreement with British North America, New Brunswick would need new trading partners 2. The British Government sent a letter encouraging Confederation 3. The Fenians attacked New Brunswick in 1866. While the Fenian threat was still fresh another election was called and New Brunswick voted infavour of Confederation in 1866

21. Reaction to the Seventy-two Resolutions: In Canada West In Canada West George Brown gave a speech to the Assembly after a month of debating the Quebec Conference resolutions. He listed six reasons for Canada West to favor Confederation 1. Confederation would transform five colonies into a great nation. 2. Trade barriers between the colonies would be removed, providing a market of 4 million potential consumers. 3. Canada would become the third largest seafaring nation in the world. The first and second being Great Britain and the USA. 4. Confederation would encourage immigration. 5. The Confederation would provide a market for goods as the US had cancelled the Reciprocity agreement. 6. In the event of a war all of the colonies would come to each other’s defense. The Quebec Resolutions in Canada West were approved in 1865 with a vote of 91 to 33. Following Confederation George Brown withdraws from politics focuses on his news paper and is appointed to the Senate

22. Reaction to the Seventy-two Resolutions: Canada East In Canada East there was a division between the English and French speaking population. The French concern was voiced by A.A. Dorion. He believed that the French speaking people of Canada East would end up being under-represented in Confederation, because of their small population. The provinces with the largest population would hold the most seats in a legislature based on representation by population. The French speakers of Canada East were eventually convinced of the benefits of Confederation by George Etienne Cartier. Cartier had worked closely with Macdonald governing the united province of Canada. Cartier went around Canada East convincing people of the benefits of a Confederated Canada. Cartier assured the French speakers of Canada East that they would be equal partners with English Canadians, they would not lose their language, their schools or their religion. Cartier warned them that if they did not join Confederation the US might take over Canada East as part of their drive to expand American boarders. Finally the Catholic church added its support to Confederation (most French speakers were Catholic and very loyal to the church) When the vote came in 1865 26 of the 48 French speaking members of the combined Assembly of Canada West and Canada East voted in favour of Confederation

23. The Seventy-two Resolutions: Disagreement in Nova Scotia The Premier of Nova Scotia, Charles Tupper supported Confederation. A large separatist movement had developed in Nova Scotia while Tupper was at the Quebec Conference. Opponents to Confederation like Joseph Howe argued that the subsidy for Nova Scotia worked out to $0.40 per person. He claimed that Tupper had sold out the people of Nova Scotia for “the price of a sheepskin” Tupper knowing if he introduced Confederation to the Assembly he would lose, so he stalled for time. While Tupper was trying to drum up support for Confederation, the Fenian threat to the south played into his hands. The people of Nova Scotia believed that if the Fenians took New Brunswick they might move on to take Nova Scotia as well. When New Brunswick began to consider Confederation, the people of Nova Scotia began to hint that they might consider Confederation if they were offered a better deal. Tupper and the delegates from the other colonies went to meet in London to work out the terms of Confederation. While they were there despite Howe continuing to fight against it Confederation became a reality and Nova Scotia joined the union. Tupper became a Member of Parliament and for a short time (69 days) in 1896 he was Prime Minister of Canada.

24. The Seventy-two Resolutions: They just say “no” in Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador rejected the Quebec Resolutions. They did not join Confederation until 1949, eighty-two years later. They did not attend the Charlottetown Conference, they sent two delegates to the Quebec Conference. One of these delegates F.B.T. Carter became the colony’s premier in 1865. Carter personally supported Confederation, however the people of Newfoundland and Labrador did not. A St. John’s merchant C.F. Bennett led the anti-Confederation movement. He warned that a Confederated Canada would most likely tax boats, fish, and fishing tackle. He worried that Canadian goods would be sold so cheap they would devalue products from Newfoundland and Labrador and that they would be expected to fight in any conflicts within the new country in “defense of the desert sands” of Canada. In 1866 when confederation was defeated in Newfoundland they held a parade in St. John’s where a coffin labeled “Confederation” which they buried in a mock funeral.

25. The Seventy-two Resolutions: Prince Edward Island rejects Confederation Prince Edward Island initially rejected Confederation. They did not join until 1873 (six years later) They were upset that Charlottetown was not selected as the new capital of Canada (they felt that because the Charlottetown conference was the birth of the movement they should be the capital of the country) A larger concern was the question of representation by population. Prince Edward Island had a population smaller than the city of Montreal (80, 000 in PEI compared to 107 000 in the city of Montreal) Under this system PEI would only have five members in the House of Commons out of a total of 194 seats. The promise of a railroad from Canada to the Maritimes did not appeal to PEI as it would not really do anything to help them. There was no discussion of building government supported rail systems on PEI itself. Another problem in PEI was land ownership. Most of the farmers were renting or leasing their land from rich absentee British landlords. The farmers of PEI thought the government should buy these landlords out. At the last minute it was suggested that the new union would put $800 000 toward buying the land for the Islanders, however it was too little too late Despite arguments from pro-Confederation citizens like John H. Gray, William H. Pope, or Edward Whelan the people of PEI rejected the Confederation proposals of 1866.

26. Confederation: The London Conference 1866 In 1866 the Colonies of British North America belonged to Great Britain. This meant that the colonies of British North America could not Confederate without the permission of the British Parliament. Luckily for Confederation the British supported the idea of the Colonies uniting. In 1867 The British North America Act usually referred to as the BNA Act was introduced and passed in the British Parliament. This Act united four provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the two Canadas (Canada East and Canada West) Canada East and Canada West were renamed Ontario (Canada West) and Quebec (Canada East) The BNA Act was based on the Seventy-two resolutions (developed at the Quebec Conference) It passed without any massive changes. On July 1, 1867 (after being signed by Queen Victoria) the country of Canada was born. There were many celebrations, dancing, parties and ice-cream eating among those who supported Confederation. Anti-Confederationists were not as happy, they flew flags at half mast and wore black In Nova Scotia a effigy of Tupper was burned beside a rat. New Brunswick had a death notice on the front page of the paper “Died- at her residence in the city of Fredericton, The Province of New Brunswick, in the eighty third year of her age.”

27. What kind of Government? What we took from the British Model When deciding on the structure of government for the new country of Canada, the founders of Confederation examined both the American and British systems and took what they thought was the best aspects of both The Queen remained the head of state in Canada (she still is) The Governor General would act as the Queen’s representative in Canada (they still do) The founders of Confederation decided to follow the British example of Parliamentary government. Like the British government, Canada would have a Prime Minister and a cabinet of senior ministers to create government policy. They would all be members of the political party that had the largest number of representatives elected to the House of Commons. The House of Commons would be made up of people elected in their ridings (constituency, seat) to represent the citizens of the region they were elected from. This way if the prime minister and their political party lost the support of a majority of members of the House of Commons (Members of Parliament or MPs) they could be voted out of power and forced to call an election.

28. The British Model The House of Commons and the Senate It was decided that the Canadian House of Commons would have elected representatives from each of the provinces. Quebec was promised 65 MPs to ensure that French interests were protected, even if they were smaller in actual population numbers. The other provinces would have the number of representatives determined by population. Canada like the British would also have a second house (in Britain it was called the House of Lords) Canada named it’s second house the Senate (like the Americans) The Senate was originally composed of 72 lifetime members. 24 from Quebec, 24 from Ontario, and 24 from the Maritimes. The Senate was responsible for double checking the laws passed in the House of Commons. The executive and legislative councils were selected from people in the party with the most MPs elected to the House of Commons. This made the PM and the Cabinet the most powerful political forces in the newly formed country.

29. What Kind of Government? The American Model Like the Americans Canada decided to adopt a federal union In a federal/centralized system the federal or central government deals with issues that impact the entire nation, however each province or state deals with internal affairs independently of the centralized government. This meant that the provinces would have the right/responsibility to deal with things like roads without having to consult with the federal government. The question of how power should be distributed between the federal government and the provinces became the next issue the founders of Confederation would have to take on Macdonald believed that the Americans had made a mistake when they limited the power of the central government and gave wide ranging powers to the individual US states. The American civil war was partially driven by disagreements over State vs. Federal powers. Therefore Macdonald argued for a strong central Canadian government with provinces holding less power than the American system. Provinces were responsible for: Education, land ownership, natural resources, property rights, mines, forests, business licences, provincial taxes and other issues of provincial rather than federal concern. All other power belonged to the federal/central government. The Federal level of government was responsible for: trade, defence, foreign affairs, banks, shipping, fisheries, criminal law, and the power to tax the population. The Federal government had the power to strike down (disallow) any law passed by the provinces. The only mention of the Aboriginal people of Canada in the British North America Act is “Indians and lands reserved for Indians” were the responsibility of the federal government

30. Money, Money, Money Where to get it from? Financing the New Canada In the BNA Act the federal government took over all of the debt that had been acquired by the provinces. It also took most of the money generated by the provinces like custom duties. To make up for taking the money generated by the provinces the federal government gave the provinces the promised “subsidy” based on their population.

31. Loose Ends The British North America Act contained provisions to begin construction on a inter-colonial railway to connect the St. Lawrence River with Halifax within six months. The Act also created the terms under which new provinces could be admitted into the Dominion of Canada. The BNA Act also tried to protect the rights of the French-speaking people of Quebec. The French Canadians would be allowed to keep their province, language, schools and religion. The Act guaranteed both Protestant and Roman Catholic schools The BNA Act also stated that both the French and English languages would be used in the central Parliament, in the Parliament of Quebec and in courts at the federal level.