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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