Unit 3: Toward ConfederationChapter 7: Confederation

Making Plans

By 1864, all BNA colonies had responsible government for several years, and because of this, each colony started thinking about what would be best for their future. They considered the following problems:• BNA went through some hard economic times

following Britain’s free trade agreements, and the colonies were hoping to find ways to make their own economy stronger since they could no longer rely on Britain to support it.

• Britain was no longer offering military protection, since BNA was no longer an important trading partner.

• The United States was growing stronger, and could pose problems.

The colonies wondered whether they would have greater control over their economy and politics if it controlled all of its own affairs (remember, while Britain was no longer using BNA for its resources, even in responsible government the monarchy still had a lot of power).

At the same time they also wondered if it would be best if all colonies worked together, combining their economic and political resources.

Making Plans

Fear of American TakeoverBritish North America had already been

to war once with the US in 1812. At this time they still had the full support of British troops, so they defeated the Americans at the border, keeping all of Canada’s territories.

In 1776 the US won their war for Independence from Britain, so they didn’t look too favourably on British people. Also, from 1861 to 1865 Americans had been fighting a brutal Civil War. While this didn’t directly impact Canada, Britain sided with the South, and Southern rebels escaped to Canada in one incident after attacking a city. When the north won the war, Canada feared that they would attack just to get back at Britain.

In the 1860s the American politicians started talking about trying to take over the farmland in the prairies, and the goldfields in British Columbia. Maritimers feared that they would be the next option for takeover. People who were in favour of confederation felt it would be easier to defend the colonies if they were united.

In the past BNA had a reciprocity treaty with the USA. Reciprocity just means that each side benefit with a give and take relationship. They had a free-trade agreement with the US, meaning that they didn’t tax each other’s goods, making trade run smoothly. The funny thing was, while all colonies had free trade with each other, they taxed goods being shipped from one colony to another, and trade was made even more complicated because all the colonies had different currencies.

The US was thinking about ending free trade at this time, and the people of BNA realized that they couldn’t always count on the US as a good market for trade. BNA realized the benefits of sharing the same currency and having free trade between themselves.

Fear of Losing American Trade

Railways to Increase Defence and TradeThere were major transportation

issues in BNA; since the St. Lawrence River was frozen for 6 months out of the year, it was impossible to send goods from the Province of Canada to the coast for international trade, and the Atlantic colonies could not ship their goods inland.

There were some railways already, the Grand Trunk Railway in the Province of Canada linked together major cities in the region. In the Maritimes railways were built to transport lumber and coal. The major problem was that none of the rail lines were connected. Railways are expensive to build, in fact the Grand Trunk nearly went bankrupt building the lines to connect from Sarnia to Riviere-du-Loup.

The colonies figured that by joining together, they could share the cost of building rail lines so they could improve trade, and quickly move soldiers and militia if BNA was invaded.

Check out the map on page 124 to see the rail lines in 1860.

The Demand for More Land

BNA was constantly seeing immigrants arriving, with the intention of getting land to farm. There was still some good land in the colonies for farming, but there was even more in Rupert’s Land. This large region included the traditional territories of many First Nations groups.

The land was privately owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company, and was not a British colony. The people of BNA felt that if they joined together, they could afford to buy this land, and then settlers could move west to farm.

And, if railways were built across the continent to British Columbia, fortunes could be made by shipping Canadian wheat from the Prairies to the East and then around the world.

The Hudson’s bay company owned

Rupert’s Land and the Northwest

Territories. Do you remember the

primary reason this company existed?For a clearer map,

see page 125.

Confederation Presentation Project

Part 1: ResearchIn your group, read the sections on your assigned province and make some notes on the following:• Reasons against joining• Reasons for joining• Who was involved (key figures only)? Were they for

or against confederation? What did they do to help or attempt to prevent it? Include key players from both sides of the debate.

• Page 125, there is an activity called Thinking it Through. Discuss with your group the importance of the issues described in A Closer Look for your province. Write a paragraph about the most important issue(s) to explain your opinions.

• The British North America Act, 1867

Confederation Presentation ProjectPart 2 – Create a PowerPoint

Next class, you will be heading to the computer lab to expand on your research through some online searching. Create a PowerPoint to present to your class.

Project Checklist:• Title slide with the name of your province and the

date they joined and your group members’ names• A map of your colony from this time period• Reasons against joining, with quotes included• Reasons for joining, with quotes included• Your paragraph on the issues from A Closer Look• Key figures involved in making the decision, with

pictures included

Confederation Presentation Project

Some things to remember:• Do not plagiarize! Write as much as you can in your

own words, and if you need to quote, cite your sources by copying the web address and pasting it in brackets after the quote, similar to what you would do when you quote from a book.

• Include pictures… people like having something to look at!

• Include quotes of people who have spoken for and against confederation.

• Consider the layout and design of your slideshow. Pick appropriate themes, and text. Do not overload each slide with information. Put your information in a logical sequence; do not use the checklist below as the order you put things in if it doesn’t make sense.

Confederation Presentation Project  3 2 1 0

Key Figures on both sides

Very Well developed. Well developed. Poorly Developed Very Limited/Missing

Use of Quotes Many Quotes representing both sides

Several quotes representing both sides

Quotes from one side only

Missing

Reasons for joining Very well developed with additional research beyond textbook

Only used textbook, but clearly presented with relevant issues explained

Only used the textbook and summarized and did not explain. Information not necessarily relevant.

Very Limited/ Missing

Reasons against joining Very well developed with additional research beyond textbook

Only used textbook, but clearly presented with relevant issues explained

Only used the textbook and summarized and did not explain. Information not necessarily relevant.

Very Limited/ Missing

British North America Act

Well explained and related it to province.

Explained and related it to province.

Direct summary of text. Very limited/Missing

Layout of slides(use of space, text size/font, visuals)

Very good Good Poor Very poor

Presentation skills Very good.  All group members participated.Voices were clear and easy to understand.  Able to answer questions/expand on information beyond slides.  

Good.Minor difficulties in presentation/Read directly from slides and difficulty in explaining.  Minor distractions. 

Poor.Some difficulties in presentation/ not totally clear on information, difficulties in answering questions, some group members were distracting.

Very poor.Difficult to understand, the group clearly did not understand the topic.  Group members were very distracting.

Charlottetown Conference

In September 1864, the Atlantic provinces - Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland - organized a conference to discuss a union among themselves. Governor General Monck asked that the province of Canada be invited to their talks, "to ascertain whether the proposed Union might not be made to embrace the whole of British North American Provinces."

Canada's most prominent politicians journeyed down the St. Lawrence River on a 191-ton steamer, with $13,000 of champagne in its hold, to attend the conference in Prince Edward Island. Those on board included John A. Macdonald, and George Brown from Upper Canada and George-Étienne Cartier, Thomas D'Arcy McGee and Alexander Galt from Lower Canada. Each journeyed to Charlottetown with a different motive in mind.

What did some of the colonies feel about joining together?

The men of the Charlottetown conference. Do you recognize any of the people in this

painting from your research?

George-Etienne Cartier felt that if he could persuade the Maritimes to join in a union, together their population would balance that of Upper Canada.

In contrast, George Brown wanted an end to what he considered French domination of English affairs - the end of a political stalemate. Macdonald was worried about American aggression and felt that the united British colonies, perhaps, could resist their powerful neighbour.

Charlottetown Conference

The group of eight cabinet ministers and three secretaries arrived in Charlottetown on the same day as Slaymaker's and Nichol's Olympic Circus, the first circus to visit the island in 20 years. The harbour was deserted with most of the town at the circus.

The delegates to the conference soon formed a different, political circus with a marathon of speeches, protests, lobster lunches, resolutions, picnics, alliances, flirtations and champagne balls.

Charlottetown ConferenceCharlottetown Conference

In 1983 Dusan Kadlec painted this picture of how he imagined the Grand Ball held at Province House. What are some of the historical details he would have needed to research to create this painting? (See page 121 for the full image)

On the first official day of the conference, John A. Macdonald spoke at length about the benefits of a union of all of British North America.

The next day, Alexander Galt - a businessman, finance minister, and railway promoter from LC- presented a well-researched description of the financial workings of such a union.

On the third day, George Brown discussed the legal structure. And on the fourth day, McGee praised the nationalist identity, one that he saw bolstered by a vivid Canadian literature.

Charlottetown Conference

John A. Macdonald was instrumental in the Confederation of Canada, and became our first Prime Minister.

The original intent of the conference to discuss a Maritime union was overwhelmed by talk of a larger union. In a matter of days the Maritimers and Canadians had persuaded each other to create a new federation.

The delegates were giddy with success and the celebration party continued in Halifax, Saint John and Fredericton. But the terms of the union remained to be worked out - a daunting political task. The delegates agreed to meet again in Quebec City the following month. (information copied May 4, 2013 from: http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPCONTENTSE1EP8CH4PA1LE.html)

Charlottetown Conference

The Quebec ConferenceThe next conference was held in

Quebec City, in October 1864 to hammer out the terms of Confederation.

Many of the politicians at the Quebec Conference were lawyers but others included doctors, businessmen and journalists. Of the 33 delegates in Quebec City, only four were French. The most powerful politician in Lower Canada, George-Étienne Cartier, preferred to have little help speaking for his fellow French Canadians. "I never let public prejudice be my guide. I only consult, and will only ever consult my own conscience," Cartier once said.

The delegations from the Atlantic colonies included politicians from all persuasions as government members and rivals joined forces to protect their regional interests. Upper Canada's most prominent delegates included John A. Macdonald and George Brown.

Calling cards, about the size of playing cards, of the Quebec Conference delegates were printed. Left is Carter, right is Macdonald.

The Quebec Conference

Most of the delegates stayed at the St. Louis Hotel (pictured left), which was filled with railwaymen who took a keen interest in the negotiations. The railways had strong political ties supporting their schemes had already driven Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia deep into debt.

If Confederation went through, the British government had promised to provide a large, low-cost loan, allowing the new nation to link up the separate lines in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada.

Railway interests were a strong presence at the conference and sponsored some of the lavish evening festivities.

The Quebec Conference

The meetings at Quebec were held in secrecy. No press was allowed but notes were taken by delegates. The key concept of federalism - the idea that the central government would be granted certain powers while the provinces retained others - was molded into shape.

The Quebec Conference went on for three weeks dominated by debate and proposals during the day and parties at night.

Letter from George Brown to his wife at the end of the conference.

The Quebec Conference

Despite the vigorous and eclectic social calendar, Macdonald did much of the actual work on the constitution because he was the only one at the conference with a background in constitutional law. "As it is, I have no help," he told his friend Sir James Gowan. "Not one man of the conference (except Galt in finance) has the slightest idea of Constitution making. Whatever is good or ill in the Constitution is mine."

By the end of the Quebec Conference, a basic constitution had been drafted but not without dissent and dissatisfaction among some of the colonies.

Notes on the resolutions, with doodles by John A. MacDonald.

After a ball, Feo Monck, the Governor General's sister-in-law, reported on Macdonald's erratic behaviour: "He is always drunk now, I am sorry to say, and when some one went to his room the other night, they found him in his night shirt, with a railway rug thrown over him, practicing Hamlet before a looking glass."

The terms of the Quebec deal were cautious, legalistic and deliberately different from the revolutionary phrases of the French and American constitutions a hundred years before. The Canadian model was written like a careful contract, promising peace, order and good government.

"Our principle, distinct from the American, is founded on an equal union of authority and liberty... Our safety lies in the growth of a national sentiment that we are a people amongst the great people of the world," wrote Montreal delegate Thomas D'Arcy McGee

The key concept of federalism - the idea that the central government would be granted certain powers while the provinces retained others - was molded into shape.

However one man, almost single-handedly ensured that the balance of power would lean toward the federal government. John A. MacDonald drafted 50 of the 72 Resolutions. He feared that giving the individual provinces too much power would lead to civil war and attempts at controlling the country.

The Quebec Conference

The Quebec Conference

The system of representation by population reduced the proportion of seats French Canadians would have in the federal Parliament, down from their current 50 per cent. Some Maritime delegates argued that under this system, the smaller provinces would be overwhelmed by the larger ones.

When the Quebec Resolutions were adopted by the delegates, an elated George Brown wrote to his wife, "Conference through at six o'clock this evening - constitution adopted - a most creditable document... a complete reform of all the abuses and injustice we have complained of!! Is it not wonderful? The old French domination is entirely extinguished ... Some will say our constitution is dreadfully Tory - and so it is - but we have the power in our hands (if it passes), to change it as we like. Hurrah!"

Letter from George Brown to his wife at the end of the conference.

The Main ideas of the 72 Resolutions

• The new country, made up of the united colonies, would still be loyal to Britain.

• The country would have a federal system of government. • Each of the colonies would become a province in the new

country. Provincial government would have control over local issues, culture and education.

• Each province would send members to the federal government. The federal government’s power would control important issues such as defence of the country and running the economy.

• The federal government would be made up of the House of Commons (elected members) and the Legislative Council (appointed members). Later the Legislative Council was called the Senate.

• There would be representation by population in the Senate and the House of Commons. This meant that the provinces with the highest populations would get the most members in both parts of the government. (In 1864 PEI had 5 members in the House of Commons, while Canada West had 82.)

The British North America ActDuring the winter of 1866-67 the colonial

delegates travelled to England to meet with the British government. Basing their work on the 72 Resolutions, their job was to figure out a system of government for Canada. The rules they worked out during that trip became Canada’s first constitution, and called it the British North America Act. The BNA Act, uniting the colonies into one single dominion, came into effect on July 1st, 1867, which became known as Dominion Day.

Key points:• A federal system of government.• The rights of French-speaking people were

protected – their language, religion, education, and form of law – as well as French and English became official languages in the federal government.

• First Nations were given a department to make decisions on their behalf, they were not given rights to govern themselves.

• Any changes to the BNA act had to be approved by Britain because it was a constitutional monarchy (the Queen was still reigning at the top of the government)

The Dominion of CanadaSome bonus information:

Canada Act of 1982 Canada was formally referred to as the Dominion of Canada on all legal documents until 1982, when a new constitution was drafted that removed all British power. No longer did Canada need the Monarch's approval for constitutional changes, nor did Britain have the power to pass laws in Canada. This also changed the name of Dominion Day to Canada Day. It is also the only British constitution act to ever be written in two languages – English and French.

Aboriginals and the BNA Act

Inuit and Metis were not mentioned in the BNA Act, but First Nations were. The federal government would be in charge of any decisions regarding “Indians and land reserved for Indians” putting the first nations in an odd situation. They did not have the rights as citizens of the new country, but they were governed by its laws. Nobody discussed this with the natives!

While most laws in Canada call First Nations people Indians, today it is mostly considered disrespectful to call them this, although some tribes still prefer to be called Indians to respect their history of encounter with the explorers of North America. Always check with locals to find out if they prefer to be called Indians, Natives or First Nations.