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