Towards Confederation – Part II

Economics… the deciding factor in

politics Mercantilism – an economic system based on colonialism,

in which the home country uses raw goods (resources) imported from the colonies to manufacture goods.

Corn Laws – laws which protected agriculture in the British Empire by limiting the import of grain from other countries. I.E. the colonies were the first place that GB would buy their grains from.

Tariff – a charge that is must be paid on an imported item.

Economic Depression – a period of low economic activity, marked by high unemployment.

Economics… the deciding factor in

politicsCitizens in Canada, for the most part,

supported the Durham report that gave the colonies an opportunity to self-govern themselves.

The British government HATED the idea. They feared that this would give un-wanted extra powers to the colony; and even worse, strengthen British political enemies like the USA and France.

Because of this, the Colony of Canada could see their strong ties with GB loosen.

Economics… the deciding factor in

politicsMercantilism was still strong a alive. GB relied heavily on their colonies for

resources, and as such GB would then be able to build goods and products.

Those goods and products would then be sold around the country and the world

QUESTION – who benefits from this and how?

Corn Laws

Things are changing and the Canadian Colonies feel the pinch

Great Britain repels the Corn Laws – Great Britain gave preferential treatment to purchase grain

from their colonies. As such, Canadian grain was sold to GB with lower tariffs than if grain was purchased from France.

However, this limited the amount of grain Britain purchased world wide, as such bread was very expensive in Britain.

To counteract the high cost of bread, Britain needed to buy products

Corn Laws

With the Corn Laws being repealed, this meant that G.B. had ventured on a course of free trade.

Free trade – which means tariffs are reduced or eliminated.

With GB venturing on a path of free trade, Canada lost their number one buyer of grain. Without GB buying all their grain, economic depression occurred.

Economic Depression Although Canada sold other resources – such as timber, fish,

and other agricultural products, their biggest problem was they didn’t manufacture any goods that they could sell world wide.

This meant they were a staple resource economy. As such, they were at the bottom of the economic ladder. And if we are unable to sell our resources to a market, economic decline ensues.

Resources Products ConsumersCheap to sell More expensive

to sellMakes a little profit Makes more profit

Example of being a Staple Resource vs

Manufacturer Wheat sells for $5.40 per bushel, there is approx. 38 bushel’s per

acre of land. (Average wheat farm has 778 acres) So if you have 1 acre of wheat to sell the farmer would net $205.20 per acre.

One bushel of wheat makes 42 pound of loaves of white bread. One loaf of bread is approximately 1 ½ pounds.That means one bushel of wheat makes approximately 28 loafs of bread. One loaf of bread is sold by the manufacturer (on avg.) for $1.75. That means a producer makes a net of $49 for one bushel of wheat (28 loafs of bread). For one acre of wheat the producer would make $1862.

Something to think about, you pay on average $2.50 for a loaf of bread…. That is a lot of money that the grocery stores make.

Economics

So in general: GB repeals the Corn Laws they reduce the tariffs that was applied on other nations we are now selling less grain to GB than before less money made by farmers in Canada less buying of products at local business less income for businesses layoffs occur less people making money economic depression

Rebellion Losses Bill

After the rebellion of 1837, businesses, citizens and farmers lost land due to the fighting (particularly in Canada East).

The new Governor General, Lord Elgin, decided to use tax payers money to compensate people in Canada East whom suffered property damage during the Rebellions of 1837.

This was called the Rebellion Losses Bill.

Rebellion Losses Bill

Those that benefitted from the bill were those that opposed the rebellion.

As such this increased the anger of Francophones who supported the rebellion.

Mobs were created and reeked havoc all over Montreal (the capital of Canada East and Canada West): Lord Elgin’s carriage was pelted with stones and eggs; Mobs destroyed local businesses and; To make matters worse the mob burned down

parliament.

Annexation Manifesto

Businesses were clearly un-happy about the turn of events in the colony of Canada 1) The Corn Laws were repealed Economic downturn 2) Lord Elgin raised taxes to pay for the Rebellion

Losses Bill 3) Mobs destroyed local businesses because of Lord

Elgin’s desire to appease the Francophones. 4) Responsible government was now in Canada and the

business class had lost their power and control of the government.

This lead to one idea, the Annexation Manifesto – a plan to allow the United States to take over Canada.

The idea of Confederation

There are six main reasons for confederation 1) G.B. seemed to moving away from Canada - repeal

of Corn Laws, less control of the government, allowing responsible government (which inevitably meant it was up to the locals to form a government for the people)

2) Economic Recession – G.B. had turned her back on the Colonies when they needed her the most, and many Canadians felt that it was up to them to create their own economic prosperity.

3) In all the colonies, political deadlock – where hardly any bills could be passes – was common, many thought that Confederation could replace this inefficient system with a better form of government. (Double Majority)

The idea of Confederation

4) Economic Prosperity - This one is a little more tricky. Depending on what colony you belong to, economic prosperity could or could not be there. However, for the most part, on a national level there is

reason for huge economic success. That being said, there are some colonies that worry

about what kind of success will there be. 5) Fenian Raids – Irish Americans that fought for the

North in the American Civil War had no love for the British and their Colonies. So, as a form of aggression the Fenian’s would attack/sack the British Colonies of Canada – C.E., C.W., N.S. and N.B.

The idea of Confederation

6) Manifest Destiny (American Annexation of Canada - While the Annexation Manifesto never came through fruition, there was an idea, the Manifest Destiny, where American politicians claimed it was the destiny of the US to annex Canada and make it part of their territory. Another legitimate concern was In 1861 the American

Civil War had broken out. By the end of the war in 1865, the North had an army that equalled the population of Canada.

Not only that, but GB helped the South during the Civil War. Thus there was fear that the Americans could have and quite possible would have invaded Canada.

The idea of Confederation

On the flipside there were two main challenges to the idea of Confederation: 1) The colonies (Canada East, Canada West,

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland) felt that if they created a federation – a union of all the provinces – they would lose their independence. Their would be a central government that

controlled their defence, foreign affairs, money, postage and taxation.

The idea of Confederation

2) People did not feel any form of attachment to other colonies. Canada East had no desire to become an even

bigger minority. Nova Scotia had very little in common with Canada West. PEI was really close to the Americans, something Canada East and Canada West was not. The only thing common amongst all the colonies was their love for the motherland – Great Britain.

The idea of Confederation

Final thoughts on Confederation: representation by population is a BIG IDEA

throughout the discussions – the idea that the population you have in your colony is reflected in the House of Commons. I.E. If your colony has 60% of the population, than it should have 60% of the seats in the House of Commons.

Who is not discusses during confederation?