Sir John Alexander Macdonald Essay

Sir John Alexander Macdonald was a Canadian politician and Father of Confederation. However, he was most widely known for his position as the first Prime Minister of Canada (1867-1873, 1878-1891). As the dominant figure of the Canadian Confederation, he preceded to have a political career that spanned for almost half a century.

Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on January 11, 1815. His father, Hugh Macdonald, was a merchant, who had married his mother Helen Shaw, on 21 October 1811. After Hugh Macdonald's business ventures left him in debt, the family immigrated to Kingston, in Upper Canada (today the southern and eastern portions of Ontario), in 1820.

Macdonald is considered to be one of the chief architects of Confederation, having

As leader of the Conservatives of Canada West he agreed to join the Great Coalition of 1864, whose aim was to achieve Confederation. He was also one of the leading speakers in favour of the union at all three Confederation conferences (Charlottetown, Québec and London). He used persuasion and compromise to get the delegates to agree on the terms of Confederation and hence his role in the several conferences prior to Confederation was vital. Together, Sir John–who was knighted for his role-and Sir George-Étienne Cartier made the case for Confederation that resulted in the birth of the great nation of Canada. He emerged easily as the political leader of the scattered colonies of British North America.

As for Sir John A. Macdonald’s contribution to the subject of Confederation, he is remembered for his role in: the expansion of Canada’s boundaries from sea to sea (Atlantic to Pacific), the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the creation of the North-West Mounted Police, and the development of the National Policy. Macdonald led Canada to achieve the

Macdonald evidently had a positive impact on Canada. Macdonald's contribution to the development of the Canadian nation far exceeded that of any of his contemporaries, yet he was not by nature an innovator. Confederation, the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the protective tariff were not his ideas, but he was brilliant and tenacious in achieving his goals once convinced of their necessity. As a politician he early developed shrewdness and ingenuity. He kept a remarkable degree of personal control over the functioning of the Conservative party and was proficient in using patronage for political advantage. He was a highly partisan politician, partly because he genuinely believed it was essential to maintain certain political courses. He was particularly concerned with maintaining the British connection to Canada —including the tradition of parliamentary supremacy — against the threat of American economic and political influences, such as the doctrine of constitutional