Introduction
In 1867 colonies were led to join Confederation. Confederation is the uniting of colonies, such as Canada East, Canada West, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Many enrollments has happened in this time period of Canada and these enrollments are to be known as a part of Confederation.
Key Factors to Confederation
There are five factors that led some colonies to join Confederation. The colonies that joined Confederation in 1867 were Canada East, Canada West, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.
One of the five of the factors that led some colonies to join Confederation was the issue of trade. British North America could not compete with trade in Britain because of Britain’s Anti-Corn Laws. The Anti-Corn laws placed tariffs on imported
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grains which meant that BNA no longer had colonial preference. BNA also had a free trade agreement with the US, however, the US backed out of the free trade agreement. This pushed the colonies to start trading internally. The colonies needed to build railroads to support inter-colonial trade. In conclusion, BNA lost its external trade partners which pushed the colonies to consider unification. The second factor that led colonies into Confederation was Defence issues. Britain stationed troops all over the world to make colonies secure. It was quite expensive so the British Politicians started looking for cheaper way to maintain troops oversea. Britain was involved in a war, Crimean War during the year of 1854-1856. The Britain's Strategy was lining the soldiers in 3 ranks no attacking until the enemies advance. This is a strategy Wolfe used at Quebec, 1759 called “Thin Red Line”. The Crimean Military's attack killed many troops from BNA, Britain regard the threat of war as slim.The withdrawal of Britain's made them feel less secure. Many colonies developed a single defence strategy. So join many colonies and making it a single country will help them defend better. The third factor that lead colonies to join Confederation was debt and railroads. The Grand Trunk Railroad was quite an expensive railroad to build, Creating debts in the 1850s. By 1860 the debt has been put to $72 million. At a time the debt was way too much, the average annual income (per capita) was around $200 because of the experience. Canada then pulled out of the negotiations for the intercolonial railway. That linked Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada. At the time of Confederation the federal government wanted to build a railroad, Intercolonial railroad, from coast-coast, to bring in new settlers and goods into Rupert's Land. This helped America stave off from expanding the border. The CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) got BNA involved in Confederation, by 1871. However the construction was brought down, and then this is when Chinese Labour began. To help build the CPR. The fourth factor that lead colonies to join Confederation was the issue of Fenians.
The Fenians were an organization made by the Irish people that used armed rebellion against Britain so they could get back the independence they want. Ireland really hated the way the Britians treated them, they felt like Britain was bringing misery to them. None of the people from the U.S wanted to help the Britain because they thought of it as an opportunity so if they ever want to get the Britains they could use the Irish to help defend. In 1866 hundreds of Feniens came to Pigeon Hill and and invaded Canada East from Vermont. When they came to invade they had heard about the colonial troops that were coming to intercept them so they had retreated. In 1868 Thomas D’Arcy McGee -an Irish politician who did not agree with the ideas of the Fenians was murdered on the streets of Ottawa. Many of the colonies thought about uniting the colonies so they could have better defence and stop getting threats like how they did with the …show more content…
Fenians. The fifth factor that lead colonies to join Confederation was the Political Deadlock and the Great Coalition. The Political Deadlock is “ a situation, when political parties has an equal representation making it hard to make a decision”. --------------- Key Players in Confederation There are five main key players in Confederation. Also known as the fathers of confederation. One of the five fathers of Confederation is John Alexander MacDonald, The first prime minister of Canada born January 11, 1815, was one of the leading Fathers of Confederation. The Fathers of Confederation were any of the 36 men who attended the Charlottetown Conference and the Quebec Conference in 1864, and the London Conference in 1866. The purpose of these conferences was to promote unification of the colonies from coast to coast. MacDonald was a member of the Conservative Tories party of Upper Canada. Macdonald was a Lawyer from Kingston. He had earned his reputation from fairness and his political skills. He provided a solution which made George Brown and George- Etienne Cartier happy, because Cartier wanted protection for the Canadiens and their language, and Brown wanted representation from the population, Macdonald did both. Macdonald contributed a lot to show Canada as it is today. One of Sir Macdonald’s contributions was a heavy donation to the Conservatives party; these are social, political and economic contributions. MacDonald wanted a united future for Canada, and his contributions and hard work put us to it, as Canada. Another Key player of confederation was Samuel Leonard Tilley. Samuel Leonard Tilley (1818-1896) was one of the fathers of Confederation and a politician from New Brunswick. Between the years of 1850 and 1867, he was a member of the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly. Samuel Tilley was one of the 36 men that attended the Charlottetown Conference, the Quebec Conference and the London Conference .It was proved that his political life was related to his religious beliefs when he recommended the name “Dominion” for Canada’s title. The word dominion came from a passage in the Bible (Psalms 72:8). He like Charles Tupper was appointed to be a member of John A Macdonald’s first cabinet. In 1873, Tilley became lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick. In 1878, after returning to the federal cabinet, he became minister of finance. He retired in 1885 but he went back to work at the post of lieutenant-governor, until 1893. Yet, still after retiring he had an interest for politics until his death in 1896. George Brown (1818-1880) moved to Canada in 1843 and started the Banner. The Banner was a weekly paper mostly read by the Presbyterian readers. It was proved that it was a big success when George Brown first became editor of the Globe (a political journal for readers in Upper Canada), and the writer. George Brown was elected as a Reform member to the Legislative Assembly of Canada in 1851. He was chosen to form an administration after the Macdonald-Cartier government resigned in 1858. In December, 1865, George Brown resigned from the government after being a part in the Quebec Conference. The Quebec Conference was the second meeting that was held in October, 1864, to discuss the Confederation. Another one of the fathers of Confederation is George- Etienne Cartier.
George-Etienne Cartier, born September 6, 1814, was one of the leading Fathers of Confederation. The Fathers of Confederation were any of the 36 men who attended the Charlottetown Conference and the Quebec Conference in 1864, and the London Conference in 1866. The purpose of these conferences was to promote unification of the colonies from coast to coast. Cartier was a member of a French Canadian group, the Bleus, and would work with the Conservatives in Canada West, represented by John A MacDonald, to join Confederation. The Great Coalition consisted of MacDonald, Cartier, Brown and 14 other committed men who agreed to work with their rivals to reach a common goal, as a response to internal and external pressures.
Another of the five fathers of Confederations is Charles Tupper, born July 2nd, 1821, was the fourth leading father of Confederation. He was a part of Nova Scotia. Tupper was the final survivor of the original Fathers Of Confederation Educated at Horton Academy (Acadia) and Edinburgh. In 1843 Tupper went back to Amherst to do the rest of his medical career. Tupper left provincial politics in 1867 and won a federal seat - he was the only defender of Confederation from Nova Scotia.- Even though he had a solid spot for a council he still let other people from Nova Scotia to come to the
ministry. Tupper helped to acknowledge the “better terms” agreement that led Howe into the council in 1869.During 1870 Tupper started his ministerial career. After the Conservatives became an office Tupper was a minister (1878-1879) also the minister of the railways and canals (1879-1884), during the unfavourable time of the Pacific Railway construction. Tupper was an high commissioner to the United Kingdom (1884) but he went back to Ottawa to become the minister of finance. In a desperate attempt to stave off defeat in the House, Tupper and his colleagues had introduced remedial legislation to protect the educational rights of the French-speaking minority in Manitoba. Blocked in the Commons, Tupper and the Conservatives suffered a stunning general election defeat in June, as Québec's returns were decisive. He resigned on July 8, having served only 10 weeks as prime minister, the shortest tenure in Canadian history. He continued in Parliament as leader of the Opposition but was defeated in the election of 1900. On retirement he lived in Vancouver before moving to England in 1913. Tupper was a decisive figure in Canadian political life. As one of Macdonald's principal lieutenants, he had a real capacity for administration as well as a reputation for parliamentary bluff and bullying.
As early as 1643, there were attempts to form a colonial confederation. The New England Confederation, whose plan was to unite the Puritan colonies against attacks from Native Americans. Member colonies were motivated to join not only because of the fear of Indian attack, but also because...
It was the mid-late 1700s, and America had finally achieved and received independence from Great Britain. Peace in America on the other hand, not so much. After gaining independence, the Articles of Confederation were made as a system of government for the United States, but gave very imbalanced power between federal and state levels. For example, on the federal level, the national government couldn't force a state to pay taxes. To try to amend the Articles, in 1787, a meeting made up of delegates representing the states was called up, but instead, what would be created is what we now know as the Constitution. But how exactly did this document remedy the flaws of the Articles, and prevent tyranny from unjust amounts and usage of power? The Constitution helped stop tyranny in government with a
By joining Confederation, we can get that responsible government AND also be able to send six members to Parliament. Finally, with a responsible government, our suggestions, needs, and requests will be heard. The six members that resemble British Columbia will be sent to the Parliment to regard the community's concerns for Canada and our province, giving us a better chance at what we need, including roads, hospitals, and schools. Take Confederation as an opportunity to change British Columbia.
Confederation was a huge change for Canada in 1867. It made a huge influence on the world we live in. Our country faced many ups and downs along the way, while trying to create the best life for its citizens. For this, the country would have come together and accept each other. Today I’ll be telling you about how I believe Confederation was not successful at unifying Canada.
The thirteen American colonies were under the British control until they declared their independence from British in 1776. A year after the declaration of independence, the continental congress established the Article Of Confederation, which was the first constitution in the United States. According to manythings.org, “During that war, the colonies were united by an agreement called the Articles of Confederation”. It was later ratified in 1781, but it had many negatives because it was very weak. According to manythings.org, the Articles Of Confederation did not: organize a central government, create courts or decide laws, nor provide an executive to carry out the laws, and all it did was just create a Congress. This congress was very useless
Confederation- a group of individual states that are in an alliance, but the independent states each have more power than the central government
The Second Continental Congress was an organization that started having meetings to make decisions on where to attack the British and how to defend themselves. This foundation was created because it was during the war in Lexington and Concord, so they needed someone to help make their decisions and help decide attack methods. The Congress representatives originally met during the Revolutionary War; their first meeting being on May 10, 1775. The representatives (a person or people sent to represent something) came from 12 of the original 13 colonies.
The Articles of Confederation were approved by Congress on November 15, 1777 and ratified by the states on March 1, 1781. It was a modest attempt by a new country to unite itself and form a national government. The Articles set up a Confederation that gave most of the power to the states. Many problems arose and so a new Constitution was written in 1787 in Independence Hall. The new Constitution called for a much more unified government with a lot more power. Let us now examine the changes that were undertaken.
... and ever would be considered as the cause of America. A year later, to help out Boston, which was suffering from the consequences of the Port Bill, donations were asked to all colonies to give relief to Boston (Doc G). The colonies joined up together to send out supplies to a city in need, which really showed that Americans were united. The colonists were ready to help each other out when they needed to and worked well together to get their point across to Britain.
Sir John A. Macdonald was one of Canada's founding fathers. He is most remembered as being Canada's first Prime Minister, running the government from July 1, 1867 until November 5, 1873. Macdonald would become Prime Minister once again on October 17, 1878 and would stay in this position until June 6,1891. While he was leader of the country he faced his own share of political obstacles, including Confederation, the Metis rebellion and threats of an American he is among the greatest leaders Canada has ever seen and played a significant part in the forming of Canada as a country.
The Confederation act of 1867 without question has had a major influence on the status of contemporary Canada. It has helped shape Canada into one of the worlds most politically and economically powerful countries; a country that is strong, independent, and united. There was a series of events which led to the confederation of Canada, some which are more significant than others. However, I believe that despite the significance of events such as the British encouragement of uniting its North American colonies, the central and key reason for confederation was the fear of potential American (Yankee) inhabitance (whether by persuasion or invasion) of the divided and vast British North American colonies, and the way that the “Fathers of Confederation” were able to take advantage of this situation and persuade reluctant colonies to join Confederation. A strong and united nation could not be easily invaded or bought. These essential factors will be discussed in the paragraphs to come.
Yes, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was essential to preserve the Union, as the Articles of Confederation did a meager job establishing a stable America. Only a handful of people from the entire nation were pleased with the issues addressed in the Articles of Confederation. This document didn’t unite the nation, but created more differences among the people. The Articles of Confederation failed to properly allocate power between Congress and the states, giving the states supreme control, rather than Congress. This unbalance in society left each individual state on their own, besides the alliances they could form within each other (creating even more rifts within the country). The Congress didn’t hold the power to tax or create a national military, navy, and army, which didn’t allow America to strengthen as a nation. By vesting these powers in the state, the Articles of Confederation technically created thirteen small countries. After the Revolution, the United States became even more susceptible to foreign invaders and if a minute state militia was responsible for warding off these trespassers, the state would be easily attacked. This is just once consequence that could have occurred, if the Constitution of 1787 wasn’t accepted.
In 1777, the states enacted the Articles of Confederation to preserve democracy and prevent tyranny from those who sought to centralize power. But in their efforts to keep their independence, the states created a weak central government that was unable to improve an insolvent economy and poor foreign relations.
In the year of 1867 the nation we know as Canada came into being. The Confederation in this year only came about after things had been overcome. Many political and economic pressures were exerted on the colonies and a federal union of the colonies seemed to be the most practical method of dealing with these pressures and conflicts. While Confederation was a solution to many of the problems, it was not a popular one for all the colonies involved. In the Maritime colonies views differed widely on the topic. Some were doubtful, some were pleased, others were annoyed and many were hopeful for a prosperous future.1
Soon after the Revolutionary War in America, a new government was started when the Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress. The Articles set up a democratic government that gave the States the power to make their own laws and to enforce them. However, the Articles were ineffective and failed to provide a strong government. During this critical period in the history of the United States, pandemonium and anarchy were growing due to: controlled public, nothing in the Articles that gave Congress the power to enforce laws, no solid monetary system, and also the country lacked unity and strength