history

• Confederation


  The achievement of uniting the British North American colonies into a single country
• External factors that contributed to the Confederation

  • Repeat of the Corn Laws
  • Railroads
  • Defence
  • American Civil War
  • British Neutrality
  • Invasion of St. Albans
  • Fenian Threat
  • Reciprocity Ends
  • Manifest Destiny
• Corn Laws


  Tariffs placed on foreign grain coming into Britain, which guaranteed a market for British farmers
• Repeal of the Corn Laws

  Signalled that Britain no longer wanted to protect its colonies
• Railroads


  British investors began putting money into building railroads in British North America, which caused financial and political problems for the colonial governments
• British leaders felt


  The colonies should take more responsibility for their own defence
• American Civil War


  The conflict between the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South) that convinced British North Americans they needed greater union for protection
• Britain's neutral position in the American Civil War


  Was seen as hypocritical by Northerners, as Britain had economically benefited from Southern slavery
• The Invasion of St. Albans


  Confederate soldiers used British North America as a base to attack the North, outraging the USA and raising the threat of American annexation
• Fenians


  Veteran American groups that wanted to take over the British colonies
• When Britain repealed the Canada Corn Act

  British North America lost a guaranteed customer for its goods
• Manifest Destiny


  The belief held by many Americans that they were destined to control all of North America
• Charlottetown Conference


  A meeting of the Maritime colonies to discuss a political union, where the Province of Canada was invited to present proposals
• Proposals made by the Province of Canada

  • Keeping ties with Great Britain
  • A federal system with powers divided between central and provincial governments
  • A 2-level central government with representation by population and by region
• Quebec Conference


  A meeting where delegates from the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI discussed the proposals for Confederation
• Delegates from the Atlantic colonies


  Disagreed with the proposals, fearing their interests would be dominated by Canada West
• London Conference


  A conference where the Quebec Resolutions were discussed and turned into the London Resolutions, which were then passed by the British Parliament
• Main delegates at the conferences

  • John A. Macdonald
  • George-Étienne Cartier
  • Charles Tupper
• A coalition government is formed by an alliance of parties that would not otherwise have enough seats in the Assembly to form a majority
• Groups excluded from the Confederation negotiations

  • People of color
  • Women
  • First Nations
  • Immigrants
• The British North America Act came into effect on July 1st 1867, making Canada into a country