Transcript Drive to Nationhood (1854 - 1868)

Canadian
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Drive to Nationhood Virtual
Tour
(1854 - 1868)
“As fragments we shall be lost
but let us be united and we shall
be as a rock.” Thomas D’Arcy
McGee
Group 3: 8-26
Canadian
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Sights to See (Table of Contents)
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Glossary
Rep by Pop - Why Canada West loved it, and Canada East
hated it
What is the reciprocity Treaty? Why is it important?
Expansion of the United States, and the threat to the Canadian
Colonies.
American Expansion and the Colonies desire for Union
(Confederation)
American Expansion and Great Britain's desire for Union
(Confederation)
The Atlantic Colonies (1854 – 64)
Charlottetown Conference, 1864
Who are the Father's of Confederation?
A brief rundown of the Confederation debate
PEI and Newfoundland
The Constitution Act of 1867
Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister
British North America Act and Canada's system of Federalism
When did Canada finally do away with the BNA Act?
Why were some events in Canada’s history key in allowing us
to become a nation? (2 slides)
Bibliography
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Glossary
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Please get yourself familiar with
these terms before we start our
tour. Please ask questions during
the tour if you do not understand
anything.
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72 Resolutions- A list of guidelines or rules that
are to be followed as a basis for ruling a group of
people.
Anti-Confederation- Those people against
Confederation or the idea for union.
Canada East- Former name for Quebec; also
called Lower Canada.
Canada West- Former name for Ontario; also
called Lower Canada.
Confederation- The federal union of British
North American Colonies. The members would
retain some power over their own affairs and
turn some powers over to a central government.
Dominion of Canada- region consisting of the
provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia,
Ontario, and Quebec.
Fenains- A group of Irish Catholics in the
United States, whom wanted to end the British
rule over Ireland
Free Trade- Trade between countries where
taxes or tariffs are not involved.
Great Coalition- formed in June of 1864. It was
when the parties joined together in a new
political party to that they called a Confederation
Party
Tariffs- A tax on money paid to the government
of a country when products are brought into a
country.
Definitions are from Canada Revisited Textbook.
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Rep By Pop
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Representation by population is the number of
elected members of the legislative assembly is
based on the number of voters.
Canada West followed George Brown and his
reformers (Clear Grit) party they had wanted
representation by population
This meant Canada West would have more
representatives since population was higher
then the East
Representatives for Canada East followed
George Etienne Cartier and he was against it
because they would lose power.
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Reciprocity Treaty
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The Reciprocity Treaty occurred from 1854
to 1865 in which the colonies of British
North America lost their status and lost most
of their markets,this resulted in economic
hard times.
Reciprocity meant that there would be free
trade in natural products, and it would
improve the economic situation between the
United States and British North America.
Reciprocity Treaty was meant to let the
British North America colonies sell their
products to USA without paying tariffs
whenever products entered or left
Over time an idea spread among the colonies
of British North America which stated that if
the colonies were to become united
(eliminate tariffs) then economic prosperity
would proceed.
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Expansion of the United States and the
Threat to the Canadian Colonies
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The Fenains were a group of Irish people
trying to take back Ireland from Britain
but they weren’t going to attack directly
so they attacked the North American
colonies.
The good western farm land was hard to
obtain due to the American occupation.
Canadians looked to the west, present
day; Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and
Alberta, for a place to settle. However
the American had their eye on them.
The colonies of British North America
were concerned about the threat but if
they were to annex they would get the
land before the Americans were able too.
British Columbia and Vancouver island
were in threat because the British
Colonies traded with San Francisco, and
the gold rush also drew many American
citizens into the Northern Colonies.
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American Expansion and the
Colonies desire for Union
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Colonies were concerned that the
Americans would try to buy land in
British North America from Britain
and that they would be invaded.
Good farmland in Canada West was
getting more difficult to keep but the
Americans were also thinking about
moving to the western lands.
If the colonies of British North
America were to join together and
annex these western lands they
would get the land before the
Americans did.
They would also be able to defend
themselves better against the united
states.
The union of the colonies was
known as confederation.
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American Expansion and Great
Britain's desire for Union
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Britain encouraged unity between the
colonies so that they could have a
stronger nation (defense) and governors
were instructed to encourage unity.
From time of the American revolution
the US had expressed an interest in
taking away the British empire (failed
in the American Revolutionary War and
the War of 1812)
If Britain wanted confederation then
many people would have to favor it in
that reason alone
Britain’s change in attitude towards her
British North American colonies meant
Britain was in favor of the colonists
taking on more responsibility for
governing themselves, this influenced
the decision of a few people.
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The Atlantic Colonies (1854 –
64)In the early 1860’s Atlantic
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Colonies of Newfoundland, Nova
Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and
New Brunswick faced serious
problems.
There had been little industrial
development in the region because
the United States had plans to end
the special treaty (Reciprocity
Treaty) by 1866.
Atlantic colonies began to look at
the idea of maritime union
(maritime provinces), which
resulted in a conference scheduled
on September 1864, in
Charlottetown, PEI to discuss
possible union of Atlantic
Colonies.
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Charlottetown Conference,
1864
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Colonies of Nova Scotia, PEI, and New Brunswick
decided to meet in Charlottetown, PEI on
September 1st 1864.
Discussed the idea of the union of Atlantic
Colonies.
Province of Canada decided to take advantage of
this and tried to convince the Atlantic colonies to
join with them in a larger union (Confederation)
and also promised to build a railway connecting
Canada and the Atlantic Colonies (Trans-Canada).
John A McDonald, George Brown, George Etienne
Cartier, Alexander Galt, and Thomas D’Arcy
McGee went in order to state why they thought
there should be a British North American Union.
By the end of the Charlottetown Conference a
decision had been made to work toward a
confederation of all the British North American
Colonies and another conference was scheduled to
be held at Quebec in a month’s time.
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Who are the Father's of
Confederation?
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There were many people who played an
important role in the conferences that led up
to the Confederation of Canada.
Some people played more influential roles
than other, these people were known as the
Father’s of Confederation,
They included John A. Macdonald, George
Brown, George-Etienne Cartier, Alexander
Tilloch, Charles Tupper, Thomas D’Arcy
McGee, and Hector-Louis Langevin.
These people believed that the division of
powers between the Federal and Provincial
governments were not to be a cause of
tension, this became an issue in the
Maritimes region.
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A brief rundown of the
Confederation debate
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In the province of Canada debate continued for 6 weeks
but in the end Great Coalition (the political party
formed that was called the Confederation Party) had an
overwhelming majority on its side.
The positives of the confederation were that if they
were united with the Atlantic provinces then they would
be able to defend their country, the trade would
improve, and the possibility of building a transcontinental railway would also arise.
The negatives of the confederation were that more
people were interested in protecting the Canadian way
of life, this way of life would be threatened, and uniting
with the other is not necessary for trade.
In the Atlantic Colonies there was strong opposition in
the Atlantic Colonies to the 72 resolutions and thus to
Confederation, many thought that they were doing fine
on their own and could see no reason to join Canada
and take its problems.
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A brief rundown of the
Confederation Debates Contd.
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In 1865 Premier Tilley’s pro-confederation fought an
election on the issue of Confederation unfortunately they
had lost
The opponents of the Premier Tilley’s pro-confederation
stressed that New Brunswick would lose control over its
own affairs in confederation and people believed them
There were some circumstances that changed the 2
elections for confederation they are as follows: the fear of
American Invasion opened again by Fenain raids, Great
Britain announced that they supported the idea of union,
and that people had time to think about the possible
economic benefits of union. Finally they were convinced
that union would mean more money for railway
construction
People in Nova Scotia were quite interested in a union of
Maritime colonies
Premier Charles Tupper watched the 1865 election loss &
decided not to call an election until Joseph Howe lost
some of his support. Finally in 1866 pro-confederation
Premier Tilly was back in office.
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PEI and Newfoundland
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In PEI there was a widespread opposition to
the idea of Confederation, because people
were concerned that the islands 5
representatives in the House of Commons
would have little power or influence.
The Islanders saw no advantage in the
proposed customs union because the islands
government operating revenues almost
entirely from duties on trade with other
colonies.
The people of Newfoundland were really not
interested in confederation partly because
they felt that they had little in common with
the people of the united province of Canada
When they heard about the anticonfederation events in the other Atlantic
Colonies they lost interest all together.
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The Constitution Act of 1867
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The aim of the Constitution Act
was to create a federal union
(Confederation) of the colonies of
British North America associated
with the Great Britain.
The proclamation of the Dominion
of Canada was announced at
Windsor castle in Great Britain in
May 1867.
The Dominion of Canada was to
consist of the provinces New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario,
and Quebec.
The most important question that
the writers of the Constitution Act
had to decide was whether there
should be both national and
provincial levels of government, or
just national level.
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Sir John A. Macdonald,
Canada's First Prime Minister
(1867)
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Helped to create the Liberal Conservative Party in
Canada West in 1854.
Many believed he was the prime force behind the
Confederation.
Macdonald’s vision as prime minister was to
enlarge the country and unify it.
He was responsible of the building of the Canadian
Pacific Railway.
Sir John A. Macdonald and his party were forced to
resign in 1873 due to the Pacific Scandal.
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British North America Act and
Canada's system of
Federalism
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The British North America Act created the Dominion
of Canada in 1867.
The Dominion of Canada in 1867 stated powers of
the provincial and federal government, outlined the
ways in which the government would be structured
and guaranteed protection for minority groups .
Many people in the provinces of New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia were anxious to have their own
provincial governments which resulted in a system
of Federalism.
The System of Federalism meant that the Dominion
of Canada would have two levels of government
national or federal and provincial.
Canada’s system of federalism would be a system
with a central government and provincial
governments and the central government would have
no more power than the provincial governments
would have little power and few rights.
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When did Canada finally do
away with the BNA Act?
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In the 1970s, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau took
up the cause and eventually all the provinces
except Québec accepted a new agreement, which
became the Constitution Act of 1982.
This act established a correcting formula and
added a Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney attempted to
secure Québec's approval of the new constitution
in 1987 with the Meech Lake Accord, which
required the unanimous agreement of all
provinces within a three-year period. As a result
of a new language argument and concerns from
English-speaking Canadians over identification
of Québec as a “distinct society,” however, the
agreement was never passed.
The constitutional crisis continued, even after
Mulroney forged another compromise among all
the parties, when the Charlottetown agreement
was defeated in a national voting in October
1992.
Why were some events in Canada’s history
key in allowing us to become a nation?
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The key events in Canada’s history in our segment or portion included the British
North American Act (Constitution Act), Sir John A. Macdonald’s efforts to build the
Canadian Pacific Railway, American Expansion and the Colonies desire for Union/
Great Britain's desire for Union, Confederation, and the Confederation debates.
The British North American Act created the Dominion of Canada in 1867, without
this crucial step it could have been possible that all the colonies in the Maritimes
region could have been a part of a separate country (Atlantic Colonies Union) or it
could have been possible that our country wouldn’t have been based on the separate
powers of the provincial and federal governments.
It could have also been possible that Canada didn’t exist at all (part of United States
of America) or Canada’s country map wouldn’t have included the Maritimes
provinces. It also could have resulted in a different form system of government than
the present system with the legislative assembly, the representatives from the
provinces, and the powers listing the various requirements for both the provincial
and federal governments. Thus, this was important to Canada, but it was the first
step to having a united country with many provinces.
Sir John A. Macdonald’s efforts during his presidency included the building of the
Canadian Pacific Railway which connected the Atlantic Colonies to the western
provinces of Canada such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Colombia and
Manitoba.
Why were some events in Canada’s history
key in allowing us to become a nation?
(Contd.)
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Without this crucial step, it could have been possible that Canada would either have not
been connected to the western provinces or the western provinces would have been poorer
compared to the “eastern” riches. This is obviously because the eastern provinces were
developed first, due to their closeness to Europe (where people first came from).
This step was crucial in allowing us to become a nation, because this allowed the
connection between the two areas, and allowed the government to plan for development in
the western region. Without it, it could have resulted in many revolutions on the western
side because many people in that region would not have received as much attention from
the government, leading to the possible formation of two countries.
The confederation and the confederation debates were obviously very crucial because they
combined the Atlantic colonies and the province of Canada to form the Dominion of
Canada. Without this step, it could have been that our country would have been formed
later, or it could have been possible that it wouldn’t have been formed at all! There is also
a chance that the country would have had a different geography (map), without the
Maritimes provinces being involved with Canada.
American Expansion and the Colonies desire for Union/ Great Britain's desire for Union
were what caused the Confederation. Without these key points it could have been possible
that Confederation was not selected by the people and thus our nation couldn’t have been
formed. These points influenced the decision for many voters and caused them to vote for
Confederation. It was important because this caused a majority of the people to go for
Confederation and developed the Canada that we know today (in terms of both physical
geography as well as political system).
Canadian
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Bibliography
Retrieved on June 6th 2007http://www.pcobcp.gc.ca/aia/default.asp?Language=E&Page=
federation&Sub=WhoWeretheFathersofConfe
Retrieved on June 6th 2007
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_7615724
76/British_North_America_Act.html
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Thank you for participating
in this tour. We hope you
learned new things and we
hope you enjoyed it.
THE END
“Federalism is a great principle that speaks
to the very foundation of human nature." Thomas D'Arcy McGee