The Canadian Confederation

By Calvin, Bo, and Nick

Fathers of Confederation

• Sir John A. MacDonald

• George Brown

• George Etienne Cartier

• Charles Tupper

• Joseph Howe

Sir John A. MacDonald

• He was born in Scotland, and at the age of five his family immigrated to Upper Canada. He represented the Conservatives but he also defended the rebels from rebellion of Montgomery’s Tavern. He also built an alliance with George Etienne Cartier from the Eastern Canada, who also became his best friend. His strength include his energy, vision, and public speaking skill.

MacDonald

Charles Tupper

Charles Tupper was born in July, 2, 1821. He became premier of Nova Scotia in 1864. Later, he became the 6th Canadian prime minister.

He threw up before every conference. He represented Nova

Scotia.

Sir George Brown He was born in November

27,1818 at Toronto. He represented the Clear Grits in the Canada West. He was also the publisher of the Toronto Globe Newspaper. His party, the Clear Grits, defended Canadian interest against government corruption.

Sir George Etienne Cartier

• George Etienne Cartier was born on the 6th of Sept. in 1814. Cartier was a successful businessman, who invested and promoted the Canadian Pacific Railway. He also have fought with the rebels in the rebellion of 1837. He became the leader of the parti-bleu. He was also joint premier of Canada with John A. MacDonald. He died in 1873.

Sir George Etienne Cartier

Joseph Howe • Joseph Howe was born on

December 13 1804 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Joseph Howe was from Nova Scotia, and he spoke against Confederation from 1866 to 1868. He represented the Liberals.

The Following People are not Involved in the Confederation

• William Mackenzie

• The leaders of Upper Canada Rebellion

The Causes for the Canadian Confederation

• Economic Causes

• Social Causes

• Political Causes

Economic Causes

The economic concerns were actually partially created by the people who believed in mercantilism, which was an economic system based on colonialism, and that the home country have the right to bring raw materials from the colonies and back, in order to make goods for the citizens.

Economic Causes (continuing)

• Also some of the economic concerns began from Britain, because of the Corn Laws. Since Canada at that time mostly traded wheat and other goods to Britain, Canada’s main business partner was Britain. Britain also wanted goods at a lower price than Canada, so the British government ordered to trade goods with other countries. Since Canada lost it’s most business companion, the economic went into a depression, and the government was at a low point at that time.

Social Causes

• People in Canada did not like the current government. This is because people in Canada thought they were in danger from the Fenians and the Americans. The French did not like the government because they thought the government was taking away their culture. The English also did not like the idea of responsible government.

Political Causes

• Generally, Fathers of Confederation led the political groups in each of the colonies. For instances, John A MacDonald led the Tories Conservatives in Canada West.

• Parti Bleu of Canada East focuses on the economy development of the Canada East and protection of French Canadians’ rights.

• The Clear Grits of Canada West defended the English Canadians’ interests and attack corruption in government.

• The Americans threats to Canada was real but it was overreacted by Canadians.

Conferences

• The Charlottetown Conference

• The Quebec Conference

• The London Conference

The Charlottetown Conference

• This was the first conference held by the provinces of Canada and the Maritimes during September 1st to 9th 1864. The leaders/representatives were given privileges to attend the meeting and contribute advices and ideas to form a maritime union. Even though this meeting had many agreements such as the union of Canada and the segregation from Great Britain, and that the government should present representation by population. There were also a few disagreements for example the power between a federal government and a provincial government.

The Conference of Quebec

• The conference of Quebec was held in the fall of 1864. The goal of the conference was to plan the birth of a new nation. Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and New Brunswick attended this conference. They decided to retain governmental power over many things.

The London Conference

• This conference was held in September 1866 to March 1867 in London. In this conference, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island both quit. Since Britain wanted less pressure from Canada, the government signed the agreement of the union of Canada.

The Concerns

• As was mentioned before, Ontario and the Maritimes are afraid of losing their identity once joined into Confederation due to the proposal of responsible government. Meanwhile, Quebec where majority of French Canadians live are afraid to lose their French culture and tradition when they join the Confederation.

• The double majority is one of the barriers to “good government”. Double majority means that in order to pass a bill both the Canada East and the Canada West section of the assembly have to have a simple majority.

The End

• The Confederation on July 1st of 1867, and the final decision was that Canada was announced as a nation, but the idea of a responsible government was still not introduced to Canada. Although Canada was known as a nation but it still took 132 years to become what is now known as Canada. Sir John A. MacDonald became Canada’s first legal Prime Minister.