Path to Confederation: 1860-1867

The Path to Confederation: 1860-1867

• The colonies in British North America developed quickly, but were separated from each other.

Separate Colonial Governments

• The colonies operated independently of one another, despite remaining part of Britain.
• Each colony had its own locally elected representatives and dealt with political, economic, and military issues.
• Leaders began to consider Confederation (a union of the colonies) as a possible solution.
• Thomas D'Arcy McGee, an Irish immigrant and member of the Legislative Assembly, advocated for Confederation.

A Land Divided

• In 1864, the Hudson's Bay Company was looking to sell its interests in Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory due to a decline in the fur trade.
• The region was home to thousands of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.

Threats from the United States

• British North America was geographically large, and its defense system was inadequate, making it an easy target for American expansion.
• Many American settlers were already claiming lands south of the Great Lakes populated by First Nations.
• Americans displaced nations like the Potawatomi and Cheyenne in pursuit of more land and resources.
• Some Americans believed in manifest destiny, asserting their right to take over all of North America.

The American Civil War

• From 1861 to 1865, the United States was engaged in a civil war, with southern states seeking to secede due to disagreements about slavery.
• The southern states wanted to form a separate nation where slavery would be legal.
• Britain declared itself neutral but continued to trade with both the northern and southern states.
• The northern states won the war, ending slavery and increasing American resentment toward Britain and British North America.

Annexation by the United States

• The large and well-trained American army posed a potential threat to the colonies in British North America.
• British North Americans feared American annexation due to the belief in manifest destiny.
• In 1866, Massachusetts Congressman Nathaniel Banks introduced an Annexation bill in the United States Congress.

Threats from Irish Nationalists

• The Irish Republican Brotherhood (Fenians) posed another threat to the colonies' security.
• The Fenians opposed British rule over Ireland and began forming a secret society in 1858.
• Some Irish soldiers who served in the American Civil War joined the Fenians, plotting an armed invasion of British North America
• Colonists feared that Fenian sentiments would spill over into British North America.

The United States Purchases Alaska

• The Annexation bill did not pass, but the threat of annexation by the United States had been steadily increasing since 1859, around the time Russia offered to sell Alaska to the United States
• Eventually finalized in March 1867 at a cost of $7.2 million (about $165 million in current Canadian dollars).

Case Study: Fenian Raids

• The Fenian raids were a series of small, failed invasions into British North America that occurred between 1866 and 1871.
• The Fenians began their mission in April 1866, targeting Campobello Island, New Brunswick.
• On June 2, 1866, about 800 Fenians attacked near Fort Erie
• The Orangeville Volunteers of 1866, prepared to defend against the Fenian invaders.
• The Fenian raids heightened the colonists' distrust of American authorities.

Economic Issues

• North America had been a source of riches for Britain for more than 200 years.

Defence Costs to Britain

• In the 1860s, Britain helped protect the colonies in British North America from a possible takeover by the Fenians and from threats posed by American annexation.
• In 1862 alone, Britain sent more than 10 000 troops to British North America to defend it from any danger posed by the American Civil War.
• During the winter months, the St. Lawrence River was frozen and soldiers were unable to travel inland by ship, instead having to march through New Brunswick to reach their posts in Canada East and beyond.

Need for New Markets

• The United States cancelled the Reciprocity Treaty with Britain in 1865, negatively impacting the economy of British North America.
• As a result, the colonies were eager to find new markets for their products and resources.
• George Brown explained that Confederation would break down trade barriers and open a combined market of four million people.

Challenges to Confederation

• By the mid-1860s, British North America was facing various threats from the United States.
• Each colony was also dealing with challenges within its own borders.

Conflicts in the Province of Canada

• Ruling two very different groups with one government in the Province of Canada was challenging, especially as the population grew.
• The government grew politically unstable.
• Conservative Party leader John A. Macdonald and Liberal Party leader, George Brown, were divided over many issues, in particular those concerning French rights.
• Brown wanted to diminish French political power in the Province of Canada and assimilate French Canadians, while Macdonald wanted to uphold the rights of the French and protect their equal representation in the government.

Concerns in Canada East

• Dorion believed that conflicts will always be resolved in favour of the general government.

The Great Coalition

• Macdonald, Brown, and Cartier formed an unlikely alliance in June 1864, known as the Great Coalition.
• The three leaders began working toward creating a federal system for the Canadas, but the goal was to expand the arrangement to include other colonies in British North America.

Concerns in the Atlantic Colonies

• The Atlantic colonies had resource-based economies.

Prince Edward Island

• The population in Prince Edward Island had developed strong trading ties with Britain and the United States.

Newfoundland

• Newfoundland's economy was suffering in the 1860s due to a decline in the cod- and seal-fishing industries.

A Possible maritime Union

• The Maritime colonies were dealing with many challenges.
• Arthur Hamilton Gordon, believed that a Maritime union of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island offered a solution to many of their challenges.

Inclusion of the Northwest Region

• By the time Confederation was being considered, the fur trade was in serious decline in British North America.

How was Confederation Achieved?

• Bringing people together to unify a country was a great feat.

The Charlottetown Conference

• In September 1864, representatives from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick were planning to meet to discuss a Maritime union.
• When news of this meeting reached the Province of Canada, John A. Macdonald and other pro-Confederation leaders asked to attend.
• The Charlottetown Conference was the first of three sets of meetings held between 1864 and 1866 to discuss and debate Confederation.

The Quebec Conference

• By the end of the Charlottetown Conference, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island had abandoned the idea of a Maritime union to consider a union with the Province of Canada.
• A second conference was held in October 1864 in Québec City.

Compromises and Terms

• They also wanted a solution to the land ownership issue so tenants could buy their own land. Canada East wanted special rights for religion, education, and language.

Framework for the Dominion of Canada

• The Québec Conference established that the federal government would consist of two houses
• In the lower house, or House of Commons, representation would be based on population size.
• To provide some balance, the upper house, or Senate, would be based on regional representation.

Outcome of the Quebec Conference

• As a result of the Québec Conference, only the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia agreed to join Confederation.

The London Conference

• The London Conference, which took place between December 1866 and March 1867, is represented, required a legal act of the British Parliament to create a new country out of the colonies in British North America.

The Dominion of Canada

• On July 1, 1867, Ottawa had been the capital of the Province of Canada for 10 years, and before that was a tough lumber and military community called Bytown.

Bytown Museum Youth Council

• Explores Bytown through displays of videos and artifacts.