Confederation PDF - History of Canada

Curriculum Connection Name: ________________________ 6 A1.1 What is Confederation? Canadian Confederation happened on July 1, 1867 when the British colonies of Canada (Canada East and Canada West), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick beca...

Curriculum Connection Name: ________________________ 6 A1.1 What is Confederation? Canadian Confederation happened on July 1, 1867 when the British colonies of Canada (Canada East and Canada West), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick became united into one Dominion of Canada. Canada East (Quebec) was primarily French, and Canada West (Ontario) was primarily English. Confederation is the process of uniting regions together under one government. Not all the colonies joined confederation initially. Why Unite in Confederation? Before Canada became a country, there were separate colonies that were all owned by Britain. Britain was having a difficult time defending these colonies from the United States. There had been the War of 1812, where the United States declared war on British North America (present-day Canada). Britain had to help defend BNA, which required a lot of money and troops. There were many reasons for the British colonies to separate from Britain and unite as a new country. Throughout this unit, you will be investigating why the provinces and territories you know today joined Canada. Who Lived in These Colonies? Before confederation, there were three main groups of people living in the colonies. There were English Europeans from England, Scotland, and Ireland. Secondly, there were French speaking people from France. And Lastly, there were the Indigenous, who were the many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. When Confederation was being discussed in the mid 1860s, the land west of Ontario was home to many different Indigenous communities. The majority of the Métis lived in the Manitoba area while different First Nations lived all across the country. When Confederation was agreed upon by the colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, the Indigenous were not consulted about laws that would affect them greatly. © Super Simple Sheets supersimplesheets.com  Curriculum Connection Name: ________________________ 35 A1.1, A3.1, A3.4 What is Confederation? Canada became a confederation in 1867. Confederation is the joining of groups under one main government or leader. Before 1867, the provinces of Canada were all independent, or by themselves. Canada actually started off as a province in present day Ontario and Quebec. But the leader of the Canadian province had a dream of uniting all of the land from sea to sea. This meant from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia to the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nova Scotia. Father of Confederation - John A. Macdonald John A. Macdonald was one of the leading Fathers of Confederation. It took many people to make the dream of confederation a reality. Macdonald had a lot of negotiating to do. He had to convince… the British government to sell Rupert’s Land and the Northwest Territories the maritime provinces to join them under one central government British Columbia to join Canada even though they were so far away to everyone that he would be the Prime Minister and leader of the new country to all colonies not to join the United States, even though many people living in these colonies came from the U.S. Result In the end, Confederation was a success. In 1867, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia united under one name – Canada. Canada was now a country. As time went on, more countries joined Canada. © Super Simple Sheets supersimplesheets.com