Canadian Confederation was the method by which the three
colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united into one
federation called the Dominion of Canada on Dominion Day , 1867. Upon
confederation, what had formerly been called Canada was divided into the 2
provinces of Ontario and Quebec and thus, along side the provinces of Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick, the new Dominion initially consisted of 4 provinces. State
building/confederation of states in Canada Over the years since Confederation, Canada has seen numerous
territorial changes and expansions, leading to the present number of ten
provinces and three territories
Colonial
organization
State building confederation of states in Canada All the previous colonies and
territories that became involved within the Canadian Confederation on Dominion
Day , 1867, were initially a part of New France, and were once ruled by France.
Nova Scotia was granted in 1621 to Sir William Alexander under charter by James
VI. This claim overlapped the French claims to Acadia, and although the
Scottish colony of Nova Scotia was short-lived, for political reasons, the
conflicting imperial interests of France and therefore the 18th century Great
Britain led to an extended and bitter struggle for control. British acquired
present-day mainland Nova Scotia by the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 and therefore
the Acadian population was expelled by British in 1755. State building/confederation
of states in Canada They called Acadia Nova Scotia,
including present-day New Brunswick. the remainder of latest France was
acquired by British because the results of its defeat of latest France within
the Seven Years' War, which ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. From 1763
to 1791, most of latest France became the Province of Quebec. However, in 1769
the present-day Edward Island, which had been a part of Acadia, was renamed
"St John's Island" and arranged as a separate colony. it had been
renamed "Prince Edward Island" in 1798 in honour of Edward , Duke of
Kent and Strathearn.
The first English attempt at settlement had been in
Newfoundland, which might not join Confederation until 1949.The Society of
Merchant Venturers of Bristol began to settle Newfoundland and Labrador at
Cuper's Cove as far back as 1610, and Newfoundland had also been the topic of a
French colonial enterprise.
In the wake of the American Revolution , an estimated 50,000
United Empire Loyalists fled to British North America.The British created the
separate colony of latest Brunswick in 1784 for the Loyalists who settled
within the western a part of Nova Scotia. While Nova Scotia (including New
Brunswick) received slightly quite half this influx, many Loyalists also
settled within the Province of Quebec, which by the Constitutional Act 1791 was
separated into a predominantly English Upper Canada and a predominantly French
Lower Canada. State building/confederation of states in Canada The War of 1812 and Treaty of 1818 established the 49th parallel because
the border with the us from the good Lakes to the Rockies in Western Canada
Confederation refers to the method of federal union during which British
North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and therefore the
Province of Canada joined together to make the Dominion of Canada. The term
Confederation also stands for 1 July 1867, the date of the creation of the
Dominion. (See also Canada Day.) Before Confederation, British North America
also included Newfoundland, Edward Island, British Columbia , and therefore the
refore the vast territories of Rupert’s Land (the private domain of the
Hudson’s Bay Company) and the North-Western Territory. State building/confederation
of states in Canada Beginning
in 1864, colonial politicians (now referred to as the Fathers of Confederation)
met and negotiated the terms of Confederation at conferences in Charlottetown,
Quebec and London, England. State building/confederation of states in Canada
Their work resulted within the
British North America Act, Canada’s Constitution. it had been gone by British
Parliament. At its creation in 1867, the Dominion of Canada included four
provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. Between then and
1999, six more provinces and three territories joined Confederation.
Reasons for Confederation
Negotiations for the union of British North America gained
traction within the 1860s. By that point , Confederation had been a
long-simmering idea. Confederation was inspired partially by fears that British
North America would be dominated and even annexed by the us . (See also:
imperialism .) These fears grew following the American war (1861–65).
The violence and chaos of the war shocked many in British
North America. They saw the war as partly the results of a weak central
government within the US. This inspired ideas about the necessity for a robust
central government among the BNA colonies. (See also: Federalism.) Many within
the BNA colonies also believed that Britain was increasingly reluctant to
defend them against possible American aggression.
State building/confederation of states in Canada After winning the war, the American
North was left with an outsized and powerful army. There was talk in US
newspapers of invading and annexing Canada. this is able to have be done to
avenge Britain’s collaboration with the American South during the war. Several
US politicians also favoured annexing Rupert’s Land. The vast northwestern
territory represented a 3rd of what would become Canada. Fears of yank
expansionism only increased after the US purchased Alaska in 1867.
The idea of uniting the BNA colonies into one country was
fueled by several key factors: a protectionist US trade policy; fears of yank
aggression and expansion; and Britain’s increasing reluctance to buy the
defence of British North America. Confederation offered Britain an honourable
thanks to ease its economic and military burden in North America. it might also
give its BNA colonies strength through unity.
The Dominion of Canada wasn’t born out of revolution, or a sweeping outburst
of nationalism. Rather, it had been created during a series of conferences and
orderly negotiations. These culminated within the terms of Confederation on 1
July 1867. The union of British North American colonies of latest Brunswick,
Nova Scotia and therefore the Province of Canada was the primary step during a
slow but steady nation-building exercise. it might come to encompass other
territories and provinces. It eventually fulfilled the dream of a rustic “from sea to sea” — A Mari usque ad Mare
(Canada’s motto).
The Province of Canada had been established in 1841 following the Act of
Union which amalgamated two hitherto separate colonies, Lower Canada (majority
Francophone) and Upper Canada (Anglophone), which had their own elected
legislative assemblies that enabled them to form certain respective domestic
political choices.
After the union of 1841, it proved virtually impossible for
one government to make sure political stability, despite measures designed to
preserve the specificity of every of the communities. Those measures included :
- two prime ministers, one for the Francophone section (Canada East) and one for the Anglophone section (Canada West), located on either side of the Ottawa River;
- two attorneys-general (the common law remained effective in Canada West and therefore the civil law in Canada East);
- some laws applied to just one of the sections, in order that such matters as education might be governed differently.
State building confederation of states in Canada Another compromise would considerably
aggravate the political situation. one among the provisions of the Act of Union
as long as an equal number of members be elected from Canada East and Canada
West to the only legislature of the Province of Canada. That measure had been
taken in response to a requirement by Canada West, to ensure it equal
representation albeit it had some 200,000 fewer inhabitants than Canada East.
As of 1850, Canada West's population was greater than Canada East's. Equal
representation was not to Canada West's advantage, and it involved
representation proportional to its population. However, a considerable portion
of Canada East's political class was against such a change, because it feared
for the survival of French-Canadian institutions.
By the first 1860s, it had become clear that a particular level of autonomy had
to tend back to the 2 sections forming the Province of Canada. it had been also
clear, however, that in light of the prevailing economic and international
situation, it had been within the best interest to take care of a particular
level of unity.
It was proposed that the Province of Canada be divided into
two entities united within a federation. The powers would be shared between two
orders of state , which might ensure unity (federal order) while allowing the
expression of diversity (provincial order). the likelihood of the opposite
British North American colonies being a neighborhood of that federal union was
also considered due to the benefits that an expanded union would bring.
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