Factors of Canadian Confederation

Introduction

The Canadian Confederation took place in 1867. Before the confederation, there were six main factors that gradually resulted in confederation. In this presentation, we will be talking about the railway issue, changes in British attitudes, American invasion, political deadlock, and   cancellation of the Reciprocity Treaty. We hope you enjoy it!

Railway Issue

Two people involved with this factor include George-Etienne Cartier from Canada East and Alexander Galt. They had ties with railway companies but were disappointed to see that the Grand Trunk Railway (which linked Toronto and Montréal) was not doing well financially, due to the lack of passengers and freight traffic within the Canadas. Additionally, the Baring Brothers thought of the idea that Confederation would solve the issue and food producers (in the Maritimes) and manufacturers (in the Canadas) believed that the trade that the railways would bring would benefit them. 

Before Confederation, the main sources of transportation were mainly canals, lakes, rivers, and railways. There were also roads, but they were of poor quality and were impassable for much of the year since they were either covered with snow or mud. The railways there were only established for external transportation (e.g. trade with the United States) and not for the internal colonies (such as East-West trade). If railways were to be built, a professional and efficient railway system would have to be built for internal trade.

They thought that if the Intercolonial Railway was to be extended to the west (from the Maritimes to Montreal) then the traffic on the Grand Truck would rise. Also, transportation of goods would occur, such as the trade of Nova Scotia fish. Another benefit would be the jobs that the Railways would provide. Last but not least, confederation would help with colonization as the country would seem more advanced and progressive. This map here shows the path of the Intercolonial Railway from Montreal to the Maritimes. And this image here illustrates the jobs that building a railway would provide.

Changing British attitudes 

People involved with this factor were mainly the Little Englanders and John Bright who convinced the British to not support the colonies. They made the British believe that spending money on the colonies was a waste. So, as the colonies were getting little and no support, the Little Englanders and John Bright were gaining money instead.

The British people had a free trading policy, which prevented Canadians from gaining money by trading. The Canadians were angry. So the colonies placed some tariffs on all the goods within the colonies in order to gain money; meaning that the British would have to pay the colonies for goods. The British people were mad. The British attitude changed from supportive to angry and wanting to push the colonies away. Britain eventually stopped supporting the colonies entirely. 

Changing British attitudes would have pushed confederation because the British were only concerned about making money in the market. Canadians decided to place taxes on all goods coming into the colonies to raise money for the tunnels and roads. However, that made the British manufacturers furious because fixing the price would raise the cost of British goods in the colonies.

Threat of American invasion

An important person from the American side could include Abraham Lincoln as he was the president of the USA during the period of 1860-1865. Also, John A. Macdonald was an important figure because he was the “leader” of confederation. In the 1860s there was a rumor of the U.S. invading and expanding into British North America. During the American Civil War, BNA had assisted the South, so British North America was afraid that the North would attempt an invasion on the colonies. 

If the British North America got united, they would have a better chance of defending themselves and keeping their land from the American invasion. Since otherwise, the colonies were all separated and weak.

Political Deadlock

Another key factor of confederation would be the political deadlock.

Lord Durham was a British politician. He was sent to the British North America to investigate the causes of the rebellions of 1837–38 in the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada. In his report, he suggested a few changes: first, He thought the colonies should be merged into one colony and most of the residents should speak English. He also wanted to assimilate of the French people and culture into the British culture and language. And finally, he thought a responsible government was needed for the colonies.

One of the politicians in Canada West was George Brown, the leader of Clear Grits. He supported confederation and looked forward to more voices in the government operations, as well as representation by the government system. His supporters included many from the rural areas. When a political deadlock occured (you will learn more about this in the upcoming slides) he suggested a coalition government, with two possible paths/solutions. One, to group Canada East and Canada West together to form one country, or to divide into two different provinces with separate local governments and one shared provincial government.

As mentioned before, an important figure in confederation overall was John A. MacDonald. However, there is more to it than just that; he was also a politician from Canada West from the conservatives party. He additionally supported confederation and was very loyal to the Queen. He believed that representation by population would result in divisions.

Next, George-Etienne Cartier, from Canada East, was another politician who wanted cooperation between the French and the English. However, unlike the leaders from Canada West, he only agreed to confederation IF the French could keep their culture and language, etc.

Last but not least, Antoine-Aime Dorion, the leader of Parti Rouge, from Canada East was totally against confederation since he believed that it would be totally unbeneficial for the French.

The main events of the political deadlock are the following that I am going to mention right now:

First, in 1838, Lord Durham was sent to British North America to investigate the causes of the rebellions, and come up with solutions, as mentioned before. His suggestions included making the Province of Canada, assimilating the French, and setting responsible government to give people a voice.

So, in 1841, the Province of Canada was formed, consisting of Canada East and Canada West, after renaming the colonies from Upper Canada and Lower Canada.

It is important to note that Canada East and Canada West had equal seats in the parliament. The issue was that they had to work together to pass bills (laws) but it was very difficult due to the difference in language, interests, and religion. Because of that, they were voting against each other’s bills causing a political deadlock (which basically means that the country/province will not be progressing since neither side is able to secure a majority of votes). Since this was going nowhere, George Brown proposed a coalition government, which is when different parties set aside their differences to come up with a solution or work towards a common goal. He suggested that either they form one country, or they become two separate provinces with one provincial government and different local governments.

As I mentioned before, George Brown proposed a coalition government. He suggested two different paths: He suggested that they form one country, or they become two separate provinces with one provincial government and different local governments. This means that, by confederation, the political deadlock could be solved since they would be agreeing to that decision, and as a result, wouldn’t have to argue and vote against each other anymore.

Resiprocity Treaty

Lastly, let’s take a look at the reciprocity treaty.

The key people include Franklin Pierce and William L. Marcy. Franklin Pierce was the 14th president of the United States. He served from 1853 to 1857. He was also a negotiator of the Reciprocity Treaty. The reason why he agreed with the treaty was because he was interested in annexation of canada. William L. Marcy was an American secretary of state, he was in place at the same time with Franklin Pierce. He was also a negotiator of reciprocity treaty. 

The reciprocity treaty lasts from 1854 to 1865. It was a free trade agreement between the United States and British North America. It mutually reduced import duties and protective tariffs on certain goods. It allowed British North American share fishing grounds with the United States. The trade items included Agricultural products and Raw materials. And all of the goods were sold with low tariffs. This treaty built a stronger trading link with the United States. After the cancellation of the reciprocity treaty made the colonies think about joining together so that they don’t need trade with taxes. The treaty was abandoned in 1865 due to the fact that the treaty was only profiting the British North America. The Americans were not gaining money. Another reason is the bad relation between America and Britain. Britain unofficially supported the South in the American Civil War. This resulted in conflicts.

The cancellation of the colonies made the colonies think about uniting all the provinces. So they could trade with others without paying any taxes.

Thank you for your attention! We hope you know more about the Canadian confederation!