Confederation Part Two - Refer to These Notes for your Confederation Project

• September 1864, in Charlottetown, P.E.I. and then again later in Ottawa, representatives met to discuss possible confederation of British North America.

•  Politicians such as John A. Macdonald, George Cartier, Darcy McGee, Samuel Leonard Tilley,  Charles Tupper, William McDougall, George Brown, and many others met in Charlottetown to negotiate the terms of Confederation.
• In between meetings, there were Grand Balls and concerts to attend, but John A. Macdonald stayed up late every night writing the clauses for the agreement.
• Macdonald tries to place Ottawa at the centre of everything.
• Once presented, the Maritimers, particularly PEI, were uncomfortable with the agreement.  They had hoped to have help buying out the absentee landlords.
• Nova Scotia was afraid Ottawa is becoming too powerful.
• New Brunswick was concerned Ottawa will take all the public lands.
• When it looked as though the Maritimers would scuttle the deal, some Canadian raiders robbed a bank on the US side.
• A US newspaper called for the US to invade Canada
• Because of the fear of US invasion, the politicians put aside their complaints and came to the carefully and legalistically worded agreement with a focus on "Peace, order and good government"..
• The agreement was then taken back to the provinces.
• Queen Victoria chose Ottawa to be the nation's capital.
• English Canada supported the agreement but the French didn't.
• Wilfred Laurier led the opposition to Confederation in French Canada.
• The "Rouge Party" visited communities to encourage people not to support Confederation however they didn't offer an alternative.
• The Church told parishioners not to support anti-Confederationists.
• The vote in government was definitely pro-confederation and in the next election, the people re-elected the pro-Confederation politicians.
• The Maritime provinces were enjoying an economic boom because of their trade with Britain and the US Civil War - they rarely did business with Montreal.
• New Brunswick voted in an anti-Confederationist government and voted out Tilley as premier.
• The British government wanted pro-Confederation governments in Canada and the Grand Trunk Railway financially supported Tilley which allowed him to return to power.

• In Nova Scotia Charles Tupper returned from the conferences hoping that the government would accept Confederation but Joseph Howe wrote a number of articles and letters for the newspaper against Confederation.

•  April 1865 Lincoln was assassinated in the US causing instability.
• The Fenian brotherhood, a group of Irish Americans whose goal was to drive the British out of Ireland and to attack the British in Canada, planned to invade Canada.
• The Fenians raided the border of New Brunswick off an on for months.
• Because of fear around the Fenian raids, the pro-Confederationists gained power and momentum.
• The Maritimes turned pro-Confederation with the exception of PEI which entered in Confederation in 1873 and Newfoundland which entered in Confederation in 1949.
• George Cartier and John A. Macdonald traveled to London with delegates from the provinces.
• While in London, John A. Macdonald made Agnes Barnard his second wife.
• The British Parliament was heading for an election so Lord Carnarvon pushed the British North America Act through.  
• On March 29, 1867, Queen Victoria signs the BNA Act into power.

Queen Victoria

Fathers of Confederation

• July 1, 1867, Canada celebrated its first Dominion Day and first day as a country.  
• Sir John A. Macdonald was named the first prime minister of Canada.
• The whole country celebrated.

• Canada now consists of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.