|
Today Canada is the
second-largest country in the world. It has an area of
almost 10 000 000 square kilometres, and is made up of ten
provinces and three territories. Canada became a country in
1867, but the story of the people and the land that would
become Canada is much older. Many events over the last five
hundred years have shaped the way Canada looked at the time
of Confederation.
In the 1500s explorers
from Europe came to North America to claim lands. They
realized that this land was rich in resources. Soon
settlement began, with people seeking a new life in the new
world. The two European countries that figured the most in
North America were Britain and France. They met Aboriginal
Nations that had been living for thousands of years in what
is now Canada. These First Nations and Britain and France
often had difficult relations. They often went to war with
each other but sometimes they were friends.
Britain
vs. France
When the Seven Years War ended
in 1763, France had to surrender its land in North America
to Britain. From this time on Britain had control of most of
North America.
Britain
vs. America
At the time of the war
with France most of Britain's colonies in North America were
in what we now call the United States. However, these
thirteen colonies were angry at the way Britain had been
treating them, so in 1775 they began a war with Britain for
their independence. The Americans won the war and the
British were forced to recognize the United States as its
own country. Because of the war Britain lost much of its
land, and had a bad relationship with the United States. The
land left over was called British North America. This would
become Canada almost 100 years later.
British
North America
In the 1860s there were
many British colonies in what is now Canada: British
Columbia, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince
Edward Island and the Province of Canada. At this time the
idea of all the colonies joining to make a new country
became popular. But what were the reasons behind this move
towards Confederation?
Why Confederation?
In the 1860s the
British colonies were facing many different kinds of
problems. One solution for all of these was for the colonies
to come together to form one country. These are the problems
that led to Confederation:
Political problems
The Province of Canada
contained the most people and was later made into the
provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The government of the
Province of Canada did not run smoothly because the
English-speaking and French-speaking halves had different
ideas about how things should be run. Leaders from both
parts of the province decided that joining the other
colonies might help solve their own political problems.
Economic
problems
In order for their
economies to do well, the colonies needed to be able to sell
their goods to other markets. At this time there were very
few places that they could sell to. One solution was to
bring all the colonies together. In this way they could more
easily sell their goods to each other.
Military
problems
Since America had
fought Britain to gain its independence the relationship
between British North America and the United States had
never been stable. The relationship became even worse when
Britain supported the South in the American Civil War. The
North won the war and was angry at Britain for helping the
South. Many Americans wanted to take over all of what is now
Canada.
Meanwhile, Britain didn't want
to have to pay for the cost of defending its colonies. It
decided to encourage the colonies to join together, because
the United States would be less likely to attack Canada if
it were a self-governing country rather than separate
colonies of Britain. The fear of the United States helped to
strengthen the call for Confederation.
On The Road To Confederation
For all of these
reasons the Province of Canada began to plan for
Confederation. Leaders from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward Island had already thought about joining
together in a Maritime union and were planning a conference.
The politicians from the Province of Canada asked if they
could come to the meeting to propose a larger union of all
the British North American colonies. The Maritime colonies
agreed to let them attend, and all the leaders met at
Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island. This was the first of
the three conferences that led to Confederation in 1867.
The Charlottetown Conference,
September 1864
The politicians from the
Province of Canada convinced the politicians from New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island to consider
a larger union. They agreed to meet again to discuss
Confederation. The next conference was at Quebec City.
The Quebec Conference, October
1864
During this conference
the leaders had to work out how the new country would be
run. The decisions they came to were called the Quebec
Resolutions. Although Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland
both took part, after the conference they both decided not
to join Confederation at that time.
The London Conference, December
1866-January 1867
This was the last conference, and it
took place in London, England. Leaders from New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia and the Province of Canada had to take the rough
draft of the Quebec Resolutions and come up with a final
agreement. The document they created was called the
British North America Act.
Once British Parliament approved it, Confederation could go
ahead.
Confederation, July 1, 1867
On this date Canada
became a country with four provinces. New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia hardly changed, but the Province of Canada was split
into two new provinces: Ontario and Quebec. A look at the
map of Canada in 1867 will show a very different Canada from
that of today.
It would take more than
a century to add the other six provinces and three
territories that today make up Canada. This site is the
story of how each province and territory came to be part of
Canada.
People in the Background
When Canada entered
Confederation over a century ago some groups of people were
not given the chance to participate in the talks or to have
their opinions heard. Two groups were especially important:
Native peoples
The First Nations and
Inuit peoples have lived in North America for thousands of
years. However, by the time of Confederation the European
settlers had taken control of much of the land. Treaties
were made with many First Nations to move them onto smaller
areas of land called reserves. The government tried to make
these people live like Europeans. For example, they
supported missionaries who took Native children away to
teach them the religion and lifestyle of Europeans.
The idea was to make
Native people fit in with the Europeans that surrounded
them. Today we realize that one group should not try to
change the way of life of another, but in the 1860s this was
not seen to be a bad thing. Not only did the politicians try
to change the life of these people, but they also did not
include them in negotiations for Confederation. Native
people had no say over the future of the land that they had
lived on for thousands of years.
Women
At the time of
Confederation in 1867 women were not allowed to be
politicians. They were not even allowed to vote in federal
elections. It was not until 1918 that women could vote in
federal elections, and not until 1919 that women gained the
right to be elected to the House of Commons. At the time of
Confederation women did not have the power to express
themselves in politics.
Today Canada has ten
provinces and three territories. However, back in 1867 when
Canada first became a country it had only four provinces:
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. After the
first four provinces joined together to form Canada, it took
132 years before all the provinces and territories
officially joined Canada.
This part of the
Confederation exhibit gives the reasons each of these
provinces and territories entered Confederation. They are
listed in alphabetical order. The number after each province
or territory shows the year it entered Confederation. Click
on the name to be taken to the story of that province or
territory.
Provinces and Territories
Alberta, 1905
British Columbia, 1871
Manitoba, 1870
New Brunswick, 1867
Newfoundland, 1949
Northwest Territories, 1870
Nova Scotia, 1867
Nunavut, 1999
Ontario, 1867
Prince Edward Island, 1873
Quebec, 1867
Saskatchewan, 1905
Yukon Territory, 1898
Source : http://www.collectionscanada.ca
( The
originality of the contents are not violated ) |
