When a country or colony’s economic state or safety is threatened action is required. Confederation was essential to make Canada what it is now. Without Confederation Canada may have been controlled by the US or in a very fragile state. Confederation was was an act in the 1860’s to unite the British North Colonies as one strong independant nation. John A.Macdonald was credited to influence Confederation as he was an Father of Confederation. John A.Macdonald was a Scottish-born Canadian politician and lead to be the first Prime Minister Of Canada (1867–1873, 1878–1891). On July 1st 1867, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Province of Canada(Canada East and Canada West) joined together to form the Dominion Of Canada which is known and celebrated as Canada today.
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Five outstanding factors that lead to the need of Confederation were; Fear of war and U.S expansion, Fenian raids, trade issues, need for rail links and roads and changes in British attitudes towards the colonies themselves. At this time (1860’s) United States of America opposed an immediate threat because it was stronger than any British North American colony present. Fear of US influence was constantly knocking on the doors of the British North Colonies. “Manifest Destiny” also contributed to the fear of American influence. Manifest Destiny was the the concept of that the United States not only could, but was destined by God to control all of North America. This Fueled the war over Texas with Mexico and western settlement. Military threats were huge because United States of America was connected to the Colonies and could attack at any time especially New Brunswick and other colonies like it, which shared a poorly defended border with the United States . Since the US had strength in numbers and advanced weapons it would not have been hard to take over the disunited colonies. During the civil war(1861-1865) Britain provided support for the South of America which could influence attacks on the smaller British colonies up North. Confederation would create one strong nation within the colonies, Military would be much more powerful and The United States of America would be less likely to attack the North. Ireland was one of the many landmasses that was under British control(1865). The Fenian brotherhood was a movement intended to use the smaller British North American colonies as a bargaining tool against the british to salvage their nation and declare Irish Independence. The Fenians obtained their name from John O’Mahony, who labelled them after Fianna Eirionn,the ancient Irish warriors. The Fenians were a society of Irish-American war veterans patriots that had emigrated from Ireland to the United States. The Fenians were a growing threat towards the British North American colonies. New Brunswick was raided in 1866, ultimately the Fenians were eventually defeated and driven out. Before the Fenian raids New Brunswick wanted nothing to do with Confederation, the fear Fenians generated quickly changed that ideation. With the Corn Laws out of the picture , the trading environments for many colonies was a nuisance and declining. The Corn Laws was a law that imposed restrictions and traffics on imported grain. They were designed to keep grain trade with specifically British North colonies regardless of the high prices(for British). Losing trade with the British resulted in major declines in the British North colonies economy. This resulted in many factories closing down, and individuals losing their jobs. The British were trading for a cheaper price so they were in no need to trade with the British North colonies which were much more expensive. The colonies still had hope with the reciprocity with The United States of America. Reciprocity is the concept of when two individuals exchange any type of item, in this case goods and materials, for mutual benefits. The British North colonies shared a 10 year agreement to reciprocity with the United States of America. The colonies knew this was bound to end thus action must have been considered to deal with the problem before hand. Thats where confederation came in hand, with confederation the colonies would share reciprocity within the one nation they would create. Nova Scotia
Five outstanding factors that lead to the need of Confederation were; Fear of war and U.S expansion, Fenian raids, trade issues, need for rail links and roads and changes in British attitudes towards the colonies themselves. At this time (1860’s) United States of America opposed an immediate threat because it was stronger than any British North American colony present. Fear of US influence was constantly knocking on the doors of the British North Colonies. “Manifest Destiny” also contributed to the fear of American influence. Manifest Destiny was the the concept of that the United States not only could, but was destined by God to control all of North America. This Fueled the war over Texas with Mexico and western settlement. Military threats were huge because United States of America was connected to the Colonies and could attack at any time especially New Brunswick and other colonies like it, which shared a poorly defended border with the United States . Since the US had strength in numbers and advanced weapons it would not have been hard to take over the disunited colonies. During the civil war(1861-1865) Britain provided support for the South of America which could influence attacks on the smaller British colonies up North. Confederation would create one strong nation within the colonies, Military would be much more powerful and The United States of America would be less likely to attack the North. Ireland was one of the many landmasses that was under British control(1865). The Fenian brotherhood was a movement intended to use the smaller British North American colonies as a bargaining tool against the british to salvage their nation and declare Irish Independence. The Fenians obtained their name from John O’Mahony, who labelled them after Fianna Eirionn,the ancient Irish warriors. The Fenians were a society of Irish-American war veterans patriots that had emigrated from Ireland to the United States. The Fenians were a growing threat towards the British North American colonies. New Brunswick was raided in 1866, ultimately the Fenians were eventually defeated and driven out. Before the Fenian raids New Brunswick wanted nothing to do with Confederation, the fear Fenians generated quickly changed that ideation. With the Corn Laws out of the picture , the trading environments for many colonies was a nuisance and declining. The Corn Laws was a law that imposed restrictions and traffics on imported grain. They were designed to keep grain trade with specifically British North colonies regardless of the high prices(for British). Losing trade with the British resulted in major declines in the British North colonies economy. This resulted in many factories closing down, and individuals losing their jobs. The British were trading for a cheaper price so they were in no need to trade with the British North colonies which were much more expensive. The colonies still had hope with the reciprocity with The United States of America. Reciprocity is the concept of when two individuals exchange any type of item, in this case goods and materials, for mutual benefits. The British North colonies shared a 10 year agreement to reciprocity with the United States of America. The colonies knew this was bound to end thus action must have been considered to deal with the problem before hand. Thats where confederation came in hand, with confederation the colonies would share reciprocity within the one nation they would create. Nova Scotia