Canadian confederation was not attributed to nationalism, nor was it achieved through bloodshed. Canada’s dominion came to be, due to the conferences and negotiations that took place on the first of July of 1867 and then on from there. This paper will examine the aspect of the negotiations and conferences that led to the confederation, the focus however will be to identify how the United States was responsible for influencing the Canadian Confederation. This paper will identify and elaborate on how the Civil War threatened the British North American colonies. It will also go onto identify the Reciprocity agreement and its role in Canadian confederation, and after that examining the discussion of rights between those under the United States
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Tensions were ever present and growing at the time, especially with incidents such as Alabama Trent and Chesapeake. What this meant for British North American colonies was that at any point the conflict can end. With the conflict ending the American soldiers could potentially be redirected in Canada’s direction. This was a cause for concern; many at the time feared the possibility of American invasion or annexation (Chevrier 13). Thus, making the civil war a significant component to Canadian confederation because it motivated British North America colonies to be defensive if such an incursion were to occur, the best hope the colonies had was to unite together through confederation to beat back a possible invasion from the US (Girard 5, Canada Watch). To dive into specifics into what raised tensions aside from the civil war, there several incidents that prompted and justified the fear that the British North American colonies had. First was the Trent Affair, a mild incident that could have dragged Canada into the war (Trent Affair). Essentially what happened was, the north arrested two confederate diplomats that …show more content…
While the Annexation Bill of 1866 did not necessarily go anywhere, the mere fact that it was introduced and looked over in the House of Representatives in the United States was enough cause for concern, especially with the recent history of incidents (Annexation Bill). It is then to no surprise that potential US aggression contributed an important role in influencing the timing and formation of Canada’s confederation. As pointed out by Joseph Rhymal, with a combined military force between four or more colonies, it improved BNA defence from potential southern aggressors, which appeared to be an attractive suggestion (Girard 5, Canada
Tensions were ever present and growing at the time, especially with incidents such as Alabama Trent and Chesapeake. What this meant for British North American colonies was that at any point the conflict can end. With the conflict ending the American soldiers could potentially be redirected in Canada’s direction. This was a cause for concern; many at the time feared the possibility of American invasion or annexation (Chevrier 13). Thus, making the civil war a significant component to Canadian confederation because it motivated British North America colonies to be defensive if such an incursion were to occur, the best hope the colonies had was to unite together through confederation to beat back a possible invasion from the US (Girard 5, Canada Watch). To dive into specifics into what raised tensions aside from the civil war, there several incidents that prompted and justified the fear that the British North American colonies had. First was the Trent Affair, a mild incident that could have dragged Canada into the war (Trent Affair). Essentially what happened was, the north arrested two confederate diplomats that …show more content…
While the Annexation Bill of 1866 did not necessarily go anywhere, the mere fact that it was introduced and looked over in the House of Representatives in the United States was enough cause for concern, especially with the recent history of incidents (Annexation Bill). It is then to no surprise that potential US aggression contributed an important role in influencing the timing and formation of Canada’s confederation. As pointed out by Joseph Rhymal, with a combined military force between four or more colonies, it improved BNA defence from potential southern aggressors, which appeared to be an attractive suggestion (Girard 5, Canada