The treaty covered raw materials; in effect from 1854 to 1866, it represented a move toward free trade and was opposed by protectionist elements in the United States.

The new country expected to allow many new economic opportunities in Canada and to unify the colonies against the growing American expansionist sentiments, especially after the Alaska Purchase.

[4] In 1854, they achieved what they wanted by the Elgin–Marcy Treaty, which listed most Canadian raw materials and agricultural produce, especially timber and wheat, as goods to be admitted duty-free to the US market.

After the treaty took effect, there was a large increase in Canada's exports to the United States and a rapid growth of the Canadian economy, especially in southern Ontario and Nova Scotia.

[6] They argued that the growth of trade was caused by the introduction of railways to Canada and by the American Civil War, both of which led to huge demand in the United States.

The treaty complemented the earlier movement toward free trade and stimulated the export of commodities that were sold primarily to the United States.

Reciprocity benefited Portland's trading position with respect to Montreal and the Canadian hinterland, but many Maine politicians and businessmen worked successfully to terminate the treaty.

After they won the 1896 election, however, their leader, Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, did not pursue free trade because the United States refused to discuss the issue.

In a speech before the US House of Representatives, Speaker Champ Clark spoke warmly of the treaty, saying it was a step towards the United States annexing Canada.

The Conservatives made reciprocity the central issue of the 1911 election and ignited anti-American sentiment by dire warnings the treaty would turn the economy over to American control.

The Liberals were decisively defeated in the 1911 election, and the treaty was rejected by the new Conservative government, led by Robert Borden.