Canadian Confederation

[19] The War of 1812 and Treaty of 1818 established the 49th parallel as the border with the United States from the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains in Western Canada.

Lord Durham presented his idea of unification in 1839 Report on the Affairs of British North America,[27] which resulted in the Act of Union 1840.

[31] Queen Victoria remarked on "the impossibility of our being able to hold Canada; but, we must struggle for it; and by far the best solution would be to let it go as an independent kingdom under an English prince.

[36] Internally, there was political deadlock resulting from the contemporary governmental structure in the Province of Canada and distrust between English Protestants and French Catholics.

Additionally, the U.S. doctrine of "manifest destiny" raised fears of another American invasion (Canadians had fended off American incursions during the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Fenian raids, and St. Albans Raid[39]), only further inflamed by the Alaska Purchase of March 30, 1867, which had been supported in the U.S. Senate (by Charles Sumner, among others) precisely in terms of taking the remainder of North America from the British.

[42] In a 2000 journal article, historian Ian McKay argued Canadian Confederation was motivated by the ideology of liberalism and the belief in the supremacy of individual rights.

Most classical liberals, who believed in free trade and low taxes, opposed Confederation because they feared it would result in Big Government.

The struggle over Confederation involved a battle between a staunch individualist economic philosophy and a comparatively collectivist view of the state's proper role in the economy.

According to Smith, the victory of the statist supporters of Confederation over their anti-statist opponents prepared the way for John A. Macdonald's government to enact the protectionist National Policy and to subsidize major infrastructure projects such as the Intercolonial and Pacific Railways.

She argues their intellectual debts to Locke are most evident when one looks at the 1865 debates in the Province of Canada's legislature on whether or not union with the other British North American colonies would be desirable.

[57] George Brown remarked in a letter to his wife Anne that at a party given by the premier of PEI, Colonel John Hamilton Gray, he met a woman who had never been off the island in her entire life.

"From all accounts it looks as if these [Canadian] gentlemen had it all their own way; ... and that, what with their arguments and what with their blandishments, (they gave a champagne lunch on board the Victoria where Mr. McGee's wit sparkled brightly as the wine), they carried the Lower Province delegates a little off their feet.

[62] For the Reformers of Canada West, led by George Brown, the end of what they perceived as French-Canadian interference in local affairs was in sight.

[63] For Maritimers such as Tupper of Nova Scotia or Tilley of New Brunswick, horizons were suddenly broadened to take in much larger possibilities for trade and growth.

It did not receive support for a guarantee of six members in the proposed House of Commons, and was denied an appropriation of $200,000 it felt had been offered at Charlottetown to assist in buying out the holdings of absentee landlords.

[68] In April 1865, Brown, Macdonald, Cartier and Galt met with the government and found "the project of a federal union of the colonies was highly approved of by the imperial authorities".

In December 1866, sixteen delegates from the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia travelled to London, where the Earl of Carnarvon presented each to Queen Victoria in private audience,[71] as well as holding court for their wives and daughters.

[72] To the Nova Scotian delegates, the Queen said, "I take the deepest interest in [Confederation], for I believe it will make [the provinces] great and prosperous.

"[73] At meetings held at the Westminster Palace Hotel, the delegates reviewed and approved the 72 resolutions; although Charles Tupper had promised anti-union forces in Nova Scotia he would push for amendments, he was unsuccessful in getting any passed.

The 4th Earl of Carnarvon continued to have a central role in drafting the act at Highclere Castle alongside the first prime minister of Canada Macdonald, Cartier and Galt, who signed the visitor book in 1866.

[77] Confederation was accomplished when the Queen gave royal assent to the British North America Act (BNA Act) on March 29, 1867, followed by a royal proclamation stating, "we do ordain, declare, and command that, on and after the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick shall form and be One Dominion, under the name of Canada.

[83] Macdonald had spoken of "founding a great British monarchy" and wanted the newly created country to be called the Kingdom of Canada.

[85] When the British North America Act, 1867, was passed in the Parliament in Westminster, the Queen said to Macdonald, "I am very glad to see you on this mission [...] It is a very important measure and you have all exhibited so much loyalty.

[86] According to the Supreme Court of Canada, Canadian "sovereignty was acquired in the period between its separate signature of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and the Statute of Westminster, 1931",[87] which gave the country nearly full independence.

Section 91 gives Parliament jurisdiction over banking, interest rates, criminal law, the postal system, and the armed forces.

For seven years, William Annand and Joseph Howe led the ultimately unsuccessful fight to convince British imperial authorities to release Nova Scotia from Confederation.

[101] One reason for joining was financial: PEI's economy was performing poorly and union would bring monetary benefits that would assist the province in avoiding bankruptcy.

Confederation created conditions of colonialism, including resource grabbing, broken treaties, forced assimilation, patriarchy, and intergenerational trauma inflicted by the hegemony of the Canadian state on Indigenous nations that had been self-governing.

[113] As the 20th century progressed, attention to the conditions of Indigenous peoples in Canada increased, which included the granting of full voting rights in 1960.

[citation needed] Created to resolve the effects of the residential school system, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was struck to identify further measures to improve conditions.