Editing Canadian Confederation (section)

==History==
{{Further|Constitutional history of Canada}}

===Colonial organization===
[[File:William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling - Project Gutenberg etext 20110.jpg|thumb|Sir [[William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling|William Alexander]]]]

All the [[Former colonies and territories in Canada|former colonies and territories]] that became involved in the Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, were initially part of [[New France]], and were once ruled by [[Early modern France|France]].{{sfn |Dorin |Kaltemback |Rahal |2007|pp=14–17}} [[Nova Scotia]] was granted in 1621 to [[William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling|Sir William Alexander]] under [[charter]] by [[James VI and I|James I]].{{sfn |Dorin |Kaltemback |Rahal |2007|pp=14–17}} This claim overlapped the French claims to [[Acadia]], and although the [[Scottish colonization of the Americas|Scottish colony]] of Nova Scotia was short-lived, for political reasons, the conflicting imperial interests of France and the 18th century [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] led to a long and bitter struggle for control. The British acquired present-day mainland Nova Scotia by the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] of 1713 and the [[Expulsion of the Acadians|Acadian population was expelled]] by the British in 1755. They renamed Acadia "Nova Scotia", which included present-day [[New Brunswick]].{{sfn |Dorin |Kaltemback |Rahal |2007|pp=14–17}} The rest of New France was acquired by the British as the result of its defeat of New France in the [[French and Indian War|Seven Years' War]], which ended with the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1763. From 1763 to 1791, most of New France became the [[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Province of Quebec]].{{sfn |Dorin |Kaltemback |Rahal |2007|pp=14–17}} However, in 1769 the present-day [[Prince Edward Island]], which had been part of Acadia, was renamed "St John's Island" and organized as a separate colony.{{sfn|Semple|1996|p=460}} It was renamed "Prince Edward Island" in 1798 in honour of [[Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn]].{{sfn|Semple|1996|p=460}}

The first [[English overseas possessions|English attempt at settlement]] on that part of the continent that would become modern Canada had been in [[Newfoundland Colony|Newfoundland]] which would not join Confederation until 1949.{{sfn|Hayes|2006|p=212}} The [[Society of Merchant Venturers]] of [[Bristol]] began to settle [[Newfoundland and Labrador]] at [[Cuper's Cove]] as far back as 1610, and Newfoundland had also been the subject of [[Plaisance, Newfoundland and Labrador|a French colonial enterprise]].<ref name="Clarke2010re">{{cite book |first=Sandra |last=Clarke |title=Newfoundland and Labrador English |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=moDVp5TTpgcC&pg=PA5 |date=April 1, 2010 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-2617-5 |page=5}}</ref>

During and after the [[American Revolution|U.S. War of Independence]], an estimated 50,000 [[United Empire Loyalist]]s fled to [[British North America]].{{sfn |Dorin |Kaltemback |Rahal |2007|pp=14-17}} The British created the separate province of New Brunswick in 1784 for Loyalists who settled in the western part of Nova Scotia.{{sfn|Hayes|2006|p=127}} Nova Scotia (including New Brunswick) received slightly more than half of this influx, and many Loyalists settled in the Province of Quebec, which later by the [[Constitutional Act 1791]] was separated into a predominantly English [[Upper Canada]] and a predominantly French [[Lower Canada]].<ref name="FrancisFrancis2009a">{{cite book |first1=R. D. |last1=Francis |first2=Richard |last2=Jones |first3=Donald B. |last3=Smith |title=Journeys: A History of Canada |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GbbZRIOKclsC&pg=PA105 |date=February 2009 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-17-644244-6 |page=105}}</ref> The [[War of 1812]] and [[Treaty of 1818]] established the border between British North America and the United States at the [[49th parallel north|49th parallel]] from the [[Great Lakes]] to the [[Rocky Mountains]] in Western Canada.<ref name="Kemp2010">{{cite book |first=Roger L. |last=Kemp |title=Documents of American Democracy: A Collection of Essential Works |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHawgM-WnlUC&pg=PA180 |date=May 30, 2010 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-4210-2 |page=180}}</ref>
[[File:Canada provinces 1867-1870.png|left|thumb|Canadian territory at Confederation]]

Following the [[Rebellions of 1837]], [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|Lord Durham]] in his [[Durham Report]], recommended Upper and Lower Canada be joined as the [[Province of Canada]] and the new province should have a [[responsible government]].<ref name="MatthewsGentilcore1987">{{cite book |first1=Geoffrey J. |last1=Matthews |first2=R. Louis |last2=Gentilcore |title=Historical Atlas of Canada: The land transformed, 1800–1891 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tWkxht1Oa8EC&pg=PA57 |year=1987 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-3447-2 |page=57}}</ref> As a result of Durham's report, the British Parliament passed the [[Act of Union 1840]], and the Province of Canada was formed in 1841.{{sfn|Magocsi|1999|p=552}} The new province had two parts: [[Canada West]] (the former Upper Canada, today's Ontario) and [[Canada East]] (the former Lower Canada, today's Quebec).{{sfn|Magocsi|1999|p=552}} Governor General [[James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin|Lord Elgin]] granted ministerial responsibility in 1848, first to Nova Scotia and then to the Province of Canada. Later, the British parliament extended responsible government to Prince Edward Island (1851), New Brunswick (1854), and Newfoundland (1855).{{sfn|Careless|1963|p=205}}

The area constituting modern-day [[British Columbia]] is the remnants of the [[Hudson's Bay Company]]'s [[Columbia District]] and [[New Caledonia District]] following the [[Oregon Treaty]]. Before joining Canada in 1871, British Columbia consisted of the separate [[Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866)|Colony of British Columbia]] (formed in 1858, in an area where the Crown had granted a monopoly to the Hudson's Bay Company), and the [[Colony of Vancouver Island]] (formed in 1849) constituting a separate [[crown colony]] until it was united with the colony of British Columbia in 1866.<ref name="Whitaker1874">{{cite book |author1=Mercantile Library Association (San Francisco) |first2=Alfred Edward |last2=Whitaker |title=Catalogue of the library of the Mercantile library association of San Francisco |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ZI1AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA106 |year=1874 |publisher=Francis & Valentine, printers |page=106}}</ref>

The remainder of modern-day Canada was made up of [[Rupert's Land]] and the [[North-Western Territory]] (both of which were controlled by the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] and sold to Canada in 1870) and the [[British Arctic Territories|Arctic Islands]], which were under direct British control and became a part of Canada in 1880.{{sfn|Emmerson|2010|p=73}} Plus, Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada in 1949.

===Early attempts===
The idea of joining the various colonies in North America was being floated as early as 1814. That year, [[Chief Justice of Quebec#Chief Justice of Lower Canada (1791-1841)|Chief Justice of Lower Canada]] [[Jonathan Sewell]] sent a copy of his report, ''A Plan for the federal Union of British Provinces in North America'', to [[Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn|Prince Edward]] (both a son of King [[George III]] and the father of [[Queen Victoria]]), whom Sewell had befriended when they both resided in [[Quebec City]]. Edward replied, "nothing can be better arranged than the whole thing is, or more perfectly", going on to suggest a unified Canada consisting of two provinces—one formed from Upper and Lower Canada and the other from the Maritime colonies—each with a lieutenant governor and executive council, one located in [[Montreal]] and the other in either [[Annapolis Royal]] or [[Windsor, Nova Scotia|Windsor]].<ref>{{citation| title=Journal of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada| year=1839| page=103}}</ref> Edward said he would pass the report on to [[Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst|the Earl Bathurst]], the then-[[Secretary of State for War and the Colonies]]; the Prince's comments and critiques were later cited by both the Earl of Durham and participants of the [[Charlottetown Conference|Charlottetown]] and [[Quebec Conference, 1864|Quebec Conferences]].
[[File:George etiene cartier.jpg|thumb|[[George-Étienne Cartier]]]]

Lord Durham presented his idea of unification in 1839 ''[[Report on the Affairs of British North America]]'',<ref name=KaufmanMacpherson2005tg>{{cite book| first1=Will| last1=Kaufman| first2=Heidi Slettedahl| last2=Macpherson| title=Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbBbn3x7PZsC&pg=PA822| year=2005| publisher=ABC-CLIO| isbn=978-1-85109-431-8| page=822}}</ref> which resulted in the Act of Union 1840. Beginning in 1857, [[Joseph-Charles Taché]] proposed a federation in a series of 33 articles published in the ''Courrier du Canada''.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=40}} Two years later, [[Alexander Tilloch Galt]], [[George-Étienne Cartier]], and [[John Ross (Canadian politician)|John Ross]] travelled to the United Kingdom to present the British Parliament with a project for confederation of the British colonies. The proposal was received by the London authorities with polite indifference.

The [[Royal tours of Canada#1860 royal tour|royal tour of British North America]] undertaken by Queen Victoria's son, Prince Albert Edward (later King [[Edward VII]]) in 1860, however, helped lead to the unification of the colonies by confirming a common bond between their inhabitants;<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/pages/28_royalty_royaute.aspx| title="At Home in Canada": Royalty at Canada's Historic Places| publisher=Canad's Historic Places| access-date=April 30, 2023}}</ref> indeed, the monarchy played a "pivotal legal and symbolic role [...] in cementing the new Canadian union".<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22.1-Full-Issue.pdf| editor-last1=Lagassé| editor-first1=Philippe| editor-last2=MacDonald| editor-first2=Nicholas A.| title=The Crown in the 21st Century| last1=Newman| first1=Warren J.| series=Some Observations on the Queen, the Crown, the Constitution, and the Courts| journal=Review of Constitutional Studies| volume=22| issue=1| year=2017| page=59| publisher=Centre for Constitutional Studies| location=Edmonton| access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref> Further, by 1864, it was clear that continued governance of the Province of Canada under the terms of the 1840 Act of Union had become impracticable. Therefore, a [[grand coalition]] of parties, the [[Great Coalition]], formed in order to reform the political system.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=44}} 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."<ref name=TCE>{{citation| last=Stacey| first=C.P.| title=British Military Policy in the Era of Confederation| journal=CHA Annual Report and Historical Papers| volume=13| year=1934| page=25}}</ref>

===Influences leading to Confederation===
Several factors influenced Confederation, caused both by internal sources and pressures from external sources.{{refn|{{sfn|Martin|1995|pp=23–57}}<ref name=Martin1990>{{cite book |first=Ged |last=Martin |title=The Causes of Canadian confederation |pages=[https://archive.org/details/causesofcanadian0000unse/page/12 12–24] |year=1990 |publisher=Acadiensis Press |isbn=978-0-919107-25-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/causesofcanadian0000unse/page/12 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Andrew |last=Smith |title=British Businessmen and Canadian Confederation Constitution-Making in an Era of Anglo-Globalization |location=Montreal, Quebec, Canada |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |year=2008}}</ref>}}

Internally, there was political deadlock resulting from the contemporary governmental structure in the Province of Canada and distrust between English Protestants and French Catholics.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Canada West |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canada-west|access-date=February 21, 2021}}</ref> Further, demographic pressure from an expanding population and economic nationalism wanting economic development butted against a lack of an inter-colonial railroad, which hampered trade, military movement, and transportation in general.<ref>The Intercolonial Railway, ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' http://biographi.ca/en/theme_conferences_1864.html?p=4</ref>

Externally, the [[Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty]] (a free trade policy, starting in 1854, whereby products were allowed into the United States without taxes or tariffs, which was then considered to be beneficial for Canada) was cancelled by the United States in 1865, partly as revenge against Britain for unofficial support of the south in the [[American Civil War]]. 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]]<ref>{{cite web|title=The St. Albans Raid |work=Townships Heritage WebMagazine|url=http://townshipsheritage.com/article/st-albans-raid|access-date=February 21, 2021}}</ref>), 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. The American Civil War had also horrified Canadians and turned many from the thought of republicanism.<ref>The American Dimension, ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', http://biographi.ca/en/theme_conferences_1864.html?p=3</ref> In Britain, political pressure came from financiers who had lost money by investing in the failed [[Grand Trunk Railway]] and the [[little Englander]] philosophy fed a desire to withdraw troops from Britain's colonies.

===Ideological origins and philosophical dimensions===
[[File:Map of the Eastern British Provinces in North America at the time of Confederation 1867.jpg|thumb|Map of the Eastern British Provinces in North America at the time of Canadian Confederation, 1867]]
There is extensive scholarly debate on the role of political ideas in Canadian Confederation. Traditionally, historians regarded Canadian Confederation an exercise in political pragmatism that was essentially non-ideological. In the 1960s, historian [[Peter Busby Waite|Peter Waite]] derided the references to political philosophers in the legislative debates on Confederation as "hot air". In Waite's view, Confederation was driven by pragmatic brokerage politics and competing interest groups.<ref>See Introduction by Ged Martin in Peter B. Waite, ''The Confederation Debates in the Province of Canada, 1865 A Selection'' (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006)</ref>

In 1987, political scientist Peter&nbsp;J. Smith challenged the view Canadian Confederation was non-ideological. Smith argued Confederation was motivated by new political ideologies as much as the American and French Revolutions and Canadian Confederation was driven by a [[Court Party]] ideology. Smith traces the origins of this ideology to eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain, where political life was polarized between defenders of [[Classical republicanism|classical republican]] values of the [[Country Party (Britain)|Country Party]] and proponents of a new pro-capitalist ideology of the Court Party, which believed in centralizing political power. In British North America in the late 1860s, the Court Party tradition was represented by the supporters of Confederation, whereas the anti-capitalist and agrarian Country Party tradition was embodied by the Anti-Confederates.<ref>Smith, Peter J. 1987. "The Ideological Origins of Canadian Confederation". Canadian Journal of Political Science . 20, no. 1: 3–29.</ref>

In a 2000 journal article, historian [[Ian McKay (historian)|Ian McKay]] argued Canadian Confederation was motivated by the ideology of liberalism and the belief in the supremacy of individual rights. McKay described Confederation as part of the classical liberal project of creating a "liberal order" in northern North America.<ref>Mckay, I. 2000. "The Liberal Order Framework: A Prospectus for a Reconnaissance of Canadian History". CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW. 81: 617–645.</ref> Many Canadian historians have adopted McKay's liberal order framework as a paradigm for understanding Canadian history.<ref>Ducharme, Michel, and Jean-François Constant. ''Liberalism and Hegemony: Debating the Canadian Liberal Revolution''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009.</ref>

In 2008, historian Andrew Smith advanced a very different view of Confederation's ideological origins. He argues that in the four original Canadian provinces, the politics of taxation were a central issue in the debate about Confederation. Taxation was also central to the debate in Newfoundland, the tax-averse colony that rejected it. Smith argued Confederation was supported by many colonists who were sympathetic to a relatively interventionist, or statist, approach to capitalist development. 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 [[Statism|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 Railway|Intercolonial]] and [[Canadian Pacific Railway|Pacific]] Railways.<ref>Smith, Andrew. 2008. "Toryism, Classical Liberalism, and Capitalism: The Politics of Taxation and the Struggle for Canadian Confederation". ''The Canadian Historical Review''. 89, no. 1: 1–25.</ref>

In 2007, political scientist [[Janet Ajzenstat]] connected Canadian Confederation to the individualist ideology of [[John Locke]]. She argued that the union of the British North American colonies was motivated by a desire to protect individual rights, especially the rights to life, liberty, and property. She contends the Fathers of Confederation were motivated by the values of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 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.<ref>Ajzenstat, Janet. ''The Canadian Founding: John Locke and Parliament''. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2007.</ref>

===Charlottetown Conference===
{{Main|Charlottetown Conference}}
In the spring of 1864, [[New Brunswick premier]] [[Samuel Leonard Tilley]], [[Nova Scotia premier]] [[Charles Tupper]], and [[Prince Edward Island premier]] [[John Hamilton Gray (Prince Edward Island politician)|John Hamilton Gray]] were contemplating the idea of a [[Maritime Union]] which would join their three colonies together.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=56}}

[[File:Charlottetown Conference Delegates, September 1864.JPG|left|thumb|Delegates of the [[Charlottetown Conference]] on the steps of [[Government House (Prince Edward Island)|Government House]], September 1864]]

The government of the Province of Canada surprised the Maritime governments by asking if the Province of Canada could be included in the negotiations. The request was channelled through the governor general, Monck, to London and accepted by the Colonial Office.{{sfn|Gwyn|2008}} After several years of legislative paralysis in the Province of Canada caused by the need to maintain a double legislative majority (a majority of both the Canada East and Canada West delegates in the Province of Canada's legislature), Macdonald had led his [[Liberal-Conservative Party]] into the Great Coalition with Cartier's {{lang|fr|[[Parti bleu]]}} and [[George Brown (Canadian politician)|George Brown]]'s [[Clear Grits]].{{sfn|Careless|1963|p=233}} Macdonald, Cartier, and Brown felt union with the other British colonies might be a way to solve the political problems of the Province of Canada.{{sfn|Careless|1963|p=233}}

The [[Charlottetown Conference]] began on September 1, 1864. Since the agenda for the meeting had already been set, the delegation from the Province of Canada was initially not an official part of the Conference. The issue of Maritime Union was deferred and the Canadians were formally allowed to join and address the Conference.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=83}}

No minutes from the Charlottetown Conference survive, but it is known Cartier and Macdonald presented arguments in favour of a union of the three colonies,{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=304}} Alexander Tilloch Galt presented the Province of Canada's proposals on the financial arrangements of such a union,{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=304}} and George Brown presented a proposal for what form a united government might take.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=87}} The Canadian delegation's proposal for the governmental system involved:
# preservation of ties with Great Britain
# residual jurisdiction left to a central authority
# a bicameral system including a Lower House with representation by population (rep by pop) and an Upper House with representation based on regional, rather than provincial, equality
# responsible government at the federal and provincial levels
# the appointment of a [[Governor General of Canada|Canadian governor general]] by the [[British Crown]]

Other proposals attractive to the politicians from the Maritime colonies were:
# assumption of provincial debt by the central government{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=85}}
# revenues from the central government apportioned to the provinces on the basis of population{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=85}}
# the building of an intercolonial railway to link Montreal and Halifax, giving Canada access to an ice-free winter port and the Maritimes easy access to Canada and [[Rupert's Land]]{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=307}}

By September 7, 1864, the delegates from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island gave a positive answer to the Canadian delegation, expressing the view the federation of all of the provinces was considered desirable if the terms of union could be made satisfactory{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=305}} and the question of Maritime Union was waived.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=87}}

After the Conference adjourned on September 9, there were further meetings between delegates held at [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]], [[Saint John, New Brunswick|Saint John]], and [[Fredericton]].{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=88}}{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=306}} These meetings evinced enough interest that the delegates decided to hold a second Conference.
[[File:ThomasDArcyMcGee.jpg|right|thumb|Thomas D'Arcy McGee in 1868]]

====Delegates' reactions====
One of the most important purposes of the Charlottetown Conference was the introduction of Canadians to the leaders from the Maritime Provinces and vice versa. At this point, there was no railway link from Quebec City to Halifax, and the people of each region had little to do with one another. [[Thomas D'Arcy McGee]] was one of the few Canadian delegates who had been to the Maritimes, when he had gone down earlier that summer with a trade mission of Canadian businessmen, journalists and politicians.{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=306}}

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. Nevertheless, he found Prince Edward Islanders to be "amazingly civilized".{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=305}}

====Press and popular reaction====
Reaction to the Charlottetown Conference varied among the different newspapers. In the Maritimes, there was concern that the smooth Canadians with their sparkling champagne and charming speeches were outsmarting the delegates of the smaller provinces. "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."<ref>Fredericton ''Head Quarters'', of September 14, 1864, cited in Waite, p. 90</ref>

The delegates from the Quebec conference considered if the resolutions would be better suited for acceptance if a popular vote were held on them. However, due to the divide amongst religious groups and general mistrust between areas in Canada, they believed that such a vote would be defeated. Thus, they went ahead with the resolutions on their own volition.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Canada A Country by Consent: Confederation: Reaction to Conference Proposal|url=http://www.canadahistoryproject.ca/1867/1867-04-reaction.html|access-date=February 21, 2021|website=www.canadahistoryproject.ca}}</ref>

===Quebec Conference===
{{Main|Quebec Conference, 1864|Quebec Resolutions}}
After returning home from the Charlottetown Conference, Macdonald asked [[Charles Monck, 4th Viscount Monck|Viscount Monck]], the [[Governor-General of the Province of Canada|governor general of the Province of Canada]] to invite delegates from the three Maritime provinces and Newfoundland to a conference with United Canada delegates. At the opening of the conference, a total of 33 delegates were included from the British North American Colonies, including Newfoundland, which had not participated in prior meetings.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Canada|first=Parks|date=October 11, 2017|title=Charlottetown and Québec Conferences of 1864|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2017/10/charlottetown_andquebecconferencesof1864.html|access-date=February 21, 2021|website=gcnws}}</ref> Monck obliged and the Conference went ahead at [[Quebec City]] in October 1864.

[[File:QuebecConvention1864.jpg|thumb|left|Delegates at the [[Quebec Conference, 1864|Quebec Conference]], October 1864]]

The Conference began on October 10, 1864, on the site of present-day Montmorency Park.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.quebec400.gc.ca/histoires-stories/parc-montmorency-park-eng.cfm |title=Quebec 2008 (400th Anniversary website), Government of Canada |publisher=Quebec400.gc.ca |date=November 8, 2007 |access-date=May 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506011800/http://www.quebec400.gc.ca/histoires-stories/parc-montmorency-park-eng.cfm |archive-date=May 6, 2012}}</ref> The Conference elected [[Étienne-Paschal Taché]] as its chairman, but it was dominated by Macdonald. Despite differences in the positions of some of the delegates on some issues, the Quebec Conference, following so swiftly on the success of the Charlottetown Conference, was infused with a determinative sense of purpose and [[nationalism]].{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=98}} 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.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=99}} 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.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=99}}

On the issue of the Senate, the Maritime Provinces pressed for as much equality as possible. With the addition of Newfoundland to the Conference, the three Maritime colonies did not wish to see the strength of their provinces in the upper chamber diluted by simply adding Newfoundland to the Atlantic category.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=100}} It was the matter of the Senate that threatened to derail the entire proceedings.{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=317}} It was Macdonald who came up with the acceptable compromise of giving Newfoundland four senators of its own when it joined.{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=317}}

The delegates from the Maritimes also raised an issue with respect to the level of government—federal or provincial—that would be given the powers not otherwise specifically defined. Macdonald, who was aiming for the strongest central government possible, insisted this was to be the central government, and in this, he was supported by, among others, Tupper.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=105}}

At the end of the Conference, it adopted the "[[seventy-two resolutions]]" which would form the basis of a scheduled future conference. The Conference adjourned on October 27.

Prince Edward Island emerged disappointed from the Quebec Conference. 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 [[Land Purchase Act (1875)|buying out the holdings of absentee landlords]].{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=107}}

====Press and popular reaction====
"Never was there such an opportunity as now for the birth of a nation" proclaimed a pamphlet written by S. E. Dawson and reprinted in a Quebec City newspaper during the Conference.{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=317}}

Again, reaction to the Quebec Conference varied depending on the political views of the critic.

====Constitutional scheme discussed in London====
George Brown was the first, in December 1864, to carry the constitutional proposals to the British government in London, where Brown received "a most gracious answer to our constitutional scheme".{{sfn|Mackenzie|1892|p=230}} He also met with William Gladstone—who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer and, later, Prime Minister—"who agreed in almost everything".{{sfn|Mackenzie|1892|p=230}} 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".{{sfn|Mackenzie|1892|pp=96–97}}

On the form of the proposed system of governance for Canada, the Fathers of Confederation were influenced by the American republic. Macdonald said in 1865:

{{blockquote|By adhering to the monarchical principle, we avoid one defect inherent in the [[constitution of the United States]]. By the election of the president by a majority and for a short period, he never is the sovereign and chief of the nation. He is never looked up to by the whole people as the head and front of the nation. He is, at best, but the successful leader of a party. This defect is all the greater on account of the practice of reelection. During his first term of office, he is employed in taking steps to secure his own reelection and, for his party, a continuance of power. We avoid this by adhering to the monarchical principle—the sovereign, whom you respect and love. I believe that it is of the utmost importance to have that principle recognized so that we shall have a sovereign who is placed above the region of party—to whom all parties look up; who is not elevated by the action of one party nor depressed by the action of another; who is the common head and sovereign of all.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bartleby.com/268/5/1.html| last=Macdonald| first=John A.| title=On Canadian Confederation| year=1865| publisher=Bartleby| access-date=May 8, 2012}}</ref>}}

===London Conference===
{{main|London Conference of 1866}}
[[File:Queen Victoria 1887.jpg|thumb|[[Queen Victoria]] granted [[royal assent]] to the ''[[British North America Act (1867)|British North America Act]]'' on March 29, 1867]]

Following the Quebec Conference, the Province of Canada's legislature passed a bill approving the union. The union proved more controversial in the Maritime provinces, however, and it was not until 1866 that New Brunswick and Nova Scotia passed union resolutions, while Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland continued to opt against joining.

In December 1866, sixteen delegates from the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia travelled to London, where [[Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon|the Earl of Carnarvon]] presented each to [[Queen Victoria]] in private [[audience (meeting)|audience]],<ref name="Lady Carnarvon">{{cite news |url=https://www.ladycarnarvon.com/a-constitutional-walk-for-canada-day/ |title=A Constitutional Walk for Canada Day |date=June 30, 2017 |work=Lady Carnarvon |access-date=June 19, 2018}}</ref> as well as holding court for their wives and daughters.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bousfield|1991|p=16}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/victoria#:~:text=Queen%20Victoria%20favoured%20Confederation%20and,streets%2C%20communities%20and%20physical%20features.| last1=Rayburn| first1=Alan| last2=Harris| first2=Carolyn| title=Queen Victoria| encyclopedia=THe Canadian Encyclopedia| date=September 8, 2015| publisher=Historica Canada| access-date=February 20, 2023}}</ref>

At meetings held at the Westminster Palace Hotel, the delegates reviewed and approved the 72 resolutions; although Charles Tupper had promised to anti-union forces in Nova Scotia that he would push for amendments, he was unsuccessful in getting any passed. Now known as the ''London Resolutions'', the conference's decisions were forwarded to the [[Colonial Office]].

After breaking for Christmas, the delegates reconvened in January 1867 and began drafting the ''[[British North America Act (1867)|British North America Act]]''. 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|prime minister of Canada]] Macdonald, Cartier and Galt, who signed the visitor book in 1866.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ladycarnarvon.com/community/highclere-and-canada/ |title=Community Category: Highclere and Canada |website=Lady Carnarvon |access-date=June 19, 2018}}</ref> After suggestions of 'Franklin' and 'Guelfenland',<ref name="Lady Carnarvon" /> they agreed the new country should be called ''Canada'', Canada East should be renamed ''Quebec'' and Canada West should be renamed ''Ontario''.<ref name=OlsonShadle1996oi>{{cite book |first1=James Stuart |last1=Olson |first2=Robert |last2=Shadle |title=Historical Dictionary of the British Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f0VnzMelzm8C&pg=PA916 |year=1996 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-29367-2 |page=916}}</ref> There was, however, heated debate about how the new country should be designated. Ultimately, the delegates elected to call the new country the Dominion of Canada, after "kingdom" and "confederation", among other options, were rejected. The term ''dominion'' was allegedly suggested by Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley.<ref name="Rayburn2001qwe">{{cite book |first=Alan |last=Rayburn |title=Naming Canada: Stories About Canadian Place Names |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aiUZMOypNB4C&pg=PA18 |date=March 1, 2001 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-8293-0 |page=18}}</ref>

The delegates had completed their draft of the ''British North America Act'' by February 1867. The act was presented to Queen Victoria on February 11, 1867. The bill was introduced in the [[House of Lords]] the next day. The bill was quickly approved by the House of Lords, and then also quickly approved by the [[British House of Commons]]. (The [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Lord Derby]] was [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister of the United Kingdom]] at the time.) The act received [[royal assent]] on March 29, 1867, and set July 1, 1867, as the date for union.<ref name="Moore2011">{{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Moore |title=1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gmgBsaRJbTQC&pg=PT159 |date=July 27, 2011 |publisher=Random House Digital, Inc. |isbn=978-1-55199-483-3 |page=159 |author-link=Christopher Moore (Canadian historian)}}</ref>

===British North America Acts===
{{main|British North America Acts}}
[[File:Proclamation Canadian Confederation.jpg|thumb|The proclamation of Canadian Confederation]]

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."<ref>{{Harvnb|Bousfield|1991|p=17}}</ref> The act replaced the Act of Union 1840, which had unified Upper Canada and Lower Canada into the united Province of Canada; separate provinces were established under their current names of Ontario and Quebec, respectively. July 1 is now celebrated as [[Canada Day]], the country's official [[national day]].

Confederation is regarded as the creation of a kingdom in its own right{{refn|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/symbl/101/102-eng.cfm |last=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion > The crown in Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=February 19, 2009 |archive-date=August 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827092532/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/symbl/101/102-eng.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Buck1>{{cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Canada.aspx |last=The Royal Household |title=The Queen and the Commonwealth > Queen and Canada |publisher=[[Queen's Printer]] |access-date=May 14, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/heritage/CorporateSeal/heraldry.htm |title=Heritage Saint John > Canadian Heraldry |publisher=Heritage Resources of Saint John and New Brunswick Community College |access-date=July 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617120638/http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/heritage/CorporateSeal/heraldry.htm |archive-date=June 17, 2011}}</ref>}} and to have "successfully reconciled the physical absence of a geographically distant monarch with a continuing and pervasive presence through the medium of formal representatives and the manner and forms of legal and conventional rules and behaviour associated with British parliamentary and monarchical governance".<ref>{{harvnb| Newman| 2017| p=60}}</ref> Macdonald had spoken of "founding a great British monarchy" and wanted the newly created country to be called the ''Kingdom of Canada''.<ref>{{citation| last=John| first=Farthing| title=Freedom Wears a Crown| location=Toronto| year=1957}}</ref> The [[Secretary of State for the Colonies|Colonial Office]] opposed the term ''kingdom'' as "premature" and "pretentious" and felt it might antagonize the United States. The term ''[[dominion]]'' was chosen, instead, to indicate Canada's status as a self-governing polity of the British Empire, the first time it was used in reference to a country.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dominion| last1=Forsey| first1=Eugene A.| last2=Hayday| first2=Matthew| title=Dominion of Canada| date=November 7, 2019| encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia| publisher=Historica Canada| access-date=June 5, 2023}}</ref> 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."<ref name=TCE/>

While the ''BNA Act'' eventually resulted in Canada having more autonomy than it had before, the country was still far from fully independent of the United Kingdom. Foreign policy remained in British hands, the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] remained Canada's highest court of appeal, and the constitution could be amended only in Britain. Gradually, Canada gained more autonomy; defence of British North America became a Canadian responsibility.<ref name=Dyck2011b>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BUOoN8e5Ps0C&pg=PA106| last=Dyck| first=Rand| title=Canadian Politics| page=106| year=2011| publisher=Cengage Learning| isbn=978-0-17-650343-7}}</ref> 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",<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/4737/index.do| title=Reference Re: Offshore Mineral Rights| year=1967| publisher=Supreme Court of Canada| location=Ottawa| page=816}}</ref> which gave the country nearly full independence. It was only because the federal and provincial governments were unable to agree on a formula for amending the constitution that the power to do so remained with the British Parliament. Once that issue was resolved, the constitution was [[patriation|patriated]] when [[Elizabeth II]] gave royal assent to the [[Canada Act, 1982]].

The [[constitution of Canada]] is made up of a number of codified acts and uncodified conventions; one of the principal documents is the ''[[Constitution Act, 1982]]'', which renamed the ''British North America Act, 1867'', to the ''[[Constitution Act, 1867]]''.<ref name=Okafọ2009>{{cite book |first=Nọnso |last=Okafọ |title=Reconstructing law and justice in a postcolony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Y_8IkfVCesC&pg=PA76 |access-date=February 20, 2012 |date=October 22, 2009 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-0-7546-4784-3 |pages=76–}}</ref><ref name=CA1982>[https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-13.html#h-59 ''Constitution Act, 1982'', s. 53(1) and Schedule, Item 1.]</ref> The act also details how power is distributed in both the provincial and federal jurisdictions. Two of the most important sections are 91 and 92. Section 91 gives Parliament jurisdiction over banking, interest rates, criminal law, the postal system, and the armed forces. Section 92 gives the provinces jurisdiction over property, contracts and torts, local works, and general business. Still, federal and provincial law may occasionally interfere with each other, in which case federal law prevails.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=''Constitution Act, 1867'' |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/constitution-act-1867|access-date=February 21, 2021}}</ref>

===Results===
[[File:JaMAC.jpg|right|thumb|John A. Macdonald became the first [[Prime Minister of Canada|prime minister of Canada]].]]

Dominion elections were held in August and September, 1867, to elect the first [[Parliament of Canada|Parliament]]. The governments of the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick nominated the seventy-two individuals who would be named to the [[Senate of Canada|Senate]], who were listed in the [[Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1867|proclamation of Confederation]] (twenty-four each for Quebec and Ontario, twelve each for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia). They were called to the Senate by the governor general for the opening of the first Parliament.<ref name="Chambers's encyclopaedia">{{cite book |title=Chambers's encyclopaedia: a dictionary of universal knowledge for the people |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pv9BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA225 |year=1887 |publisher=Collier |page=225}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Journals of the Senate of Canada : being the first session of the first Parliament, 1867-8 : 1867/68 |work=Canadiana |url=https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_07154_1/20 |access-date=2025-03-09 |pages=19–53}}</ref>

The Anti-Confederation Party won 18 out of 19 federal Nova Scotia seats in September 1867, and in the Nova Scotia provincial election of 1868, 36 out of 38 seats in the legislature. For seven years, William Annand and Joseph Howe led the ultimately unsuccessful fight to convince British imperial authorities to release Nova Scotia from Confederation. The government was vocally against Confederation, contending it was no more than the annexation of the province to the pre-existing province of Canada.<ref name="FrancisFrancis2009d">{{cite book |first1=R. D. |last1=Francis |first2=Richard |last2=Jones |first3=Donald B. |last3=Smith |title=Journeys: A History of Canada |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GbbZRIOKclsC&pg=PA263 |date=February 2009 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-17-644244-6 |page=263}}</ref>

Prior to the coming into effect of the ''Constitution Act, 1867'', there had been some concern regarding a potential "legislative vacuum" that would occur over the 15-month period between the prorogation of the Province of Canada's final Parliament in August 1866 and the opening of the now Dominion of Canada's first Parliament in November 1867.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Baker |first1=Ron |last2=Rennie |first2=Morina D |date=February 2013 |title=An institutional perspective on the development of Canada's first public accounts |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1032373212463270 |journal=Accounting History |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=31–50 |doi=10.1177/1032373212463270 |issn=1032-3732|url-access=subscription }}</ref> To prevent this, the ''Constitution Act, 1867'', provided for "continuance of existing laws" from the three colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick until new laws could be established in the Dominion.<ref>[http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/page-7.html#h-27 ''Constitution Act, 1867'', s. 129.]</ref> Thus, the "Dominion's financial systems, structures and actors were able to operate under the provisions of the old Province of Canada Acts" following confederation, and many institutions and organizations were continued and assumed "the same responsibilities for the new federal government that it had held as a provincial organization".<ref name="baker">{{Cite journal |last1=Baker |first1=Ron |last2=Rennie |first2=Morina |year=2012 |title=An institutional perspective on the development of Canada's first public accounts |journal=Accounting History |volume=18 |issue=1 |page=37 |doi=10.1177/1032373212463270|s2cid=154697832 }}</ref>