Editing Canadian Confederation (section)

===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.