Prelude to Confederation: The Making of Canada

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Prelude to ConfederationThe Making of Canada
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The Shaping of Canada

• Today Canada is the second-largest country in the
  world.
• It is made up of 10 provinces and 3 territories.
• Although Canada was officially created in 1867,
  the story of the land that eventually became
  Canada is much older.

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• During the 1500s many European countries sent
  explorers to discover new lands.
• They claimed any new discoveries as their own.
• North America was rich is resources and Europeans
  began to establish settlements or colonies.

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• France and Britain had the most influence in
  shaping North America.
• They interacted with the Aboriginals who had been
  here for thousands of years.
• Sometimes relations between these groups were
  friendly but at other times they were not.

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• France and Britain had problems with each other
  and fought all the time.
• In 1763 France had to give up its land in North
  America to Britain.
• Britain thus controlled most of North America.

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• Most of the British colonies were in what is now
  the United States.
• These colonies were upset at the way they were
  being treated by Britain-they began a war of
  independence.
• The colonies won the war and Britain lost a lot
  of land-the remaining land was called British
  North America.
• This would become Canada almost 100 years later.

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Why Confederation?

• By the 1860s the idea of uniting the British
  colonies became popular....why?
• Problems, problems, problems...
• Political, Economic, and Military.

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Political Problems

• Province of Canada (union of Upper and Lower
  Canada) was divided.
• English-speaking and French-speaking people had
  different ideas about how things should be run.
• Some people believed that joining the other
  colonies might solve problems.

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Economic Problems

• In the latter half of the 19th century, the
  colonies economies were based on things like the
  fur trade, farming, mining, logging,
  shipbuilding...
• To make money colonies had to be able to sell
  their goods to other markets.
• However, there were few markets available.
• Some people believed that a big market could be
  created by joining the colonies together.

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Military Problems

• The relationship between British North America
  and the US had been tense since the War of
  Independence.
• The situation grew even worse when Britain
  supported the South in the American Civil
  War...The North won and was angry at Britain.
• Meanwhile, Britain was getting fed-up with the
  high cost of defending its colonies.
• Britain supported the idea of the colonies
  joining together-this would discourage the US
  from attacking.

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CONFEDERATION

• Finally, after a series of important conferences,
  Canada came into existence on July 1, 1867.
• It was composed of four provinces New Brunswick,
  Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec-it would take
  another 100 years to add the other 6 provinces
  and 3 territories that make up Canada today.

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