Dominion Day ... Canada!

Happy Dominion Day to all of our Canadian Friends
July 1, 2007

Map of Canada today...

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                Confederation 1867
 

                 [May 22 1867]
 

     Whereas the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have expressed their desire to
     be federally united into one dominion...
     Sir Charles Tupper, 1865

     Henceforth we shall rank among the nations.
     Preamble, British North America Act, 1867

     We shall like to remember, when Confederation has stood the test of time, how beautiful was the day
     when it began.
     Editorial, Le Journal des Trois-Rivières, 1867

     A conference was held in London, England, in December 1866 chaired by Sir John A. Macdonald and
     attended by some of the leading Fathers of Confederation. No doubt some of the Mothers of Confederation
     accompanied their husbands to the conference or were happy to welcome them home when the job was done.
     At London, Confederation was given its final form and the name "Dominion of Canada" was chosen for the new
     nation. The British North America Act received Royal Assent March 29, 1867. It was to come into effect on
     July 1. Sir John A. was to become the prime minister. He was to choose four cabinet members from Canada
     West (Ontario), four from Canada East (Quebec), and two each from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
     Canada could now proceed to build its continent-wide future. On July 1 the new Dominion was busy
     Celebrating Confederation -- church bells pealed, 21-gun salutes weree fired, and steamer cruises, picnics and
     fireworks continued well into the night.

     For a clear picture of the motives underlying our federal system, please see John A. Macdonald on the Federal
     System.
 

     Copyright. The National Library of Canada. (Revised: 1995-09-22) 

30,000-10,000 B.C.- Natives immigrated to N.A.
10,000B.C.- Natives spread over Canada's 4,000,000 square miles
500 - Natives have developed extensive social and economic trade links
986- Herjolfsson sights Labrador
992- Leif Ericsson explores Newfoundland
1003- Karsefni started a colony to trade with "skraelings"
1492- Colombus rediscovers America
1497- Cabot sights Newfoundland
1534- Cartier discovers St. Lawrence
1603- Champlain explores the Great Lakes
1632- Champlain appointed first governor of Canada
1644- Wheat first sewn in Canada
1649- Final defeat of Hurons by the Iroquios
1697- Treaty of Ryswick(N.A. given to French)
1713- Treaty of Utrecht(N.A. given to English)
1743- La Verendrye brothers find the Rockies
1748- Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle(French gain back territory)
1755- Expulsion of the Acadians
1758- Fall of Louisbourg(The French Superfortress)
1759- Battle of Plains of Abraham
1760- Fall of Montreal
1763- Treaty of Paris(Canada given to England)
1763- Royal Proclamation
1774- Quebec Act
1783- Influx of Loyalists to Canada
1791- Constitution Act(Upper and Lower Canada)
1812- War between Canada and U.S.
1821- Hudson Bay and Northwest Company join
1838- Rebellions start in Upper and Lower Canada
1839- Durham Report
1841- Act of Union(Canada East and West)
1858- Ottawa chosen as capital
1867- Confederation
1870- Manitoba joins Canada
1871- Washington Treaty(Canada-U.S. relations)
1871- B.C. joins Canada
1873- P.E.I. joins Canada
1873- Formation of the North West Mounted Police
1885- Riel Rebellion
1885- C.P.R. completed at Craigellachie
1890- Manitoba Schools Question
1897- Imperial Preference
1897- Colonial Conference(To strengthen the Empire)
1898- Alaskan Boundary Dispute(U.S. given Alaskan Panhandle)
1899- Start of Boer War(Canada offers transport for troops)
1905- Alberta and Saskatchewan join Canada
1910- Naval Issue(Laurier builds a Canadian Navy)
1914- Start of WWI.(Canada automatically at war)
1915- Battle of Ypres
1917- Battle of Vimy Ridge
1917- Conscription Crisis
1917- Suffragette Movement
1918- War is over(Treaty of Paris)
1919- Winnipeg General Strike
1920- Canada joins League of Nations
1922- Chanak Affair
1930's- Great Depression
1933- Creation of the C.C.F.
1939- Start of WWII.
1942- Dieppe
1945- War ends
1945- Canada joins U.N.
1947- Supreme court created
1949- Newfoundland joins Canada
1949- Canada joins N.A.T.O.
1950- Start of Korean War
1959- St. Lawrence Seaway opened
1960- Native Canadians given the right to vote
1965- Maple Leaf becomes Canada's flag
1968- Integration of the Armed Forces
1970- F.L.Q. Crisis
1976- Olympic Games in Montreal
1982- Patriation of the Constitution
1987- Meech Lake Accord
1988- Winter Olympics in Calgary
1992- Charlottetown Accord
1993- Canadian Relief Effort in Somalia
1995- Quebec Referendum
1999- Canadian Forces in Kosavo 

     Confederation was the response of British North America (BNA) to a vast range of challenges and
opportunities above and beyond the influence of the American Civil War. However, such Civil War-related incidents as the Trent Affair, the Chesapeake Incident, the St. Albans Raid, abrogation of the Reciprocity
Treaty, the Alabama Claims, the Fenian War, and the ever-present Fear of Annexation all contributed to the
ultimate union. The most concrete BNA steps on the path to Confederation were the Charlottetown
Conference and the Quebec Conference of 1864.

     The Charlottetown Conference, September 1-9, 1864

     In the summer of 1864 British North America, which had been stirred up by the Chesapeake affair, was
heartened by the seeming advance of the Confederacy (Sherman's march through Georgia). Influential  factions in Britain and BNA were sympathetic to the Confederate cause although officially neutral. The British colonies believed that Imperial aid and the victory of the South were the best guarantees of their independence. London was in favour of BNA union. The defence of British North America and the importance of interprovincial
communication and cooperation were on many leaders' minds in both Britain and the colonies. Sentiments
against Confederation included the potential horrors of the breakdown of federalism as witnessed in the Civil War to the south. French Canadians also feared union would bring loss of autonomy. In this atmosphere the
Charlottetown Conference took place September 1-9.

     In March-April of 1864 New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island passed resolutions that a
conference take place to discuss the long-considered possibility of union of the Maritime provinces. In June the
Province of Canada, to the surprise of the Maritimes, asked to attend to propose a union of all BNA. At the secret conference (all reports were banned) the prospect of Maritime union was dropped and in its place a scheme for a broader union was born. A further conference was planned for Quebec in October.

     In a lively account in a letter to his wife, George Brown describes the Charlottetown Conference.
 
 

     Compilation painting of the Fathers of Confederation who attended the Charlottetown and Quebec
conferences. By Robert Harris.

     First Row: (front -- left to right) Edward Whalen, Samuel L. Tilley, George Brown, Charles Tupper
     Second Row: W.H. Steeves, John Hamilton Gray, Alexander Campbell, Hector L. Langevin, Oliver
     Mowat, Thomas D'Arcy McGee
     Third Row: Charles Fisher, George Coles, J.C. Chapais, Étienne-Paschal Taché, Alexander T. Galt, J.
     Cockburn, William McDougall, J. McCully
     Fourth Row: W.A. Henry, E.B. Chandler, Adams G. Archibald, George-É. Cartier, Thomas H. Haviland,
     J.H. Gray, A. Macdonald
     Fifth Row: Hewitt Bernard (secy.), Ambrose Shea, John A. Macdonald, Peter Mitchell, W.H. Pope, J.M.
     Johnson
     Sixth Row: (back) E. Palmer, F.B.T. Carter, R.B. Dickey

     The Quebec Conference, October 10-27, 1864

     At the Charlottetown Conference earlier in the year, the delegates from the three Maritime provinces and Canada had resolved upon a scheme for the confederation of BNA. Attending the Quebec Conference were 33  delegates from the above provinces and Newfoundland. The purpose was to discuss and develop a detailed
plan for union. The Canadian delegation set the agenda and proposed the resolutions. The biggest controversy concerned the composition of Parliament, proposed to be based on representation by population, a move
strongly opposed by Prince Edward Island.

     The 72 resolutions became the basis of the Confederation Debates. The resolutions were officially adopted only by the Province of Canada but became the basis of the British North America Act, which created Canada.