Notes

Rupert's Land: Owned by HBC, Big into fur trading.
Newfoundland: Big into shipbuilding, and fishing to some degree
P.E.I. Fishing and Potatoes are the main industries


Ottawa was chosen as the capital city because it was on the border of Canada East and Canada West, so favourism wouldn't be a problem. It was also far away from the U.S. which is good because of the civil war.

The people of Canada East were mostly francophone, and were wanting to maintain independence and french culture, where Canada West was more anglophone, and was wanting to confederate.

The B.N.A. Act was the agreement that officially created Canada as a country. It is also called the Constitutional act, and was passed on July 1st, 1867. The purpose was to unite all of the willing colonies into one large country, for reasons such as a better united navy, and a railway crossing through the entire country.


A. John A MacDonald
B. Political Deadlock
C. Representation by Population
D. Confederation
E. Coalition Government


1. The Railway:
Sir William Van Horne was the president of the U.S. Pacific railway in 1888.
Sir John A. MacDonald had the dream of building the railway.
The reason confederation would help with the railway is because the railway would be passing through set territory, and one united country instead of many colonies with borders, etc.

4. Political Deadlock:
Confederation would be perfect for the politics at the time, because they wouldn't have to worry about the political deadlock anymore. If all parties/colonies had the exact same amount of seats in the government, the decisions could never be made.

Changing British Attitudes:
The British definitely


Representation by Population:
Rep. By Pop. was the reason many colonies feared joining in on the confederation. Most of the smaller colonies like P.E.I. and N.S. feared that their minuscule population would mean they get less of a say when it came to politics

Fenian Raids:
When the Fenian raids took place in Newfoundland, and that's ultimately what made Newfoundland join confederation as the 10th province of Canada in 1949. Newfoundland didn't even attend the Charlottetown conference, but they did attend the Quebec conference the same year. Public opinion was mixed, but once the Fenian raids took place, it was the decision to join Canada.

Fear of american Takeover:
When U.S. Bought Alaska, it was feared that the U.S. would seek Rupert's Land as a perfect opportunity to take over what was soon to be Canada. They also feared that the U.S. would take advantage of the fishing industries in places like P.E.I.