Canada Becomes a Nation
Before Canada became a nation in 1867, the area of North America that now composes Canada was a large expanse of widely scattered communities of British and French origins. It was an area with diverse landscapes that physically divided them from the north of the United States. There was little connection among communities politically or economically. These colonies of British North America traditionally traded with Britain and with the United States, very little among themselves. These colonies even had customs duties that, to some extent, restricted such trade. In the mid 1800s, important events and changes took place.
Britain repealed(废除,撤销) the Corn Laws and Navigations Acts, which had been economically beneficial to the colonies at the same rate it applied to all other trading countries, a situation to which the colonies had never been accustomed.
From 1861to 1864, Americans were involved in a major civil war. Britain had traditional economic ties with the southern part of the United States that provided cotton to British markets. In the meantime, since the war was essentially between the North and the South, the North resented Britain’s connection with the South. In addition, during the last year (1864) of the American Civil War, the American Government of the dominant and ultimately victorious North, refused to renew a ten-year free trade agreement with United Canada, the large British colony in the central part of British North America. These arbitrary events brought concern and even fear to these colonies. With the loss of traditional trading arrangements and the end of the civil war, the North being victorious, the colonists feared that the Americans might turn on the British colonies in retaliation(报复,报仇) for Britain’s moral support for the South.
The need for new markets, and a solid defense system from potential invasion by the United States, brought an acute awareness to these diverse colonies that they should look to each other for resolutions to these problems. They felt uneasy trying to cope against these adversities(逆境,苦难) on their own. Sir John A. Macdonald from United Canada, the dominant personality at this time, also saw the acceleration of American settlers moving north and spreading throughout the flat prairie (大草原) lands to the west. This would potentially(潜在的) put a wall between the colonies in the East and the lonely western British colony in what is today part of British Columbia on the west coast of North America. Macdonald felt that the situation was urgent.
In the summer of 1864, the maritime colonies of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New found land scheduled a meeting to discuss the possibility of a customs union or free trade area to compensate for the latest setbacks(挫折,失败) in trade relations with Britain and the United States. Macdonald managed to get permission for some delegates from United Canada to attend as observers. For a number of years, United Canada was experiencing problems of political deadlock (僵局). Canada West was predominantly(主要地) English-speaking Canada East was predominantly French-speaking. A central government, set up in 1841, required a majority from both Canada West and Canada East for all legislation to become law. It was very difficult to pass significant legislation when two opposing views were constantly being debated and legislative bills were constantly being defeated. The Canadians saw a new, wider union, a potential new national institution or central government, as a possible solution for breaking out of this constant political disorder.
The Canadian delegates sailed on board a cruise ship down the St. Lawrence River, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island. This convention expanded to discussions of the possibility of all the British colonies uniting into one nation.
After much complicated debate at another convention in Quebec City that same year, the delegate submitted a draft of an agreement for the formation of the dominion of Canada. The bulk of the work had been done by a group of men of seemingly high virtue, who became know in history as “the Fathers of Confederation(联邦)”. United Canada was divided into the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Some allowances were given to Quebec because it was a predominantly French-speaking Catholic province and had special needs, unlike other provinces. The colony of Nova Scotia was divided into Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. These four provinces formed the original new nation. A flexible approach, in later years, persuaded other colonies to join.
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