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Manifest Destiny
America's ideology was Manifest Destiny. This meant that the Americans wanted to take all of North America because they believed it was their destiny. This frightened Canada and wanted to ensure they had united protection in case the Americans did decide to attack. by uniting as one they would have protection all around. -
Repeal of the Corn Law
Britain repealed the corn laws for their own good. They figured other countries and colonies were benefiting from their trades and put an end to it. this meant that Britain no longer relied on its colonies so heavily and that Canada would be more independent not needing Britain to hold its hand anymore. -
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American Civil War
The people of the colonies were afraid of America and thought they wanted protection in case they attacked Canada. Confederation meant that there would be protection everywhere in case of attack. -
Political Deadlock
For a bill to be passed it had to be approved by both Canada East and Canada West. One side was English speaking and the other was french speaking. this meant that the two sides rarely agreed. because each side had an equal amount of votes this led to a political deadlock where neither side would budge. this meant that something had to change. this led to a discussion of Canada's future and became the confederation of Canada. -
The Great Coalition of 1864
The Great Coalition was the combination of the two political parties of both East and West Canada. the idea was to bring all the ideas and systems into one big government. -
The Charlottetown Conference
Both Canada East and West went to the Marines to discuss the confederation of the colonies at the Charlottetown Conference. It was the first of a series of meetings that led to the formation of Canada including the maritime provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. -
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The Quebec Conference
This conference was to discuss the idea of confederation. They agreed on a new Federal government and would help fund the new formation of the rail wat from Quebec City to the Maritimes. -
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The Fenin Raids
The raids were a number of raids conducted by the Irish people living in America. their goal was to attack Britain and take declare independence. the closest colony was Canada. they attacked Canada in an attempt to conquer it. theses attack lead to many Canadians wanting more protection all over the colonies. by confederation, this meant all of Canada would have protection. -
The Reciprocity Treaty
The Reciprocity treaty was negotiated in 1854 with the united states for mutually beneficial trade for both sides. What the treaty did was it was a free trade agreement between the two. Once the British helped the south in the civil war in America, Northern America was not happy and put an end to the treaty leaving Canada with no one to trade with. this led Canada to become weak with little power and lead to a confederation into one to help with weak points in Canada. -
British North American Act
This act officially united Canada as an independent country. The act was issued on March 29th, 1867 but didn't come into effect until July 1st. This new union resulted in 4 new provinces, Ontario Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.