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After Britain took over the New France then the Royal Proclamation organized some new colonies and explained how the land and the government would work. It also said Indigenous lands could not be taken without any kind of agreements. How this led to Confederation: It was the time which started the British system of government in Canada and which later made it easier for colonies to join together.
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Britain passed a law dividing Quebec into Upper Canada which was English speaking and Lower Canada which was French speaking. Each had its own government and assembly to make their own local laws. This helped a lot in reducing conflicts between English and French settlers.
How did this led to Confederation- It showed that both grounds rights needed to be respected, this idea later built into Canada’s first federal system. -
political reformers in both the Upper and the Lower Canada rebelled against corrupted colonial governments. The unrest exposed serious political weaknesses and convinced Britain that it needed to investigate remedies for colonial the government.
How this led to Confederation: The rebellions pushed Britain to consider structural reforms, eventually producing recommendations like "Durham Report" that influenced later thinking about union and about a responsible government. -
Lord Durham investigated the rebellions and recommended responsible government and proposed a union of the Canadas to assimilate French Canadians and provide political stability. The report strongly shaped British policy on reform and union.
It lead to confederation as the Durham’s ideas which were responsible government and union created intellectual and policy example that later made the political unions and also the federal arrangements which were thinkable and acceptable. -
The Act of Union in 1840 merged Upper and the Lower Canada into Canada's east and west part with a single legislature, attempting to solve political instability by centralizing government.
It led to confederation as the new problems like representation and political deadlock were exposed by the union, it showed that it is not a long term solution, reinforcing the case for a different arrangement, which was federalism that would reunite colonies while protecting regional differences. -
Canada and the United States signed a free trade agreement in 1854, opening markets for raw materials and fish. The treaty improved trade, but it also made some in British North America nervous about economic dependency on the U.S. and political influence from across the border.
The treaty’s benefits and the sense that economic ties to the U.S. were both an opportunity and a vulnerability that made many colonial leaders view political union as a way to secure markets and negotiate trade. -
Periodic economic start going down and the talk of growing power of the United States increased in some quarters about joining the U.S, which was annexation talk. "Economic insecurity highlighted the colonies’ vulnerability when acting separately".
How this led to Confederation- Fear of American dominance and their desire for stronger internal markets pushed the colonies toward a political solution that would give strength to economic and military standing. -
A planned meeting of Maritime colonies to discuss their own union, the Charlottetown Conference was expanded when representatives from the Canada joined and proposed to form a larger union. The conference launched serious, inter-colonial talks about a broader federation.
How this led to Confederation- Charlottetown transformed regional discussion into a concrete plan for a wider confederation of British North America which started the formal negotiation process. -
Representative did a meeting in Quebec City to change ideas from Charlottetown into specific constitutional proposals like the “72 Resolutions”, which created a system that split the powers between central government and provincial government.
It led to confederation as the Quebec Resolutions created a plan that how Canada's government would be set up by showing how power would be shared between different levels of government in the British North America Act. -
Political leaders including John A. Macdonald, George-Étienne Cartier, and George Brown formed a cross-party which was called Great Coalition to break legislative deadlock in Canada and to push union talks forward.
How this led to Confederation- The coalition provided the teamwork and determination needed in the Canada to plan and make the union of the colonies happen. -
In this event Irish nationalist groups based in the United States launched raids into Canada in 1866 and nearby years. The attacks alarmed colonists about defense and exposed that the colonies’ military had weaknesses.
The attacks made people feel that the colonies needed to join together and have one strong government to protect everyone and organize their defence better. -
The British Parliament passed the British North America Act, creating the Dominion of Canada by uniting Canada which was split into Ontario and Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a federal state. The Act set out federal and provincial powers and established the new government of Canada. This Act is the legal formation of Confederation, the final product of the political, economic, and security pressures and conferences that preceded it.