The Confederation Of British North America

In Britain and the Origins of Canadian Confederation, 1837-1867, Ged Martin offers a sceptical review of claims that Confederation answered all the problems facing the provinces, and examines in detail British perceptions of Canada and ideas about its future. The major British contribution to the coming of Confederation is to be found not in the aftermath of the Quebec conference, where the imperial role was mainly one of bluff and exhortation, but prior to 1864, in a vague consensus among opinion-formers that the provinces would one day unite. Faced with an inescapable need to secure legislation at Westminster for a new political structure, British North American politicians found they could work within the context of a metropolitan preference for intercolonial union.

P.B. Waite's book on the events leading to the 1867 Confederation of British North American colonies has long been regarded as one of the best, and liveliest, on the subject. Newspapers were a transcript of life and society. More than mere observers of political events, they were participants with close connections to politicians, shaping public opinion according to their competing views. Public opinion, especially in the eastern colonies, was divided about whether Confederation was desirable, and even more so about what form it should take. Was the federation devised at Charlottetown and Quebec the best arrangement for a union? Certain it is that on July 1, 1867, the Province of Canada (today's Ontario and Quebec) and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were united to form a new nation, soon to be joined by the Northwest, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island, creating the Dominion of Canada.