Prelude to Confederation:The Making of Canada

The Shaping of Canada Today Canada is the

second-largest country in the world.

It is made up of 10 provinces and 3 territories.

Although Canada was officially created in 1867, the story of the land that eventually became Canada is much older.

During the 1500s many European countries sent explorers to ‘discover’ new lands.

They claimed any new discoveries as their own.

North America was rich is resources and Europeans began to establish settlements or colonies.

France and Britain had the most influence in shaping North America.

They interacted with the Aboriginals who had been here for thousands of years.

Sometimes relations between these groups were friendly but at other times they were not.

France and Britain had problems with each other and fought all the time.

In 1763 France had to give up its land in North America to Britain.

Britain thus controlled most of North America.

Most of the British colonies were in what is now the United States.

These colonies were upset at the way they were being treated by Britain-they began a war of independence.

The colonies won the war and Britain lost a lot of land-the remaining land was called British North America.

This would become Canada almost 100 years later.

Why Confederation?

By the 1860s the idea of uniting the British colonies became popular....why?

Problems, problems, problems...

Political, Economic, and Military.

Political Problems

Province of Canada (union of Upper and Lower Canada) was divided.

English-speaking and French-speaking people had different ideas about how things should be run.

Some people believed that joining the other colonies might solve problems.

Economic ProblemsIn the latter half of the 19th century, the colonies’ economies were based on things like the fur trade, farming, mining, logging, shipbuilding...

To make money colonies had to be able to sell their goods to other markets.

However, there were few markets available.

Some people believed that a big market could be created by joining the colonies together.

Military Problems The relationship between British North

America and the US had been tense since the War of Independence.

The situation grew even worse when Britain supported the South in the American Civil War...The North won and was angry at Britain.

Meanwhile, Britain was getting fed-up with the high cost of defending its colonies.

Britain supported the idea of the colonies joining together-this would discourage the US from attacking.

CONFEDERATION

Finally, after a series of important conferences, Canada came into existence on July 1, 1867.

It was composed of four provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec-it would take another 100 years to add the other 6 provinces and 3 territories that make up Canada today.