Chapter 2: The Push to Nationhood
The Ten Causes of Confederation
1. There was a fear that the American Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, would spill into Canada.
2. American Expansionism in the West and the purchase of Alaska.
3. Fenian Raids: Irish terrorists entered Ridgeway along Lake Erie and Sarnia near Lake Huron.
4. Britain no longer has preferential trade with Canada. For example, the Corn Laws were repealed.
5. The U.S. ended free trade or a reciprocity treaty between Canada and them.
6. Rail companies were busily expanding rail networks.
7. Britain saw the colonies in North America as financial burdens in terms of trade and military protection.
8. The Trent Incident involved the Union in the North discovered that the Confederate South was doing business with England so the American Civil War would drag on and weaken both sides.
9. The St. Albans Raid involved Confederate soldiers robbing a banking in Vermont and fleeing to Canada where they were not imprisoned by Canadian forces.
10. Cooperation involving a coalition government and three conferences led to nationhood.
What were the effects of the American Civil war on British North America or early Canada?
1. Britain supported the South, and this caused resentment among Americans in the North.
2. Northerners boarded a British vessel and took Southern spies hostage. Britain was rather peeved.
3. Britain sold weapons to the South and the North demanded war reparations.
4. Southern or Confederate soldiers staged bank robberies in the North or the Union, so the South could finance their part of the war.
What was the result?
The British North Americans colonies (Canada West, Canada East, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick) realized the advantage of forming a nation and national defence against a possible American invasion and the reality that Canada fought America in the War of 1812.
1. The Fenian Brotherhood marched 800 soldiers into Niagara Falls so they could take Canada hostage and the British would free Ireland. Fort Erie was defeated, but Canadian militia (volunteers) and British soldiers fought the Fenians at the Battle of Ridgeway. Reinforcements from Buffalo failed to arrive and the Fenians were defeated.
2. British textile companies depended on cotton from the American South. Although slavery was abolished in England, the British supported the South, so the American Civil War would continue. Confederate soldiers raided banks in the village of St. Albans in Vermont and escaped into Canada. The North won the American Civil War and it was closer to Canada than the South. Finally, the political belief of Manifest Destiny or the belief that America should and would rule North America was commonly held by Americans.
3. Various pressure points existed across the largely undefended Canadian or B.N.A. border: Alaska, British Columbia, the Red River Settlement (future Manitoba), Canada West (Southern Ontario), and the Maritime colonies of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and Newfoundland.
4. The Underground Railway led to an exodus of African Americans who wished to escape slavery. Since Britain and its colonies abolished or ended slavery in 1834, Abolitionists, those who opposed slavery, organized a secret network of safe houses or stations and sent conductors to assist over 30 000 to escape the South between 1840 and 1860. Many settled in towns across Canada such as present-day Chatham, Ontario and East Preston, Nova Scotia. Canada was referred to as the “Northern Star” in many songs that helped guide people to Canada. The Fugitive Slave Act in the United States allowed bounty hunters to retrieve escaped slaves.
5. Trade issues troubled early Canada. Britain no longer preferred goods from British North America since they were less expensive. Tariffs or taxes on Canadian goods were very low as opposed to American goods. The Corn (Wheat) Laws were eventually repealed (taken away). Free trade or reciprocity between Canada and the U.S. ended. Canadian companies had to compete for new markets, and they faced uncertainty.
6. Fenian raids also included Canada East. They attacked around Lake Champlain from New York State. This motivated the government spend more money on defence.
7. There was a need for more rail links. In 1850, B.N.A. or early Canada had about 100 km of rail network whereas the United States had nearly 15 000 km of rail. By 1867, the Grand Trunk Railway linked Canada West to the Maritimes. The Grand Trunk almost went bankrupt. The need to share expenses and to send troops, people, and goods across the nation became more apparent.
8. After the American building of the Erie Canal that connected Lake Erie to the Hudson River and the Atlantic, Canadians set out on an ambitious canal project, the Welland Canal to connect Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and to the St. Lawrence. This was the Age of Canals.
9. The Little Englanders were a political group in England that saw the Canadian colonies as a financial burden because of the cost of buying Canadian goods, lending money for railways, and sending troops to be stationed at forts.
10. Globalization or international trade became more common in the nineteenth century .
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