Political Pressures
The equal vote split between Canada East and Canada West that stopped government from passing laws.
What is political deadlock?
The exact month, day, and year that Canada officially became a Dominion country.
What is July 1, 1867?
Armed Irish-American Civil War veterans who launched border raids into British North America.
Who are the Fenians?
The number of Indigenous leaders (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit) invited to participate or vote at the Charlottetown or Quebec Conferences.
What is zero (they were completely excluded)?
The way Canadian delegates used food and hospitality to "break the ice" with Maritime leaders at Charlottetown in 1864.
What is hosting champagne and lobster luncheons/parties on their steamship? ($13000 of champagne also accepted)
The political alliance formed in 1864 when rivals John A. Macdonald, George Brown, and George-Étienne Cartier joined forces
What is the Great Coalition?
The four original provinces that made up Canada in 1867.
What are Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia?
The Father of Confederation and politician who spoke out against Fenian violence and was assassinated on Ottawa's streets in 1868.
Who is Thomas D'Arcy McGee?
Two distinct societal groups who were denied voting rights and completely left out of official Confederation decision-making
Who are Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) and Women?
The nickname given to figures like Anne Brown and Mercy Anne Coles who influenced political networking and recorded conference history.
"Who are the "Mothers of Confederation"?
The American belief that the United States was destined to expand and take over all of North America.
What is Manifest Destiny?
The 72 constitutional rules drafted at the 1864 Quebec Conference that established Canada's system of government.
What are the 72 Resolutions?
The 1866 battle in Canada West where local Canadian volunteer militia fought off an invading army of Fenians.
What is the Battle of Ridgeway?
The daughter of a PEI politician who kept a detailed private diary documenting the social life and political conversations at the 1864 conferences.
Who is Mercy Anne Coles?
The popular new dance form in the 1860s that caused outrage among conservative Victorian society at political galas.
What is the Waltz?
The cancellation of this 1854 trade agreement by the U.S. forced the British North American colonies to trade with each other.
What is the Reciprocity Treaty?
The political system Cartier fought for that gave provincial governments control over local matters like education, civil law, and language.
What is federalism (or a federal system)?
The main way external threats like Fenian raids and American expansion actually helped push the colonies into Confederation.
What is convincing the weak colonies to unite for a joint military defense?
The legal concept in 19th-century Canada under which a married woman's legal rights and property were completely controlled by her husband.
What is coverture?
The main reason religious critics and Victorian traditionalists viewed the Waltz as scandalous and inappropriate.
What is dance partners holding each other in a close, face-to-face physical embrace?
Two major reasons supporters wanted an Intercolonial Railway linking the BNA colonies.
What are moving trade goods year-round AND moving defense troops quickly?
The reason PEI rejected Confederation in 1867, and the main reason they changed their minds and joined in 1873
What are absentee landlord/representation issues in 1867 AND crushing railway debt in 1873?
The British law passed in London in 1867 that officially created the Dominion of Canada.
What is the British North America Act (BNA Act)?
he specific clause in Section 91(24) of the BNA Act that gave Ottawa control over Indigenous lands without their consultation.
What is "Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians"?
Why unofficial social events like dinners, balls, and cruises were vital political tools for politicians like John A. Macdonald.
What is building personal trust and making informal deals outside official meeting rooms?