Study Guide Glossary

Census A count of population in a nation or colony

Gold Rush

A mass movement to an area where gold has been discovered Pg.7

Emigrate

Leave one’s country to settle elsewhere Pg.7

Crown A symbolic term referring to the monarch of a country

Pg.17

Nobility Members of the highest class of society

Pg.17

Conservative Preferring what is safe and familiar rather than wanting change and risk

Pg.17

Political Deadlock A situation where progress cannot be made because the parties involved do not agree

Pg.18

Republic A system of government that has no monarchy; all the politicians are elected

Pg.21

Industrialize

Develop industries,especially manufacturing industries Pg.23

Capitalists People who built and owned businesses

Pg.23

Intercolonial trade Trade among the BNA colonies

Pg.32

Duties/tariffs Taxes on imported goods

Pg.32

External trade Trade with countries and colonies outside of British North America

Pg.32

Colonial preference Giving favoured treatment to colonial trade

Pg.32

Repealed Abolished Pg.33

Free trade

Trade without duties or tariffs Pg.33

Corn Laws

British laws that governed the import and export of grain; in Britain, cereal grains were called corn Pg.33

Reciprocity An exchange of privileges or favours as a basis for relations between two countrie

Pg.33

Fenians An Irish nationalist organization founded in the U.S. that encouraged revolutionary

activity to overthrow British rule in Ireland. Pg.41

Exploit

To take advantage of someone or something for one’s own benefit Pg.42

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the United States had a duty to take over the land of North America Pg.43

Equal Representation

Each region has the same number of elected representatives Pg.45

Representation By Population

The number of elected representatives is determined by the size of the population in the region represented

Pg.46

Canadiens Canadians of French descent

Pg.47

Riding The area represented by an elected official

Pg.47

Proportional Representation A voting system in which a political party gets the same proportion of seats in

government as the proportion of votes it received Pg.27

Referendum

A vote by the citizens on a proposed government action Pg.47

Notes Chapter 1: The People In The BNA: In the BNA there were mostly British nationality people, Loyalist, Canadiens, Free Black Slaves and first nations. In the west there were Americans attracted by the gold rush. There were also a lot of people from Europe because of the poverty. Also, many people came from europe. This was the great migration. Many came from the Netherlands, Germany and Ireland. People came Ireland because of poverty and food reduction. This was because of the great Irish Famine.

Life in the BNA: Life in the BNA was very typical olden day style. Like men and boys would work outside while women's and girls would work inside, like chores. People would have to use an outhouse. Most of their communication was at the Church or during family gatherings. The kids were assigned these duties because they were very stereotypical. They believed that only men could do hard jobs.

Physical Features of the BNA: The BNA was very big as well as untrustable. The only ways to get to the west at that time were to continue by land, which would take forever or take a boat, which would have to go around South America, all the way to the west. Also,the weather was extreme. Just like now a day Canada.

Political Features of the BNA: The political structure of the BNA was a mix of Monarchy and somewhat democracy. More like 90% to 10%. The Crown appointed the governor who, in turn, appointed the members of the legislative council and executive council. The executive council is the part of government that decides what bills will be introduced into the legislature. It is now called the cabinet. For a bill to become law, it had to be approved by the legislative assembly, the legislative council, and the governor. So relating back to 90% to 10% was that, the Crown had big influence. It chose the governor, who chose the councils. So basicly the crown appointed 50% and more of the government. Only the assembly got

voted on, and it was only voted by male property owners. This was excluding all females, the youth and the poor.

Also since both Canada East and Canada West had the same number of seats, whenever a bill was introduced, one side said yes the other said no. This was a political deadlock. Anything was barely ever if done. The government of the Maritimes, tried to become one colony. This would be a cheaper government, and the colony would have larger population as a whole. The only problem was, was that they were far away from each other. Part of this deal were, P.E.I, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. However there was one problem, the distant colonies. There was Newfoundland, British Columbia and Vancouver Island. The problem Newfoundland was that to get to it, you had to cross the Cabot Strait, which was dangerous. British Columbia was so far, that people even wanted to join the the United States.

Economy of the BNA: The economy of the BNA wasn’t very good. Cause it was hard to transport to other colonies. In Canada East there was textiles, food and footwear.

In the Canada West it was textiles and metalwork industries. They made stove, pots, pans and ect….. In the Maritimes it was mostly shipyards, fishing and lumber. In the West there was lumber and the fur trade.

Chapter 2: Economic factors affecting the BNA: The economy of the BNA was very weak because of the small population. Above that, BNA had a very bad intercolonial trade. There was barely any transport for intercolonial trade. Also, we had an okay external trade. We traded with Britain and the US. We mostly transported raw goods, like lumber, fish, wheat and ect…. The problem was that Britain put free trade on all manufacturing and raw goods, making it cheaper for the consumer. They gave a loss to the BNA. With trade with the US, they signed Reciprocity Treaty in 1854, which meant mutual reduction of tariffs.Finally, the BNA was gaining something. However, that soon stopped when the US thought that Britain was gaining more of the trade, and they wanted revenge with Britain for supporting the south in the civil war.

Transportation in the BNA: It was hard to transport in the BNA as there was no transport. They only had the grand trunk railway that transported goods from Canada West to the St.Lawrence River Port. Then it would be shipped to Britain of the US. This railway was not really used for intercolonial trade.

Defense Issues: There were many defence issues in the BNA:

­ Britain withdrawing its troops ­ The British start to withdraw their troops as they think that they aren’t

being used here and they need them there in Europe were the main wars were happening. (The Crimean War)

­ The Fenians

­ They were basically armed Irish rebels. They generally just hated Britain and were in war with them. They were in war cause the Irish were mostly Catholic and Britain was mostly protestant and also because Britain took the top part of Ireland

­ So, the Fenians wanted revenge so they would do anything to kill british people. Like they were successful in killing Thomas D’Arcy McGee, who was from Irish origin but disagreed with the Fenians

­ The Manifest Destiny

­ The United States basically thought that the BNA should rightfully be theirs

­ This is why they bought Alaska from Russia ­ The only thing that saved the BNA was the civil war in America between

the Union and Confederacy

This made the the BNA very unsecure. They needed a plan to make it secure. Maybe make it into one colony to make it a rail road. But, in order to do that they need a solution to the political deadlock.

Political Issues Affecting the Canada’s Basically, nothing ever happend cause of the political deadlock. Now to join the colonies together they would need transportation, for a better economy and to the Baring Brothers would loan them money for the railroad. To connect the colonies and make a railroad, they would need to stop the political deadlock. Now, George­Étienne Cartier was a lawyer from Montréal who entered the legislature in 1848. When representation by population became a major issue, he became a strong enemy of the proposal. The Canadiens were already a minority in the Canadas and in the legislature, he said (because not all the Canada East citizens or representatives were of French extraction). Canada West was largely English­speaking. So giving it more seats would only increase the English majority in the legislature. English Canada might use its increased powers to push through the new laws that were harmful to French society. However, the leading supporter of representation by population was George Brown. He hated Cartier. Jhon A.Macdonald recognized that the fiery speeches of Brown and Cartier were not going to solve the representation by population issue. He realized that what Cartier really wanted was to ensure protection for the Canadiens, their language, and their customs, not to preserve the voting system.

Sir James Douglas Sir James Douglas was a senior of the Hudson Bay company and when British Columbia was formed he was the first governor in, 1858. His opponents began to complain that he was snobbish and a dictator. The British decided to end his governorship of the colony. Also, He supervised the building of a 640­km road to the

Cariboo region when gold was discovered there. In 1862, he got into trouble with Britain for taking out loans for the construction without permission.

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman was born as a slave in Maryland in the U.S. She escaped to Canada West where she became involved in the Underground Railroad, helping other slaves escape. She helped 70 people escape and had bounty of $40 000 (Today’s $750 00) on her head.

Questions Being Asked: Given the colonies: Canada West,Canada East, Rupert's Land,Nova Scotia, P.E.I, Newfoundland and New Brunswick. Who would you group into a colony? Given these colonies of the BNA I would group Canada West and East, all of the Maritimes and British Columbia and Rupert’s Land. First of all, I would connect Canada West and East because they would look stronger as a whole. This may also help introduce John A. Macdonald’s idea of ridings. This would help keep the Canadiens language and religion and would solve the political deadlock. Once that is solved, they could start talking of making a nation. Once the nation was made the railway would be made with a loan from the Baring Brothers. This would boost the economy of the nation, because there would be a stronger intercolonial trade. Furthermore, I would join the Maritimes colonies and Newfoundland. I would do this because it would be cheaper to have one government than 4. I also think this would boost industries, like lumber and fishing. Now they can go and start lumber factories in Newfoundland and they can even

fish for the very famous Cod. Finally, joining British Columbia and Rupert’s Land would be smart, because they would look like a stronger colony. So when America tries to attack from Alaska or through Rupert’s Land, they look at the numbers and say “no no no”. I think overall, that Canada West and East are united, then all of BNA would be united. This will also prevent the Americans from taking B.C. and the gold rush away from us. How was life for a 13 year boy and girl in the 1850’s? Life for 13 year old boys and girls, for the most part, in the 1850’s were rural and what you expect it to be like. Boys and young men would help their fathers outside. They would help grow crops, take care of animals, boucher animals, help make new things/ expanding the house and more of that hard rural life. Most 13 year old girls, were expected to help­out inside. They would do the dishes, clean the house and do many other chores. When they turned 14 they were expected to do hard and more complex jobs. They didn’t really go to school. However, they had a lot of fun when there were family gatherings. They also enjoyed socializing at Church on Sundays. They had no ipods, video games or internet, they had an outhouse instead of a washroom and they had no T.V’s (Spoiled girl would say­“oh my gosh, you must be kidding, how could anyone live like this”). All they had were each other, sometimes family time is better than online time. How would they join the colonies? In order to join the colonies they would need to get an end to the political deadlock. The only way this would end would be to either go to war with the Canadiens and get rid of them once and for all or to work out a political agreement which would end the political deadlock. Something, like representation by riding. This would let the Canadiens have some seats, and a say in the assembly while the political deadlock stopped, if all parties had the same number of seats or if the parties majority from Canada West and Canada East have the same number of seats. This way they could finally agree on joining the colonies and make a railroad to the west, so we can secure B.C. and the gold rush from the Americans. Application Questions: Based on political, economic , population and physical features of the BNA. Would it be easy to join the colonies of the BNA?

It would certainly not be easy to join the BNA into one colony. To join the BNA into one colony they would need to listen to John A.Macdonald's ideas and both sides would have to agree to it. If this happened, which would take a lot of persuading the two colonies would agree to it. Than, all the other colonies would also have to agree. The whole point of making one nation is so we can finally make a railroad. So, we would also have to confirm with the Baring Brothers that we can return the loan. We would also have to take independence from Britain. This all will take a very long time and a lot of effort. It will also require a great leader that could lead the colonies to great success. The problem with joining the colonies is that the BNA is so BIG. The climate is crazy cold and it would be really hard to make a railroad and to even get form one colony to another. This may lower the chances of uniting the colonies, the railway might be big loss and the distant colonies might not agree in joining because they won’t be connected with the Capital. They won’t have a government. Finally, if the railroad fails they would have an economic disaster and might have no choice, than to join the U.S.A. Overall, joining the colonies is going to be one hell of a hard job. Chose, George Brown, John A.Macdonald or George­Etienne Cartier, and write an email to the governor and the Queen of your views of politics in the Canadas. From: John A. Macdonald To: The Queen of England

Greetings your Majesty,

This is a letter to you regarding the political issues in British North America.

As you may already know that Canada West and Canada East have the same number of seats in the legislative assembly. With this, whenever a bill is introduced by one of the Canadas the opposition turns it down. This way nothing ever gets done in legislature. All votes end up in a draw. The Canadas are facing a political deadlock.

To solve this problem a peer of mine George Brown wants the legislature to run by representation by population. Since, Canada West has more residents than the Canada East, Brown and his peers demand another 16 seats in legislature. Now with that Canada West will have 81 seats and Canada East will have 65 seats. Canada West will gain

majority and can do what they want. Now the leader of the royal opposition, George-Etienne Cartier, says no to this. He believes that if Canada West gain majority they will abolish the Canadiens religion, language and way of life. He doesn't want his people suffering like that so he say’s no.

I think that both Brown and Cartier are right. I don’t think Cartier will ever let this happen, but if nothing happens, nothing will ever be done in legislature. As France has formed alliance with England, so I don’t think it is fair to do representation by population. I think we should do ridings. We should make ridings in each geographic location and the party that wins from the location shall get the seat in legislature. With this we will secure the Canadiens and stop the political deadlock.

I hope you help me in this tight situation. Sincerely, John A Macdonald