2. Reasons for Confederation, cont. [text pp. 182-185]

c) Trade with the U.S.

- Up to the 1840s, BNA got special status from Britain through tariffs (import tax).

*Imagine if someone in Britain wanted a sack of wheat.

* Wheat that came from Russia costs £10/sack, but wheat from BNA cost £12/sack.

* To encourage British people to buy from BNA, Parliament would pass a tariff on Russian wheat e.g., £5/sack.

* This made Russian wheat more expensive, so British people would buy wheat from BNA.

- One of the problems BNA farmers faced (especially in the old seigneuries of Canada East) was that British Parliament instituted Free Trade in 1846.

* Free Trade meant that these protective tariffs were removed, and Britain bought wheat from whichever supplier was cheaper.

* This meant Britain was buying less wheat from BNA, which lost a big market.

- To counter this blow, BNA signed the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854, which declared free trade of natural products between BNA and the U.S.

- BNA’s economy improved because of this, until 1865, when the U.S. ended the treaty at the end of the Civil War.

- Now what? The individual colonies of BNA decided that joining together would allow their tariffs to be removed, which would promote trade and economic success.

d) American Expansionism

- From 1861 to 1865, the American Civil War was fought; Britain gave some aid to the South in order to establish trade relations for their cotton and indigo.

- Some in the North were still upset at Britain for this when the War ended, and there was a lot of War Hawk talk of invading BNA in retaliation.

- In 1866, the Fenian Raids occurred.

* The Fenians were Irish Americans in the Northeastern U.S. who wanted Britain out of Ireland.

* To make their point, Fenians from Maine and Vermont raided New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

* They didn’t do too much damage, but they escaped very easily, which made people question the security.

- After the Civil War, Americans still held the concept of Manifest Destiny, by which they believed they were destined to expand from ocean to ocean.

*Look at the map on p. 185; by the start of the Civil War, the original 13 Colonies almost quadrupled in size.

* By March 1867, the U.S. had purchased Alaska from Russia.

- The next logical target was BNA.

* Would the U.S. invade or seize the Maritimes like they did Texas from Mexico?

* Would they buy Red River colony (now Manitoba) like they bought Louisiana from Napoleon?

* Would the Gold Rush in California in 1849 absorb BC and Van. Isle. into the Oregon Territory.

*If people in Canada West and Canada East wanted more farmland in the Interior Plains around the Red River colony, they had to get settled there before the Americans did.

e) Changing British Attitudes

- By now, Britain’s Parliament realized that defending BNA from any American threat would cost a lot.

- Any money Britain would spend on colonies, Parliament wanted it spent in more lucrative places like India and South Africa.

- Because of this, Parliament switched policies.

-Instead of discouraging responsible government like they did in 1840, it favoured giving BNA more responsibility for self government.

Assignment

1. Read the primary source from Thomas D’Arcy McGee on p. 185. Compare and contrast this attitude to that of Parti Rouge leader A. A. Dorion’s ideas.

2. Read the primary source from George-Étienne Cartier. Explain to which of BNA’s problems he is referring.

3. Do a text deconstruction on John Gast’s American Progress.