Charlottetown Conference
The Charlottetown Conference, held in September 1864 in Prince Edward Island, was a pivotal meeting that marked the beginning of discussions leading to the formation of Canada as an independent nation. Delegates from various regions, including the Maritime Provinces and the Province of Canada, convened to explore the idea of uniting British North American colonies and moving away from colonial governance under Britain. The conference aimed to address the political and economic challenges of the time, particularly the threat posed by the expanding United States and the need for a more centralized government to manage regional differences and infrastructure needs.
Despite initial tensions, including logistical challenges and unexpected participants, the conference fostered social interactions that helped build relationships among the delegates. The discussions at Charlottetown set the stage for further negotiations at the Quebec Conference the following month, where terms for union were solidified. This series of meetings ultimately led to the British North America Act of 1867, which established Canada as a Dominion and marked a significant step in the country's journey towards self-governance. The conference is remembered for its role in uniting diverse regions and communities under a single national framework, reflecting a notable moment in Canadian history.
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Charlottetown Conference
The Charlottetown Conference of 1864 was the first of a series of three meetings that culminated in the formation of Canada as its own country. Representatives from various regions of the country, later known as the Fathers of Confederacy, met in September 1864 to begin drawing up resolutions that would establish an independent government for Canada, which was a British colony at the time. The efforts begun at the Charlottetown Conference culminated nearly three years later with British approval of the British North America Act of 1867. This instituted a new form of governance for the former colonies and established them as the Dominion of Canada.
Background
When European explorers first arrived in the tenth century, the area that came to be known as Canada was inhabited by Indigenous nations of hunter-gatherers and farmers. European explorers, hunters, and traders visited from time to time before French explorer Jacques Cartier claimed a portion of the land for France in the 1530s. French colonists then followed, as did English settlers who established colonies along the land’s east coast in the early 1600s.
England and France fought regularly over territory in North America throughout the 1600s and 1700s. That ended on September 13, 1759, when the British defeated the French in the Battle of Quebec, establishing dominance over what became known as British North America. Various portions of the new British colonies then set about establishing various forms of government. There was continuing political conflict, however, resulting from different goals in the widely diverse areas that made up the colonies. This was coupled with differences between the English-speaking and French-speaking portions of the colonies. In addition, once the thirteen American colonies won their freedom from British control in 1783, there was pressure for the Canadian colonies to also join the young United States.
By the 1830s, some in British North America were actively seeking a more democratic form of government. A few rebellions even broke out, led by those who wanted Canada to be free of England. Those rebellions were stopped, but during the 1840s there was growing interest in responsible government, a form of government where the top authority needs the approval of an elected group of legislators before acting. The Constitutional Act of 1791 had established Upper Canada and Lower Canada and allowed them to elect representative legislators. Now, these two regions were once again united and formed the Province of Canada. These areas and other parts of the country began moving to implement a responsible government.
Overview
As the 1860s unfolded, interest grew on both sides of the Atlantic in undoing the colonial relationship between England and Canada. Part of this was economically based: maintaining a colony so far away was financially draining for England. This was especially the case when there was a continual threat that the United States might attempt to obtain more North American land, as it had during the War of 1812. Many residing in Canada had been or had ancestors who had been Americans, and there was both interest in and pressure to have them and the land they lived on become part of America.
Creating an independent country with a centralized government for Canada was seen as one way of minimizing any risk of people and land becoming part of the United States. There were other benefits as well, including the ability for separate regions to pool resources for large infrastructure projects like railways and road systems. A centralized government would also have more power and resources to help smooth over the differences that continually cropped up between French-speaking and English-speaking colonies, which also had different religious and cultural approaches to life and governance.
On September 1, 1864, representatives from the Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island scheduled a meeting about uniting their regions. They met for several days, but the focus of their meeting changed to overall union of the Canadian colonies and separation from England. This change came about because a delegation from the Province of Canada, who were not on the original list of invitees, joined the conference.
The meeting got off to a rocky start. First, the unexpected inclusion of the Province of Canada delegation upset some of the Maritime delegation. Then, it turned out that there was inadequate planning for accommodations for the guests. This was further complicated by the arrival of a circus, the first on Prince Edward Island in twenty years, which occupied many of the available hotel rooms. The ship on which the Canadian delegation had arrived was pressed into service as accommodations.
The first days of the Charlottetown Conference, held in the Province House on Prince Edward Island, included social gatherings that helped smooth over some of these initial difficulties. Nightly dinners included drinking and dancing, and some speeches went well into the night. On September 9, the conference moved via ship to Halifax for additional meetings, then on to Saint John and Fredericton. The Charlottetown Conference concluded on September 16, but many of the discussions continued the next month at the Quebec Conference.
The delegates to the conference now counted among Canada’s thirty-six Fathers of Confederacy. They included Charles Tupper, Attorney General William Alexander Henry, Robert Barry Dickey, Adams George Archibald, and Jonathan McCully from Nova Scotia. Samuel Leonard Tilley, Attorney General John Mercer Johnson, William Henry Steeves, Edward Barron Chandler, and John Hamilton Gray represented New Brunswick. A second John Hamilton Gray (named for the first), William Henry Pope, Edward Palmer, George Coles, and Andrew A. Macdonald represented Prince Edward Island. John A. Macdonald, George Brown, Alexander Galt, Thomas D’Arcy McGee, George-Étienne Cartier, Hector-Louis Langevin, William McDougall, and Alexander Campbell were representatives from the Province of Canada.
Delegates decided from the onset that there would be no written documentation of the meeting, so much of what is known comes from letters and other communications from the participants. It is known that there were concerns from the Maritime Provinces that an overall union of the colonies might not work in their favor. Eventually, they were persuaded to agree to an overall union. The participants began hammering out terms, which were carried over into the Quebec Conference the following month. Eventually, a delegation travelled to London for another conference, which began December 4, 1867. That conference concluded in March of that year with the approval of the British North America Act of 1867. This act, when approved by the British Parliament and Crown, created the Dominion of Canada, effective July 1, 1867.
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