The Charlottetown Conference 1861

The Charlottetown Conference 1861. . The three Maritime colonies of Great Britain, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, had long considered the possibility of union. By the early 1860s, however, there was sufficient concern over an American attack, after the conclusion of the American Civil War (1861-1865), that the colonies began ot feel the need to draw closer together. At the same time, Britain was pressuring the colonies for union based on the premise that this would reduce their economic and military dependency on the mother country. , As well as ever-increasing public debt created by railway construction was placing tremendous burdens not only on the Maritime colonies but also on the Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec). It was not actually an overwhelming desire for a new nation, but a combination of of mutually threatening circumstances that opened the door to the creation of the Canadian Confederation., By the summer of 1864, the Maritime colonies had agreed to meet to discuss union, although a time and place for the discussion had not been set. The Canadas, suffering from a political deadlock that was making effective government virtually impossible, asked to participate in the meeting. When the Mareitimes agreed to allow the Canadians to present a proposal for a wider British North American union, the meeting was set for Thursday, September 1, 1864, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. On the day following the opening of the conference the Canadian delegation, led by John Alexander Macdonald and Georges Etienne Cartier, presented their plan. The main features of their proposal were continued loyalty to the British Crown through membership in the British Empire, a strong central government within a federal union with the provinces retaining control over their affairs and other powers resting with the federal government, and representation in a central government through an appointed upper house and an elected lower house., The debate over the Canadian propositions continued into the weekend. Late Saturday afternoon, September 3rd, the conference retreated to the relative luxury of the Queen Victoria, the steamer that had brought the Canadian delegation to Charlottetown. In what was to be a sampling of the many parties, receptions, and dinners that punctuate the weeklong conference, the Maritime delegates were entertained by the Canadian hosts. , Canadian hospitality was so lavish that the delegates were on board eating and drinking until late in the evening. Sufficient unity pervaded the gathering to permit the official proclamation of the new nation. George Brown vividly related that he and Cartier "made eloquent speeches - of course - and whether, as a result of our eloquence, or the goodness of our champagne, the ice became completely broken, the tongues of the delegates wagged merrily, and the banns of matrimony between all the provides of B.N.A. (British North America) having been formally proclaimed and all manner of persons duly warned then and there to speak or forever after to hold their tongue s-no man appeared to forbid the banns and the union was thereupon formally completed and proclaimed!", Following four days of discussion, argument, and much debate, both within the official venue of Providence House and the "unofficial venue" of the social activities, the Canadian delegation had put forth such a convincing presentation that their proposals had carried the day. The Maritime colonies, which had all but abandoned their request or union at this conference, pledged their support for the new plan for the British North American federation, - if the terms of the n=union could be made satisfactory. , With agreement in principle for the new Canadian National Union secured, the Charlottetown Conference was adjourned on September 7, 1864, to be reconvened in Quebec City on October 10, 1864, for the "ironing out" of the remaining details. , The next evening, September 8th a banquet was held in the Legislative Council Chamber of Province House in Charlottetown to honor the conference delegates. In his concluding remarks. Thomas Heath Havilland, the Speaker of the Prince Edward Island Legislature, summarized the impact of the Conference with the following comment: I believe, from all I can learn the Province will, ere long, be one country or nation, from the Pacific to the Atlantica. Never before was there such an important meeting as this held in the history of British America; and it may yet be said here, in little Prince Edward Island that the Union formed which had produced one of the greatest nations on the face of God's earth., Here was the true significance of the Charlottetown conference: the agreement reached on the concept of a federal union from sea to sea. Although billed as a conference on the Maritime Union, the Charlottetown Conference of 1864 actually created the framework for the establishment of the new Canadian Confederation., following the Quebec Conference of 1864, delegates from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the united Danadas met in London, England, throughout the fall and winter of 1866 to prepare the passage of the British North America Act through the British Parliament. On March 29, 1867, the Act was signed into law and Canada became a nation. Although Canadian confederation was officially proclaimed on July 1, 1867, Prince Edward Island did not join as a province until 1873. However, as the host for the all-important first conference at Charlottetown in 1864, Prince Edward Island can rightly claim its place as "The Cradle of Confederation.", Sources: , Quotations are taken from F.W.P. Bolger "Nation Building at Charlottetown," Canada's Smallest Providence Charlottetown: The Prince Edward Island 1973 Centennial Commission, 1973, 135-155 , Photographic Credits: , Fanningbank: Prince Edward Island Public Archives and Records Office. Province House: P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation Collection, Prince Edward Island Public Archives and Records office. , Charlottetown, 1860c, P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation Collection, Prince Edward Island Public Archives and Records Office., Confederation Landing is a project of the Charlottetown Area Development Corporation (C.A.D.C.)