The Canadian delegation tried to receive approval for a Canadian Confederation plan. They left for Britain for this purpose during the spring of 1865. The delegation had to fight an extremely hard battle to receive their final approval from Canada’s Legislature of the Union. There were a lot of French Canadian politicians who felt they were being lost in a culmination of English population and power. Many of them believed this was part of a plan to get rid of the French culture. They argued that the only real protection the French Canadian culture had was to place specific powers and rights directly into provincial hands. They felt this way they could be nurtured and protected to ensure the ultimate survival of the providence or region’s culture.
The London Conference started in December of 1866 under John A. Macdonald’s stewardship. There were still a wide range of contention points at this time that still remained outstanding. During the conference, these points were resolved and a compromise was agreed upon. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were the two Canadas and they became the very first members of the new union. This was when the official name of Canada was chosen. The British government had expressed a lot of concerns regarding the situation in North America. They believed this process signified the beginning of the solidification of British North America through the newly formed Canada.
The London Conference was the last of a series of debates and discussion that eventually led to the 1867 Canadian Confederation. There were sixteen delegates from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Province of Canada who met with the British government’s officials to draft what would be called the British North America Act of 1867. The London Conference continued the efforts of the earlier Quebec Conference to find resolutions for 72 separate issues. One of the biggest issues of concern was the education system. The Roman Catholic bishops lobbied to ensure a guarantee was provided to protect the separate schooling system. The Maritime delegates were opposed to this guarantee but Section 93 of the Act signified that a compromise had been reached.
The London Conference guaranteed Ontario and Quebec separate schooling systems but New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were not included. When the American Civil War ended, it acted as an accelerant. This helped push along the process for a mixture of British politics. At this point in time, the strongest and largest standing army on the globe likely belonged to the United States. During the war, many relationships had become shaky and this built a nervous anticipation regarding the British Colonies safety in North America. A lot of people believed the United States would be much more likely to threaten the British Colonies than an independent country. The final result of the conference was the British North America Act. This was the last time the Confederation was discussed during a conference.
The name of John A. Macdonald went down in history as the chairman for the conference. The Dominion of Canada was established when Queen Victoria gave her approval for the bill. Canada was officially created on July 1st of 1867. Lord Darby issued the act through British Parliament with only a couple of changes. The most famous was changing the name of the new country to the Dominion of Canada as opposed to the Kingdom of Canada.
