What united Canada in 1867?

Question

Some historians have argued that even though they had little direct contact with each other, and far more with either Great Britain or the United States, by 1867 the various societies of the British North American provinces shared a number of characteristics and attitudes that made them resemble each other far more than they resembled anyone else, and even displayed a number of features which we today would identify as Canadian.

Do you think that there were events, issues or people which shaped the identities of these societies along broadly similar or quite divergent paths?

Answer 1

Resistance to American Republicanism was by far and away the unifying factor in Canadian Confederationists. They all felt a great sense of Loyalist patriotism but saw the inevitable was coming (the devolvement of the British Empire) and decided to be pro-active about it. Plus I think everyone knew that the political situation in the Colony of Canada was untenable and the deadlock needed to be broken. Were Canada to stay British vis-a-vis the Quebecois, something needed to be done. For that reason alone the federal system was created here and if you have any doubts about that, look at Sections 92 and 93 of the Canada Act 1867. Provinical powers included schools, sanctification of marriage, health care, property issues etc all of which had a direct link to the Royal Proclamation Decrees of 1763 and/or the domain of the Catholic Church while navigation, the mail, the definition of marriage, banking etc all became federal issues which of course were all related to making the English businessmen money on the North American continent.

PS: and if you ever needed more of a divergent set of priorities between partners in Confederation look to British Columbia and the rest of the Dominion between 1871 and 1885. If you only put a British stamp on your letter to Ottawa when you put it in the mail in Victoria, that letter travelled to Hong Kong, then Bombay, Suez, Gibraltar, London, Quebec/Halifax, and then onto Ottawa. By my calculation that is almost 11/12 of the way around the globe!!!!!

Answer 2

Confederation came about in order to secure financing for the transcontinental railway.