What Were the Circumstances of Canada Being Granted Dominion Status in 1867?

[JBG]

I was involved in a recent discussion, where the other person was arguing that Canada was, for many years, a "vassal state" to Great Britain. As evidence, he stated that Canadians continued to die in wars declared by Britain in which Canada had no interest. Also, the other person argued that Canada was easier to manage as a vassal state than as a full colony. That person made some good points, which I don't fully agree with. I was wondering what others think.

People Dying in a war declared by parent country - Both WW I and II were wars where the entire civilized world needed to line up on one side. The U.S. certainly was no "vassal state" to Britain, and were not one at any time after 1815. People can differ as to whether we had achieved full independence in 1783. Many call the War of 1812 the "Second War of Independence" for good reasons. Not a jot or tittle of boundaries changed, but the messy transition turned to full independence.

Management easier as vassal state - There you may be onto something. Canada's value for fur trading was declining. Britain had absolutely no desire to be dragged into the U.S. Civil War by Nova Scotia traders eager to do business with the Confederacy, an entity no government recognized. While Dominion Day was July 1, 1867 the groundwork had to be laid considerably earlier.

Britain was unwilling and probably unable to finance the massive infrastructure improvements in Canada dictated by the Industrial Revolution, including railroads. In fact an option of building the CP line was to route the "Ontario" portion of the line west of Sudbury through the U.S. and then heading north to Winnipeg and thence continuing West. The Canadian shield portion of that line, north of Lake Superior, was considered the most challenging portion to build, rivaling even the Rockies.

 

[Grand Mal]

I was involved in a recent discussion, where the other person was arguing that Canada was, for many years, a "vassal state" to Great Britain. As evidence, he stated that Canadians continued to die in wars declared by Britain in which Canada had no interest. Also, the other person argued that Canada was easier to manage as a vassal state than as a full colony. That person made some good points, which I don't fully agree with. I was wondering what others think.

People Dying in a war declared by parent country - Both WW I and II were wars where the entire civilized world needed to line up on one side. The U.S. certainly was no "vassal state" to Britain, and were not one at any time after 1815. People can differ as to whether we had achieved full independence in 1783. Many call the War of 1812 the "Second War of Independence" for good reasons. Not a jot or tittle of boundaries changed, but the messy transition turned to full independence.

Management easier as vassal state - There you may be onto something. Canada's value for fur trading was declining. Britain had absolutely no desire to be dragged into the U.S. Civil War by Nova Scotia traders eager to do business with the Confederacy, an entity no government recognized. While Dominion Day was July 1, 1867 the groundwork had to be laid considerably earlier.

Britain was unwilling and probably unable to finance the massive infrastructure improvements in Canada dictated by the Industrial Revolution, including railroads. In fact an option of building the CP line was to route the "Ontario" portion of the line west of Sudbury through the U.S. and then heading north to Winnipeg and thence continuing West. The Canadian shield portion of that line, north of Lake Superior, was considered the most challenging portion to build, rivaling even the Rockies.

Canada was several colonies pre-1867. Upper Canada was Ontario, Lower Canada was Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, those were united in 1867 as the Dominion of Canada. Where I live, British Columbia, was a colony till 1871. Previous to that Vancouver Island was a separate colony.
No idea what your buddy means by vassal state. He might just be pissed off that so many conservative Americans booked 'er for Nova Scotia (a British Colony at the time) pre revolution.

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

I would expect he means that Canada was not fully independent and autonomous for many years into the 1900s.

I don’t know if Canada would have had the ability not to declare war in WW2

 

[swing_voter]

America kept threatening to take Canada by force.

There were two big forts in Canada that the Americans couldn't take.

But with the Civil War in 1865, artillery had come so far that the forts became insignificant.

The only way Britain could still keep its colony was to give it independence. That way the Americans wouldn't want to invade and drive the Europeans out.

 

[Grand Mal]

America kept threatening to take Canada by force.

There were two big forts in Canada that the Americans couldn't take.

But with the Civil War in 1865, artillery had come so far that the forts became insignificant.

The only way Britain could still keep its colony was to give it independence. That way the Americans wouldn't want to invade and drive the Europeans out.

Why would the Americans hesitate to invade an independent Canada after having invaded the colony of Canada? And how did England simultaneously keep It's colony and give it independence?

 

[queenmandy85]

Canada declared war on Germany a full week after Britain. Britain ceased to have any jurisdiction over Canadian affairs after Dec. 11, 1931. We share a common Head of State but the Queen is the Queen of Canada, independent of her role as Queen of the United Kingdom or Queen of New Zealand, etc.

 

[queenmandy85]

Confederation began at Charlottetown PEI in 1864. The Atlantic premiers met to discuss merging the four Atlantic colonies into one single colony. The premiers of Upper and Lower Canada (MacDonald and Cartier) attended, supposedly as observers but their real intention was to propose a union to extend to the Pacific coast. They wanted to keep out the Americans and the Fenians. With the aid of detailed planning and a ship load of booze, MacDonald and Cartier pulled it off. The British North American Act (BNA) was drafted in Canada and presented to the British Parliament. It was rushed through with little debate because there was a contentious bill to be debated on the licencing of dogs in London. The gradual acquisition of independence after that came about because the British had faith in Canadian loyalty.
British Columbia demanded a rail connection with the east as a condition of joining Confederation. Anti- Americanism was only part of the motivation. Sucessive gold discoveries in BC and the agricultural bonanza on the prairies were the main reason.

 

[JBG]

Confederation began at Charlottetown PEI in 1864. The Atlantic premiers met to discuss merging the four Atlantic colonies into one single colony. The premiers of Upper and Lower Canada (MacDonald and Cartier) attended, supposedly as observers but their real intention was to propose a union to extend to the Pacific coast. They wanted to keep out the Americans and the Fenians. With the aid of detailed planning and a ship load of booze, MacDonald and Cartier pulled it off. The British North American Act (BNA) was drafted in Canada and presented to the British Parliament. It was rushed through with little debate because there was a contentious bill to be debated on the licencing of dogs in London. The gradual acquisition of independence after that came about because the British had faith in Canadian loyalty.
British Columbia demanded a rail connection with the east as a condition of joining Confederation. Anti- Americanism was only part of the motivation. Sucessive gold discoveries in BC and the agricultural bonanza on the prairies were the main reason.

That thing about dogs is something I did not know.