At the second constitutional conference leading to Confederation the delegates discussed terms in which lead to the Constitutional act of 1867. This act was further passed by The British Parliament creating dominion of Canada at Confederation. This act provided union of three colonies; Nova Scotia, Canada and New Brunswick and placed a federal state with a parliamentary statement based on Britain and the United Kingdom. Although the creating of Upper and Lower Canada was a success “its ridged colonial structures also set the stage for the rebellions in the two Canada’s.”(Historic Canada) The act was also known from a voting franchise which included quality from the 18th and 19th century, primarily because it included women who owned a house in Lower Canada. MacDonald had believed that he was responsible for forming Constitution in which he claimed that “not one man at the conference had the slightest idea of constitution making, what ever is good or ill in the constitution is mine” (source). By the end of the Quebec conference, a …show more content…
The 72 resolutions were put together by many delegates especially John A MacDonald. Macdonald contributed to 50 out of the 72 resolutions created to define the future of Canada. The resolutions were formed by what was clearly laid out at the Charlottetown Conference and included also “Constitutional frame work for a new country” (encylopedia CHANGE) The resolutions outlined the idea of federalism , the powers and responsibilities of each province and how a senate would be placed in the middle among the three regions; Canada East, Canada West and Atlantic colonies to contribute and equal voice. The membership in the House of Commons was defined and based upon representation by population, this was outlined in one of the
He had many plans for Canada and played a significant role in it. First, he managed to unite with George Brown and convinced Sir George Etienne Cartier to join even though he was French. This was surprising due to the conflict of interest between the English and French politicians. They made plans to break away from the old mercantilism system and form their own flourishing economy. Secondly, he was influential enough to convince two of the other provinces, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to join in on the confederation as well. Finally, during the confederation, Sir John spent long hours writing the new laws and policies for the country. In the end, he had written 50 of the 72 resolutions. Indeed, Sir John was a hero to
If the declaration of independence was written in 1776 and the constitution was written in 1788 what was the government run on? The answer is the Articles of Confederation but why don't we still use them. To answer the questions you must first know what the Articles where and what happened as a result of them being set in place and how they where fixed with the constitution. How do they differ and under witch are you "Most Free"
The colonies and their mother country were at their brinks with each other. Taxes, rebellion, and unreasonable law pushed these nations into battle which would be known as the American Revolution. The separated colonies would unite and fight together for their well deserved independence. Throughout this the first government was set up by the Continental Congress known as the Articles of Confederation. Some may argue that the Articles were effective in expanding the nation; however, the Articles proved to be ineffective when dealing with the falling economy and taking control of the colonies.
After numerous harsh battles had been fought during the American Revolution, the Americans would at last claim their independence from the Great Britain. The United States would officially become its own nation once the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3rd of 1783. The leaders of this new American nation now had a new adventurous journey ahead, one that would have many troubles and issues along the way. In the act of establishing government in America, the new leaders would create the Articles of Confederation, which was the first constitution of the United States. This document would help to settle the conflicts taking place inside the new nation.
As a member of the government, I pressed for a federal union of the British North American colonies that would end the awkward political structure and allow Ontario and Quebec to regain their separate legislatures. Like many other "fathers of the confederation", I attended the Quebec Conference in 1864 and was part of the Canadian Delegation sent to England in 1865 and 1866 to negotiate the final terms of the British North America Act, 1867. Unable to support either the Conservatives or the Liberals led by Alexander Mackenzie, so I retired from Parliament in
As with anything in this world there are always strengths and weaknesses when people are comparing two different items, as no one item can be a perfect solution; there are always compromises. The same happens when we are comparing the Articles of Confederation and the New Constitution of 1787. Both of theses two solutions each have their own strengths and weaknesses. First we have the Articles of Confederation that when written gave each state a lot of individual powers, and because of this was one of the main reasons for the New Constitution, and I want to show how these two solutions
The Articles of Confederation was drafted to create a sense of political unity to the newly formed nation of United States of America and combat the British rule. The Confederation was modeled to resembled a confederacy arrangement that serve to unify the thirteen states at the time(Feeley 98-100). However, the confederation was later replaced by a federal arrangement which granted the government with more centralized control. Statism is one of the factors that contributed towards the failure of confederalism in United States. The original confederation intends for each state to remain relatively sovereign. Yet, the thirteen states treated their roles in this relationship as an alliance of independent states instead of a unified nation(Feeley
When news of this meeting became known in the Canada’s, John A Macdonald decided to lead a contingent of coalition government and opposition members to Charlottetown to propose a larger union of the colonies. They campaigned for an invitation to the
There were a few political issues that affected British North America’s colonies. One issue was political deadlock. This occurs when two parties or colonies cannot agree on a political issue because there are the same number of seats in the legislature. This is called equal representation. To avoid political deadlock, there were a few options. Canada West’s population grew much quicker than Canada East’s. Canada West argued that they should receive more seats in the legislature since they have a larger population. This was called representation by population. Politician George-Ètienne Cartier from Canada East was a supporter of equal representation because all of Canada West spoke English. Only parts of Canada East spoke French. So, giving
After the Revolutionary war, the 13 colonies needed a government and they approved The Articles of Confederation which was the first federal government that was approved by Congress in 1777 in Philadelphia and was formally ratified and put in effect in 1781 (Keene, Cornell, & O’Donnell, 2013). The issues that the raised from the Articles of Confederation was the distribution of power, instead of giving too much power to central government like Britain, the founders decided to place the sovereign power on the hands of the states. Also, they did not have national court system to impose laws that were approved by government, and did not have a President.
The new Constitution fixes the problems that we have had under the Articles of Confederation. We have not had anyone oversee and make sure that laws are carried out. The Constitution sets up a president to do this. Do not fear that he would be a king, though, for he is not to have all power. It should be shared with two other government branches. One of these branches, called the Judicial Branch, adds national courts, which will help people settle disputes too big for a state court. Congress was left very little power at all under the Articles of Confederation. With the Constitution, Congress will be able to control the printing and sending of money in the States. This will allow Congress to pay off their debts remaining after the war. Congress
In the year of 1867 the nation we know as Canada came into being. The Confederation in this year only came about after things had been overcome. Many political and economic pressures were exerted on the colonies and a federal union of the colonies seemed to be the most practical method of dealing with these pressures and conflicts. While Confederation was a solution to many of the problems, it was not a popular one for all the colonies involved. In the Maritime colonies views differed widely on the topic. Some were doubtful, some were pleased, others were annoyed and many were hopeful for a prosperous future.1
By the late eighteenth century, America found itself independent from England; which was a welcomed change, but also brought with it, its own set of challenges. The newly formed National Government was acting under the Articles of Confederation, which established a “firm league of friendship” between the states, but did not give adequate power to run the country. To ensure the young nation could continue independently, Congress called for a Federal Convention to convene in Philadelphia to address the deficiencies in the Articles of Confederation. While the Congress only authorized the convention to revise and amend the Articles the delegates quickly set out to develop a whole new Constitution for the country. Unlike the Articles of
As most people already know, Canada was not always like it is currently. In fact Canada was first found by the aboriginal tribes also known as native tribes. John A. Macdonald was a very important man who changed history. He joined colonies to make Canada unit together as a country. Most of the colonies joined with hesitation and demands (Colin M. Bain, chpt 3). He was also the prime minister from 1867-1873 and 1878-1891(Colin M. Bain, chpt 3).
Last year, our new government was formed. We agreed to what the Articles had said. It seems that now we are having issues with what we had once agreed with. In this newsletter, I will only address four of the most problematic things in the Articles of Confederation. However there are many more that will not be brought to light today.