The conference was held on Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown for discussing Confederation of British and North America. The conference took place in September 1864. In Charlottetown when the Conference took place their was a circus, which was more interesting to the majority of population than the Conference. It took place at the legislative building and on September 4th representatives from the Province of Canada dominated the whole conference shadowing the concerns of the Maritimes and laying out the foundations for the union that gave them the most benefits. They outlined the Canadian position, but the Maritimes finally discussed their own plans on September 6th. The Maritimes were convinced that a wider union including Canada would be good for them, but PEI did not agree. They were really against confederation. The conference ended on the 7th and a ball was going to be held on the 8th as the Quebec Conference. It was believed that this union could be achieved within a few years, rather than in an undefined period in the future as they had originally planned. The Conference did not achieve that much they can not come together with ideas that would satisfy all the provinces.
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Quebec Conference:
On October 10th 1864 the Quebec Conference was held at in Quebec City. The delegates were the representatives in the conference to discuss and create a document that could be presented to Parliament in London, for their approval. The document would be the working paper that would be used to write legislation to form the new nation of Canada. The Conference was about who favoured into a strong central government and a federal government. They argued for provincial rights and fered with a central government since they would lost their cultural identity.
The debate revolved around the nature of the legislative government. A representative named Macdonald thought issues might arise with a federated government united by a weak central government. Many people rejected things since it contained non-protection against French Canadian culture or the regulation of lands by Foreign landowners. The representatives concluded that a Federal system with a centralized federal government and a provincial governments of each colony that would stand the best chance of gaining the majority support of the delegates. On October 27th the confernece ended and the delegates summited the 72 resolutions to the provincial legislatures. The conference went good and they achieved something including what system the government should have and therefor they brought out the 72 resolutions of what the government should do and not do to make a responsible government and consider confederation.
Sources:
1. "Quebec." Canada History. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2012. <http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/eras/confederation/quebec.htm>.
2. "Quebec Conference, 1864 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Conference,_1864>.
London Conference
In November 1866 the representatives agreed to join confederation. The only thing they had to do was to pass the bill in the British parliament over British North America. In London there was strong lobbying by bishops from the Maritimes to get guarantees for the Roman Catholic schools that are private. The British government had lots of concerns about the situation in North America and it was a stepping stone that can form Canada. It was guaranteed the separate school systems was to be in Quebec and Ontario, but not in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. The Conference settled the issues of the British North American Act through the British Parliament with only a few changes including one. They had to change the name of the new country the Kingdom of Canada to the Dominion of Canada.
The London Conference was a success and had all the right meanings to join Confederation, which they did so
Sources:
1. "London Conference - The Canadian Encyclopedia." The Canadian Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2012. <http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/london-conference>.
2. "London." Canada History. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2012. <http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/eras/confederation/london.htm>.
Good review of the Conferences. How would people react to what's going on back then? Note that the original purpose of the Charlottetown Conference was to discuss a Maritime Union.
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