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Commentary
Whether right or wrong, the essence of the Canadian people, for better or for worse, has always focused on the single-minded belief that we are not Americans.
The wave of British Loyalist descendants, French Canadians, northern indigenous peoples, and subsequent immigrants saw the Canadian Federation as a historic rescue operation from the annexation of the revolutionary American Republic.
For Canadians, the Union was the only and most important episode in the history of the country. The traditional celebration of “Dominion Day” on July 1st was Canada Day, which corresponds to the American Independence Day on July 4th or the Bastille Day on July 14th in France. Each in its own way evoked the affectionate memory of the birth of modern democracy.
Uncertain roads in Canada
The uncertain road to the Canadian Union can be traced back to the acquisition of Nouvelle France by England in 1763. Subsequent troubles between hostile British, French and indigenous tribes were destined to become an irreversible quagmire for British colonial managers.
In 1776, 13 of Britain’s North American colonies declared independence and established the United States, one of the most powerful and prosperous federal republics in human history.
More than a decade later, in 1789, the French Revolution blamed French Canadians for the long-standing Bourbon Catholic tradition that has informed their culture since the founding of Quebec in 1608.
After the American Revolutionary War, the British, Scottish, and Irish, who remained loyal to the crown, found themselves in some of the coolest possessions of the British Empire. At the same time, the traditional lifestyle of Canadian indigenous peoples has become increasingly unsustainable.
During the War of 1812-1814, British troops, colonial militias, and indigenous allies were called upon to protect Canada’s territory from several US invasions.
In 1837 and 1838, domestic rebellions against the British political system created a nasty atmosphere of division and distrust in the upper and lower parts of Canada.
The 1841 Joint Act signed Upper Canada (mainly English) and Lower Canada (mainly France), with subsequent approval of the Responsible Government to help increase ethnic and political tensions in the colonies. It was just.
As British politician Sir Durham stated in his famous post-rebellion report to London, Canada was “two nations fighting in the bosom of a single nation.” In the years that followed, the colonial political structure put together by the King became more dysfunctional, bankrupt, and no longer equal to the challenges of the times.
New leadership promise
British North America in the late 1850s when John A. McDonald, a promising young politician from Kingston, became a Canadian leader in collaboration with his French Canadian political ally and friend George Etienne Cartier. The discord in was like that.
McDonald’s was neither a passionate sect nor an idealism. He was a realist who played the cards dealt. He rolled up his sleeves, formed the Liberal Party of China, and began work on putting together a viable compact between the two Canadian and British Primorskaya Oblasts.
At three consecutive Constitutional Meetings in Charlottetown, Quebec City and London, England, 1864-1867, McDonald’s reconciled with former political opponents, strengthened the old alliance, and became a new supporter of the Canadian Union. I found a way to fascinate.
John A. and the federal father created 72 resolutions to promote a new federal coalition under the British crown. Resolution 50 was created by McDonald’s himself.
The McDonald’s initiative quickly came to fruition for the Canadian people. British politicians were influenced by those seeking the end of military and financial support for the troublesome and expensive British colonies of North America.
Confederate agents were known to be active in Montreal and Toronto when the Civil War raged south of the border in the fall of 1864. Politicians and military leaders in the northern United States sought to invade Canada and realize America’s presumed fate of governing the entire continent.
The efforts of McDonald’s and the federal father’s efforts have moved history in a different direction. On July 1, 1867, Canadians celebrated the enactment of British North American law. Dominion of Canada was born without a hostile blow, a unique achievement in the history of nation-building in the 19th century.
Forgotten heritage
The BNA Act of 1867 and the emergence of sovereign parliamentary democracy north of the American border have been generally regarded by Canadians as self-affirming historical developments.
McDonald’s biographers from Donald Creighton to Richard Gwyn had slight disagreements about the evolution of John A’s vision for Canada, but almost everyone was relentless to our founding Prime Minister for a coalition project. I agree that this commitment was the driving force behind it.
Despite the Marxists’ dismissal of the so-called “obsolete great man theory,” most prominent Canadian historians agree that Sir John A. McDonald played an integral role in achieving the coalition. ..
The memory of John A. and the federal father created the same level of love in Canada that George Washington and the signatories of the Declaration of Independence once did in the United States.
Today’s educators seem to have forgotten the contributions of the founders of Canada and have little understanding of the historical context in which Canada was born. It’s especially sad for ordinary Canadians to accept that some school teachers in our country consider the cancellation of McDonald’s heritage to be “easy.”
William Brooks is a Canadian writer who contributes to The Epoch Times in Halifax, Nova Scotia.He is currently the editor of “”Canadian “Citizen’s Conversation”‘■ Civitas Society.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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