Confederation Party

Confederation Party was a term for the parties supporting Canadian confederation in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in the 1860s when politics became polarised between supporters and opponents of Confederation. The Confederation parties were accordingly opposed by Anti-Confederation parties in those three jurisdictions. A conference was held on September 1, 1864, in Charlottetown when the Province of Canada became interested in it. Sir John A. Macdonald was a huge promoter of Confederation and even made an alliance with his political rival, George Brown to make it happen.

In New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the Confederation parties became Conservative parties aligned with the federal Liberal-Conservative Party of Sir John A. Macdonald (generally known simply as Conservatives), while Anti-Confederation parties became Liberals. This approximated the political dichotomy that existed prior to Confederation although, because of the realignment, some former Liberals became Conservatives and vice versa.

The acceptance of the Confederation Party was greatly influenced by the American Civil War. Other reasons were an aggressive American foreign policy and the Fenian Raids of 1866.

Some of the Maritime Provinces were worried that the autonomy would be weakened if they took up the Confederation. It was also feared that the French-Canadian interests would be weakened if the Confederation was embraced in Canada East (Quebec).

the fatheres of the confederation were librals who's values were individualisam free enter prise and a strong belife in the rights of private property. this classic libralisam was a mid set formed from government rules particularly far ones. in 1865 oxford academic Goldwin Smith urged laissez-faire and a cheep constrained govern ment , rather than statist scheems were the true pathe to economic progress. the larges issues raised by oppositions of the confederation party were taxation. Debates concerning the confederations view on taxation were vital for opposers to be reintroduced to the reasons canada was formed.it knocked down Peter Waites position that the unification of the colonies was pragmatic polotics. Newfoundland did not pay taxes in the same regard before the union of the colines the confederation party was able to turn their heads . noviscotioa feared that they would be taxed to support the union governments deficits.

See also

• List of Canadian political parties

^[1]

1. ^ Smith, Andrew. "Toryism, Classical Liberalism, and Capitalism: The Politics of Taxation and the Struggle for Canadian Confederation." Canadian Historical Review 89.1 (2008): 1-25. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.

^[1]

1. ^ "Sir John Alexander Macdonald." collectionscanada.gc.ca. n.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.