Une
petite visite à Charlottetown.
Une
église- je ne me souviens pas trop du nom, mais sa signifiance dans mon voyage
des provinces maritimes est qu'elle était une des premières églises que j'ai vu
qui n'était pas en bois. Ça se peut aussi que les églises en pierre se trouvent
plutôt dans les milieux plus peuplés.
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| Le bus municipal |
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| Le port |
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| Voici Sir John A. MacDonald, le "père" de la Confédération du Canada. |
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| Un avocat à l'âge de 15 ans!!!!!!!! Très mature. |
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| Les délégués pour la conférence de la Confédération débarquent à Charlottetown du bateau Queen Victoria lequel les a aidé traverser le fleuve St. Laurent pour arriver sur l’île du Prince Édouard. |
J’ai eu beaucoup de plaisir en lisant les pancartes touristes sur l’histoire de la Confédération. D’habitude je ne m’intéresse pas trop à l’histoire, mais si je pouvais avoir appris l’histoire à travers les visites des lieux historiques, je pense que j’aurais beaucoup plus de motivation d’étudier l’histoire.
J’ai
beaucoup apprécie l’information sur la Conférence de la Confédération de cette
pancarte en particulier, car c’était intéressant, et elle explique bien les
enjeux lesquels ont amené à la décision d’une Confédération.
The Charlottetown Conference – 1864
The three Maritime colonies of Great
Britain, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, had long
considered the possibility of union. By the early 1860s, however, there was
sufficient concern over an American attack after the conclusion of the American
Civil War (1861-1865),that the colonies began to feel the need to draw closer
together. At the same time, Britain was pressuring the colonies for union based
on the premise that this would reduce their economic and military dependency on
the mother country. As well, the ever-increasing public debt created by railway
construction was placing tremendous burdens not only on the Maritime colonies,
but also on Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec). It was not actually an
overwhelming desire for a new nation, but a combination of mutually-threatening
circumstances that opened the door to the creation of the Canadian Confederation.
By the summer of 1864, the Maritime
colonies had agreed to meet to discuss union, although a time and place for the
discussions had not been set. The Canadas, suffering from a political deadlock
that was making effective government virtually impossible, asked to participate
in the meetings. When the Maritimes agreed to allow the Canadas to present a
proposal for a wider British North American union, the meeting was set for
Thursday, September 1, 1864, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. On the day
following the opening of the conference the Canadian delegation, led by John Alexander
Macdonald and Georges Étienne Cartier, presented their plan. The main features
of their proposal were continued loyalty to the British Crown through
membership in the British Empire, a strong central government within a federal
union with the provinces retaining control over their own affairs and other powers
resting with the federal government, and representation in a central government
through an appointed upper house and an elected lower house.
The debate over the Canadian
propositions continued into the weekend. Late Saturday afternoon, September 3rd,
the conference retreated to the relative luxury of the Queen Victoria, the steamer which had brought the Canadian
delegation to Charlottetown. In what was to be a sampling of the many parties,
receptions, and dinners which punctuated the week-long conference, the Maritime
delegates were entertained by their Canadian hosts.
Following four days of discussion, argument,
and much debate, both within the official venue of Province House, and the “unofficial
venue” of the social activities, the Canadian delegation had put forth such a
convincing presentation that their proposals had carried the day. The Maritime
colonies, which had all but abandoned their quest for union at their
conference, pledged their support for the new plan for the British North
American federation, - if the terms of the union could be made satisfactory.
With agreement in principal for the new Canadian national union secured, the
Charlottetown Conference was adjourned on September 1, 1864, to be reconvened
in Quebec City on October 10, 1864, for the “ironing out” of the remaining
details.
Here was the true significance of the
Charlottetown Conference: the agreement reached on the concept of a federal
union from sea to sea. Although billed as a conference on Maritime union, the
Charlottetown Conference of 1864 actually created the framework for the
establishment of the new Canadian
Confederation.
Following the Quebec Conference of 1864,
delegates from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the united Canadas met in London,
England, throughout the fall and winter of 1866 to prepare the passage of the
British North America Act through the British Parliament. On March 29, 1867,
the Act was signed into law and Canada became a nation. Although Canadian
Confederation was officially proclaimed on July 1, 1867, Prince Edward Island
did not join as a province until 1873. However, as the host for the
all-important first conference at Charlottetown in 1864, Prince Edward Island
can rightly claim its place as “The Cradle of Confederation.”
Source:
“Nation Building at Charlottetown” Canada’s Smallest Province Charlottetown:
The Prince Edward Island 1973 Centennial Commission, 1973, 135-155.
