PEI III: Charlottetown- la ville d'origine de la Confédération

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.

Le bus municipal

Le port

Voici Sir John A. MacDonald, le "père" de la Confédération du Canada.

Un avocat à l'âge de 15 ans!!!!!!!! Très mature.

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 3^rd, 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.