Charlottetown Conference Delegates, September 1864

The Charlottetown Conference (Canada's Conference) was held in Charlottetown,

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

for representatives from colonies of

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestow ...

to discuss

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...

. The conference took place between September 1 through 9, 1864. The conference had been planned as a meeting of representatives from the Maritime colonies;

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

and

. Newfoundland agreed with the movement, but was not notified in time to take part in the proceedings.

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

encouraged a

Maritime Union Maritime Union (french: Union des Maritimes) is a proposed political union of the three Maritime provinces of Canada – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island – to form a single new province.American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. However, another colony, the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on th ...

, comprising present-day

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and Québec, heard news of the planned conference and asked that the agenda be expanded to discuss a union that would also include them. In August 1864 Newfoundland also asked to be allowed to join the conference. Coincidentally there was a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

in Charlottetown during the conference, and it was much more interesting to the majority of the population. At the very least, the circus made making accommodations for all the delegates difficult, since there had not been a circus in Prince Edward Island in over 20 years. There was no one working at the public wharf at the foot of Great George Street when the Canadian delegates arrived on the steamship SS ''Victoria'', so Prince Edward Island representative William Henry Pope had to handle receptions by himself, including rowing out to greet the new arrivals. Owing to the unexpectedly large number of visitors in the city, a sizeable proportion of the Canadian delegates remained aboard the ''Queen Victoria'' while others found accommodations at the ''Franklin.'' Meanwhile, circus-goers and the Maritime delegates had taken up the accommodations in town.

Conference

Unfortunately, there is no formal record of what was said during the Charlottetown meetings. What we know has been gathered from private sources, such as letters written home by delegates. We do know that there was agreement on the need for a detailed discussion of a potential union. We know that the Maritime delegates put aside their own poorly-supported ideas of Maritime Union, while the Canadians could see solutions to their own problems in a larger union. The majority of the conference took place at the colony's legislative building, Province House, although some social functions such as dinners and banquets were held at other venues including

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

and Inkerman House, the home of the colony's Lieutenant Governor. The conference had begun on Thursday September 1 with a banquet for the delegates. Parties and banquets were held each night after the day's discussions had ended, except for Sunday September 4, when they did not meet. The representatives from the Province of Canada dominated the conference, overshadowing the concerns of the Maritimes, and laying out foundations for the union that benefited them the most. Four of the first five days were spent outlining the Canadian position, and the Maritime representatives did not discuss their own plans until September 6 and 7. One Canadian delegate, George Brown, spent two days discussing the details of the proposed constitution, which would keep Canada within the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. Most of the Maritimes were convinced that a wider union including the Province of Canada would also be beneficial to them; Prince Edward Island was unsure, however, and very much against confederation. The delegates also believed that union could be achieved within a few years, rather than in an undefined period in the future as they had originally planned. The initial intentions of the conference was for the Maritimes to discuss the possibility of a union within provinces. The Province of Canada (consisting of present-day Ontario and Quebec) requested one of their own delegates to attend the conference. If not for the inclusion of 8 Canadian delegates from the province of Canada, the constitution would not have been proposed within federal union. The conference concluded on Wednesday September 7, but the representatives agreed to meet again the next month in both Halifax, Nova Scotia, and

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

(see Quebec Conference). A ball was also held on September 8, after which the delegates returned home. In addition to political meetings, the delegates participated in social activities like special lunches, small boating trips, and a ball, which gave delegates the opportunity to bond. The delegates from respected provinces met again on September 10 and 12, 1864 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where further discussions arose regarding the union and idea of the constitution. Following meetings in Halifax, representatives met in Quebec city, on October 10 to 27, 1864. The Quebec Conference fostered a draft constitution for the proposed federal union.

Confederation

Canada, created on July 1, 1867, through practical means of negotiation at the aforementioned conferences above. To the south during the years of 1861 to 1864 there was the creation of the United States army during the Civil War. Given the large power created to the South some believed that Confederation considered as a pre-emptive action to reduce the chances that territories to the west and north of the Canadas would be annexed by the United States. This, combined with the pressures of countries

Delegates

New Brunswick

* Edward Barron Chandler *

John Hamilton Gray John Hamilton Gray may refer to two 19th-century Canadian politicians: *John Hamilton Gray (Prince Edward Island politician) (1811–1887), Premier of Prince Edward Island *John Hamilton Gray (New Brunswick politician) John Hamilton Gray, (1 ...

* John Mercer Johnson * Albert James Smith * William H. Steeves *

Samuel Leonard Tilley Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley (May 8, 1818June 25, 1896) was a Canadian politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. Tilley was descended from United Empire Loyalists on both sides of his family. As a pharmacist, he went into business as a ...

Nova Scotia

* Adams George Archibald *

Robert B. Dickey Robert Barry Dickey (November 10, 1811 – July 14, 1903) was a participant in the conferences leading to the Canadian Confederation of 1867 and is therefore considered to be one of the Fathers of Confederation. Born in Amherst, the son of ...

* William Alexander Henry *

Jonathan McCully Jonathan McCully (July 25, 1809 – January 2, 1877) was a participant at the Confederation conferences at Charlottetown, Quebec City, and in London, and is thus considered one of the Fathers of Canadian Confederation. He did much to promot ...

Charles Tupper Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, (July 2, 1821 – October 30, 1915) was a Canadian Father of Confederation who served as the sixth prime minister of Canada from May 1 to July 8, 1896. As the premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led ...

Prince Edward Island

* George Coles *

Andrew Archibald Macdonald Andrew Archibald Macdonald, (14 February 1829 – 21 March 1912) served as the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island from 1 August 1884 to 2 September 1889, and was one of the fathers of Canadian Confederation. Birth and ea ...

Edward Palmer Edward Palmer may refer to: * Edward Palmer (d.1624) (1555–1624), antiquary and projector of a university in Virginia * Edward Palmer (socialist) (1802–1886), American religious socialist * Edward Palmer (Canadian politician) (1809–1889), Pri ...

* William Henry Pope *

Province of Canada

* George Brown * Alexander Campbell *

George-Étienne Cartier Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, (pronounced ; September 6, 1814May 20, 1873) was a Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation. The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, the usual French spelling—is explained ...

Alexander Tilloch Galt Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, (September 6, 1817 – September 19, 1893) was a politician and a father of the Canadian Confederation. Early life Galt was born in Chelsea, England on September 6, 1817. He was the son of John Galt, a Scottis ...

* Hector-Louis Langevin *

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

* William McDougall * Thomas D'Arcy McGee * John RosThe Charlottetown Conference, ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', http://biographi.ca/en/theme_conferences_1864.html?p=8

References

Bibliography

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External links

Charlottetown Conference of 1864Canadian Confederation
a virtual museum exhibition at Library and Archives Canada {{Charlottetown Canadian Confederation History of Charlottetown Constitutional conventions (political meeting) 1864 in Canada 1864 conferences Events of National Historic Significance (Canada)