Reasons For Joining The Confederation
Before confederation the province of Canada was changing governments frequently which made it difficult for them to make any decisions. People in Canada west and Canada east thought that making a new country would solve the problem. They also thought that would be safer from any conflict from the Americans as a new country then as a British colony.The Canada west and Canada east politicians thought that joining with other colonies would make the economy stronger, especially if they built a rail road across the country.
In 1870 Canada bought Rupert's land and the north-western territory from the Hudson's bay company. The Métis, who lived in the southern part of the territories chose Louis Riel to set up a government he sent people to Ottawa who agreed to make Manitoba a province. Since 1870 parts of the land from the north-western territory became other provinces and territories.
In 1871 British Colombia joined the Canadian confederation because they were afraid the U.S.A would take them over and because they wanted to have their own provincial government. They also thought they could get some economic help from Canada to pay off their debt.
In 1873 Prince Edward Island was invited to join confederation again because the Canadians were afraid it would join the U.S. P.E.I. decided to join because Canada agreed to buy land from English landlords to sell to settlers who had been renting it. Canada also agreed to help pay off the debt P.E.I had to pay for its railway.
In 1898 the Yukon left the north west territory to become its own territory to ensure that Americans that came for the Klondike gold rush would not take over the area.
In 1905 Alberta and Saskatchewan left the north west territory to become their own provinces. This was because they had a growing population working in farming, mining, logging, and the railway. They needed a government to organize the community and collect taxes to pay for schools.
In 1949 Newfoundlanders had a vote to join Canada hoping that Canada would help the build roads and railways and for Canada's financial support.
In 1999 the Inuit people of the north west territories wanted some of their territory back and they wanted their own government to make decisions for the Inuit people .This new territory was called Nunavut.