Anti-Confederation Party
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Anti-Confederation was the name used in what is now the Atlantic Canada by several parties opposed to Canadian Confederation. The Anti-Confederation parties were accordingly opposed by the Confederation Party; that is, the Conservative and Liberal-Conservative parties.<ref>Beck, J. Murray. (1983) Joseph Howe: The Briton Becomes Canadian 1848–1873. (v.2). Kingston & Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. Template:ISBN</ref>
Nova Scotia
In the 1867 election in Nova Scotia, Anti-Confederates won 36 out of 38 seats in the provincial legislature, and formed a government under William Annand (See 24th General Assembly of Nova Scotia). The Anti-Confederation Party was opposed by the Confederation Party of Charles Tupper. Prominent Anti-confederates included the noted shipbuilder William D. Lawrence, Alfred William Savary and the wealthy merchant Enos Collins.
Federally, in the 1867 federal election, the Anti-Confederates won 18 of Nova Scotia's 19 seats in the House of Commons of Canada. Joseph Howe won the federal seat in Hants County, Nova Scotia, while William D. Lawrence won the Hants County provincial seat. Britain, however, refused to allow Nova Scotia to secede.
While many anti-confederationists threatened to secede and join the United States, Howe was a pragmatist and ultimately accepted Confederation as a fact. He was soon persuaded to join the Cabinet of Sir John A. Macdonald, leading to the movement's collapse (1869).
New Brunswick
There was also an Anti-Confederation Party in New Brunswick led by Albert James Smith, whose coalition of Conservatives and Reformers won the 1865 election. It was, however, soundly defeated in the 1866 election by the Confederation Party led by Peter Mitchell. The legislature that resulted from that election approved Confederation by a margin of 38 to 1. Accordingly, in the 1867 federal election, the Anti-Confederates did not win any of New Brunswick's fifteen seats in the House of Commons of Canada.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
While in Nova Scotia and elsewhere, opponents of confederation were predominantly Liberals and supporters were predominantly Tories, in New Brunswick the debate blurred party lines. Anti-Confederate leader Albert Smith and Confederate Peter Mitchell were both Conservatives, while one of the most prominent leaders of the pro-Confederation forces, Samuel Leonard Tilley, was a Liberal. Tilley later joined the government of Sir John A. Macdonald. Both Anti-Confederate and Confederate forces were mixtures of Tories and Reformers (Liberals).
By 1870, the Confederate and Anti-Confederate parties had dissolved; were replaced by the Liberal and Tory parties.
Newfoundland
In the Colony of Newfoundland, Confederation was a heated issue; it divided everyone across the Colony, regardless of party. In the 1869 election the two parties that went up against each other were the Conservatives and the Anti-Confederates.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Premier of the colony, Sir Frederick Carter, led the Conservatives, while a wealthy merchant named Charles Fox Bennett led the Anti-Confederates. This election would be key in deciding if the Colony would join Confederation; ultimately, it did not join. When the results were in, the Anti-Confederates had won 21 to 9.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In spite of winning, Bennett's party would collapse five years later; Carter would return as Premier.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
External links
- Anti-Confederation Petition from Nova Scotia, June 1868
- Reports of meetings held in the province of Nova Scotia, to consider a repeal of the "British North America Act, 1867."(1868)
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