|
Fathers of Confederation |
Maritime Union | George Brown
| Pan-Federalism |
US Civil War |
Canada's Proposals |
River Cruise
| Charlottetown |
The Quebec Conference |
The London Conference |
July 1, 1867
The party of representatives of the
Canada's cruised down the St Lawrence River to Prince
Edward Island to attend the Charlottetown Conference.
They were well stocked with Champagne, goodwill and
arguments for a general confederation of the British
Colonies.
The cruise also gave some time to the
Canadian representatives to refine their proposals and
strategy so that when hey arrived at Charlottetown they
not only had finely crafted arguments and plans to put
on the table but had hammered out a consensus among
themselves and were able to appear as a united front to
the Maritime delegates.
"Our party from Quebec
consisted of Cartier, John A., Galt, McDougall,
Campbell, Langvin, McGee and myself...We had great fun
coming down the St Lawrence having fine weather, a broad
awning to recline under, excellent stories of all kinds,
an unexceptionable cook, lots of books, chessboards,
backgammon, and so fourth."...
Having dressed ourselves
in correct style, our two boats were lowered man-of-war
fashion and being each duly manned with four oarsmen and
a boatswain, dressed in blue uniforms, hats, belts, etc,
in regular style, we pulled away for shore and landed
like Mr, Christopher Columbus who had the precedence of
us in taking possession of portions of the American
continent.
A Letter from George
Brown to his wife concerning the cruise down the St
Lawrence to the Charlottetown conference - Sept 13, 1864 |
