The Charlottetown Conference

In mid-June 1864, the Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec) was experiencing what contemporaries call “political deadlock”: no political party could hold a majority in the Assembly. The past fifteen years had seen twelve different governments, and few important laws were passed. As a result, the “Great Coalition” was formed, seeking to turn the Canadas into a federal union. That September, delegates from the three Maritime provinces prepared to discuss their potential union in Charlotteto...