Editing Canadian Confederation (section)

===Quebec Conference===
{{Main|Quebec Conference, 1864|Quebec Resolutions}}
After returning home from the Charlottetown Conference, Macdonald asked [[Charles Monck, 4th Viscount Monck|Viscount Monck]], the [[Governor-General of the Province of Canada|governor general of the Province of Canada]] to invite delegates from the three Maritime provinces and Newfoundland to a conference with United Canada delegates. At the opening of the conference, a total of 33 delegates were included from the British North American Colonies, including Newfoundland, which had not participated in prior meetings.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Canada|first=Parks|date=October 11, 2017|title=Charlottetown and Québec Conferences of 1864|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2017/10/charlottetown_andquebecconferencesof1864.html|access-date=February 21, 2021|website=gcnws}}</ref> Monck obliged and the Conference went ahead at [[Quebec City]] in October 1864.

[[File:QuebecConvention1864.jpg|thumb|left|Delegates at the [[Quebec Conference, 1864|Quebec Conference]], October 1864]]

The Conference began on October 10, 1864, on the site of present-day Montmorency Park.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.quebec400.gc.ca/histoires-stories/parc-montmorency-park-eng.cfm |title=Quebec 2008 (400th Anniversary website), Government of Canada |publisher=Quebec400.gc.ca |date=November 8, 2007 |access-date=May 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506011800/http://www.quebec400.gc.ca/histoires-stories/parc-montmorency-park-eng.cfm |archive-date=May 6, 2012}}</ref> The Conference elected [[Étienne-Paschal Taché]] as its chairman, but it was dominated by Macdonald. Despite differences in the positions of some of the delegates on some issues, the Quebec Conference, following so swiftly on the success of the Charlottetown Conference, was infused with a determinative sense of purpose and [[nationalism]].{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=98}} For the Reformers of Canada West, led by George Brown, the end of what they perceived as French-Canadian interference in local affairs was in sight.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=99}} For Maritimers such as Tupper of Nova Scotia or Tilley of New Brunswick, horizons were suddenly broadened to take in much larger possibilities for trade and growth.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=99}}

On the issue of the Senate, the Maritime Provinces pressed for as much equality as possible. With the addition of Newfoundland to the Conference, the three Maritime colonies did not wish to see the strength of their provinces in the upper chamber diluted by simply adding Newfoundland to the Atlantic category.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=100}} It was the matter of the Senate that threatened to derail the entire proceedings.{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=317}} It was Macdonald who came up with the acceptable compromise of giving Newfoundland four senators of its own when it joined.{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=317}}

The delegates from the Maritimes also raised an issue with respect to the level of government—federal or provincial—that would be given the powers not otherwise specifically defined. Macdonald, who was aiming for the strongest central government possible, insisted this was to be the central government, and in this, he was supported by, among others, Tupper.{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=105}}

At the end of the Conference, it adopted the "[[seventy-two resolutions]]" which would form the basis of a scheduled future conference. The Conference adjourned on October 27.

Prince Edward Island emerged disappointed from the Quebec Conference. It did not receive support for a guarantee of six members in the proposed House of Commons, and was denied an appropriation of $200,000 it felt had been offered at Charlottetown to assist in [[Land Purchase Act (1875)|buying out the holdings of absentee landlords]].{{sfn|Waite|1962|p=107}}

====Press and popular reaction====
"Never was there such an opportunity as now for the birth of a nation" proclaimed a pamphlet written by S. E. Dawson and reprinted in a Quebec City newspaper during the Conference.{{sfn|Gwyn|2008|p=317}}

Again, reaction to the Quebec Conference varied depending on the political views of the critic.

====Constitutional scheme discussed in London====
George Brown was the first, in December 1864, to carry the constitutional proposals to the British government in London, where Brown received "a most gracious answer to our constitutional scheme".{{sfn|Mackenzie|1892|p=230}} He also met with William Gladstone—who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer and, later, Prime Minister—"who agreed in almost everything".{{sfn|Mackenzie|1892|p=230}} In April 1865, Brown, Macdonald, Cartier and Galt met with the government and found "the project of a federal union of the colonies was highly approved of by the imperial authorities".{{sfn|Mackenzie|1892|pp=96–97}}

On the form of the proposed system of governance for Canada, the Fathers of Confederation were influenced by the American republic. Macdonald said in 1865:

{{blockquote|By adhering to the monarchical principle, we avoid one defect inherent in the [[constitution of the United States]]. By the election of the president by a majority and for a short period, he never is the sovereign and chief of the nation. He is never looked up to by the whole people as the head and front of the nation. He is, at best, but the successful leader of a party. This defect is all the greater on account of the practice of reelection. During his first term of office, he is employed in taking steps to secure his own reelection and, for his party, a continuance of power. We avoid this by adhering to the monarchical principle—the sovereign, whom you respect and love. I believe that it is of the utmost importance to have that principle recognized so that we shall have a sovereign who is placed above the region of party—to whom all parties look up; who is not elevated by the action of one party nor depressed by the action of another; who is the common head and sovereign of all.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bartleby.com/268/5/1.html| last=Macdonald| first=John A.| title=On Canadian Confederation| year=1865| publisher=Bartleby| access-date=May 8, 2012}}</ref>}}