Editing Newfoundland and Labrador (section)

==== The referendums on confederation ====
{{main|1948 Newfoundland referendums}}
Three main factions actively campaigned during the lead-up to the referendums on confederation with Canada:

* The [[Confederate Association]] (CA), led by Smallwood, advocated entry into the Canadian Confederation. They campaigned through a newspaper known as ''The Confederate''.
* The [[Responsible Government League]] (RGL), led by [[Peter Cashin]], advocated an independent Newfoundland with a return to [[responsible government]]. Their newspaper was ''The Independent''.
* The smaller [[Economic Union Party]] (EUP), led by [[Chesley Crosbie]], advocated closer economic ties with the United States. A 1947 Gallup poll found 80% of Newfoundland residents wanting to become Americans,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/05/02/altered_states/?page=full|title=Altered states: The strange history of efforts to redraw the New England map|date=May 2, 2010|author=Michael J. Trinklein|work=[[Boston Globe]]|access-date=September 5, 2016|archive-date=September 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916133428/http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/05/02/altered_states/?page=full|url-status=live}}</ref> but the United States had no interest in the proposal, and preferred Newfoundland join Canada.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baker |first=Melvin |date=March 2003 |title=Falling into the Canadian Lap: The Confederation of Newfoundland and Canada, 1945-1949 |url=https://www.gov.nl.ca/publicat/royalcomm/research/fallingintothecanadianlap.pdf |journal=Royal Commission on Renewing and Strengthening Our Place in Canada |pages=52 |quote=Complicating the anti-Confederate movement was strong political sentiment in St. John’s for greater economic union with the United States. On March 20, 1948 those opposed to Confederation divided into two groups with the formation by St. John’s businessman Chesley Crosbie of the Economic Union Movement. Unfortunately for this group, the American Government wanted no part of Crosbie’s group and preferred the political union of Newfoundland with Canada. As Peter Neary has observed, the Americans under the 1941 bases deal with the British Government had gotten what they wanted in Newfoundland and went along with British plans for Newfoundland’s future constitutional development. |access-date=July 9, 2022 |archive-date=January 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126105722/https://www.gov.nl.ca/publicat/royalcomm/research/fallingintothecanadianlap.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The EUP failed to gain much support and after the first referendum merged with the RGL.<ref name="factions">[http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/023001-2230-e.html#g "The 1948 Referendums"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20060211154609/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/023001-2230-e.html#g |date=February 11, 2006 }}, Library and Archives Canada</ref>
[[File:Joseph Smallwood signing Newfoundland into Confederation.jpg|thumb|[[Joey Smallwood]] signing a document bringing Newfoundland into the [[Canadian Confederation]], 1948]]
The first referendum took place on June 3, 1948; 44.6 per cent of people voted for [[responsible government]], 41.1 per cent voted for confederation with Canada, while 14.3 per cent voted for the Commission of Government. Since none of the choices had gained more than 50%, a second referendum with only the two more popular choices was held on July 22, 1948. The official outcome of that referendum was 52.3 per cent for confederation with Canada and 47.7 per cent for responsible (independent) government.<ref name=historyquatre>{{cite web |url=http://www2.marianopolis.edu/nfldhistory/NewfoundlandJoinsCanada-Confederation1949.htm |title=Newfoundland Joins Canada) and Newfoundland and Confederation (1949) |publisher=.marianopolis.edu |access-date=December 3, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720173301/http://www2.marianopolis.edu/nfldhistory/NewfoundlandJoinsCanada-Confederation1949.htm |archive-date=July 20, 2008 }}</ref> After the referendum, the British governor named a seven-man delegation to negotiate Canada's offer on behalf of Newfoundland. After six of the delegation signed, the British government passed the [[Newfoundland Act|British North America Act, 1949]] through the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]. Newfoundland officially joined Canada at midnight on March 31, 1949.<ref name=historyquatre/>

As documents in British and Canadian archives became available in the 1980s, it became evident that both Canada and the United Kingdom had wanted Newfoundland to join Canada. Some have charged it was a conspiracy to manoeuvre Newfoundland into Confederation in exchange for forgiveness of Britain's war debt and for other considerations.<ref name=Malone/>{{rp|68}} Yet, most historians who have examined the relevant documents have concluded that, while Britain engineered the inclusion of a Confederation option in the referendum, Newfoundlanders made the final decision themselves, if by a narrow margin.<ref>Jeff Webb, "Confederation, Conspiracy and Choice: A Discussion," Newfoundland Studies 14, 2 (1998): 170–87.</ref>

Following the referendum, there was a rumour that the referendum had been narrowly won by the "responsible government" side, but that the result had been fixed by the [[Gordon Macdonald, 1st Baron Macdonald of Gwaenysgor|British governor]].<ref name=Malone/>{{rp|225–26}} Shortly after the referendum, several boxes of ballots from St. John's were burned by order of [[Herman William Quinton]], one of only two commissioners who supported confederation.<ref name=Malone/>{{rp|224}} Some have argued that independent oversight of the vote tallying was lacking, though the process was supervised by respected Corner Brook Magistrate Nehemiah Short, who had also overseen elections to the National Convention.<ref name=Malone/>{{rp|224–25}}