Challenges and Choices in British Columbia's History
British Columbia faced economic challenges post the Gold Rush, leading to a consolidation of colonies and increasing debt. The united colony explored options of Confederation, maintaining British colonial status, or annexation by the US, driven by different groups with varied interests. This historical period marked a crucial juncture in British Columbia's trajectory.
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BC AND CONFEDERATION
THE GOLD RUSH FADES By the mid-1860s, the gold rush that had brought tens of thousands of fortune seekers to BC was beginning to fade This meant that the colonies of BC and Vancouver Island were quickly losing their main source of revenue The province had taken out huge loans to pay for the infrastructure projects to support the large population increase, but that had all but vanished now By 1866, Vancouver Island s debt was nearly $300,000, while British Columbia s was over a million dollars
A UNITED COLONY The two colonies then asked Britain if they could unite with each other, believing it would help with their debt Britain was very supportive of this idea; it was no longer interested in financially supporting its colonies So in 1866, Britain officially joined the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia under the name British Columbia Frederick Seymour, who was governor of the mainland, became the first governor of the joined colony They established a 23-person Legislative Council with 9 elected members (5 from the mainland and 4 from the Island) However, the population of BC continued to decline, and it was still in debt
THREE WAYS FORWARD At this point, there were three options for British Columbia moving forward They could either join Confederation, remain a British colony, or be annexed by the United States People on the mainland were heavily in favour of Confederation, whereas HBC employees and government officials wanted to stay a colony, and businessmen in Victoria wanted to join the US Why do you think each group supported their specific choice?
THREE WAYS FORWARD People on BC s mainland supported Confederation because they were the hardest hit by the gold rush fading. Since Canada was willing to pay off BC s debt, it would benefit them greatly Government officials and HBC employees wanted to stay a colony because they did not want to lose the special status they had under the British Empire Business interests wanted annexation because they believed that the US would be a better market for their goods; it was cheaper and easier to bring products to San Francisco than it was to Canada
NO CONFEDERATION FOR YOU (AT FIRST) In 1868, the representatives from the mainland put forward a series of resolutions that proposed that Canada would take on BC s debt and that a railway would be built to connect the colony to the heavily populated east However, it was defeated in a vote by the assembly, most of whom wanted to stay a colony Furthermore, the movement to have BC join America was also fairly popular in the colony at the time It s supporters believed that the US would be a better trade partner and that they would also help with BC s debt
CHANGING OF THE GUARD However, supporters of Confederation continued to promote their cause in the press, believing that if they convinced the public, the anti-confederation movement would change its mind too Later in 1868, an election for the colony s assembly was held, resulting in deadlock; the pro-Confederation movement won every seat on the mainland, while those against it won every seat on the island But in June of 1869, Frederick Seymour died, and was replaced with Anthony Musgrave
ANTHONY MUSGRAVE Unlike Seymour, Musgrave was extremely supportive of joining Confederation He was a close friend of John A. Macdonald, who had actually recommended Musgrave for the position of BC s new governor The British gave Musgrave specific instructions to try and get BC to join Confederation as quickly as possible He received more support when the pro-annexation movement tried to get people in Victoria to sign a petition asking the US president to annex British Columbia But only 125 of Victoria s 3000 residents signed it, proving it s unpopularity
THE NEWEST PROVINCE Musgrave had just one job left, convince the anti- confederation movement to join Canada To do this, he agreed to let members of their movement help in drafting a policy that they would bring to Ottawa together Because the anti-Confederation movement felt involved now, they agreed to this Upon reaching Ottawa, the government agreed to nearly all of their demands, particularly the railroad and a fully elected assembly, and formally offered BC to join the new Union Upon hearing the promise regarding the assembly, BC officially becomes the 6thprovince of Canada on July 20th, 1871
