Canada Ping!
Posted on 01/09/2015 7:57:02 PM PST by Squawk 8888
Sir John A. Macdonald, our first prime minister, famously described himself as a practical man. He even jokingly called himself a mere “cabinet maker.” He seldom had much to say about lofty constitutional, political or legal theory. Instead, he cultivated a reputation as a man who, while others philosophized, got things done: It was a small vanity.
Unfortunately, historians have taken him too much at his word. They will concede that Macdonald was sufficiently crafty to steer the Fathers of Confederation towards a union of the British North American colonies and territories. Yet they give him little credit for having either a grand vision or a deep understanding of the principles upon which its success was ultimately based (or indeed, of even having any principles at all).
As a disservice to his memory, this would be bad enough. However, if we are to treat his contribution to the founding of our federation as unprincipled horse-trading, it is the country itself we sell short.
During the past year, the anniversaries of two great founding conferences of Confederation in Charlottetown and Quebec City have caused me to reflect upon what Macdonald did and what he believed.
Two things seem very clear. The first is that only someone of great vision and foresight could have conceived and created the Dominion of Canada and set it on the path to becoming the great country we know and love today.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
Canada Ping!
yeah, but he sure makes krappy hamburgers!
:)
We signed a treaty recognizing the border at 44.40 lat.
What were they afraid of? A few odd sourdoughs squatting in BC territory?
Unlike some countries the US is as good as it’s word when it comes to treaties.
Interesting article. Thanks.
MacDonald was the first PM, and the first to view Canada as a potential coast-to-coast country.
He realized his dream three ways -
(1) He convinced the Colony of British Columbia to join Canada (1871), not the US (locking in the west coast), a major achievement given the geography and demographics there;
(2) He acquired the massive lands of the Hudsons Bay Co. for Canada (1870), thus getting all the land between Ontario and BC;
(3) He pushed vigorously for the only means, in the mid-1800s, of developing that vast area - a transcontinental railway, the CPR.
Give MacDonald his due, he was a transplanted thistle but he served his new country well.
Why did Canada fear the US? How about the doctrine of Manifest Destiny? Texas was a part of Mexico until Americans settlers moved in and demanded government like they were used to in the US, rather than peaceably working to change the laws. How many treaties with Indian nations were made and broken by the US government, as it expanded west in the 1800s?
From approximately the end of the US Civil War, any overt US 'gunboat diplomacy' has been focused outside of North America, so Canada is more at ease than it was before the War. Of course, Canadians were, at the time, unaware of the US Army's 'War Plan Red, developed in the 1920s and 30s, to invade Canada. It was updated in 1935 but put on hold in 1939.
a treaty with an Indian nation is not exactly the same a one with a sovereign state like the UK. for a list of reasons you probably already know the US regards the UK as a serious state worthy of respect on the world stage, unlike the Indian nations whom live at our sufferance and have no sovereignty as independent states on the world stage.
44*40” is approximately where the Columbia flows into the Pacific.
49* is where the border lies now. Most of the very state you live in was originally part of the colony of British Columbia, right down to Portland.
Yes, the USA is very good at keeping its word on treaties, isn’t it? At least until it wants to change them unilaterally and arbitrarily...
John A. MacDonald was a man possessed of a national vision. To transform the British North American colonies peacefully into a nation.
And it was all done through mutual agreement, compromise and consensus. The Fathers Of Confederation led by him were empathetic they were creating a new country out of whole cloth, to take its place among the powers of the earth.
They united the French and English peoples, created a democratic government, secured Canada’s place in the British Empire and extended it from sea to sea and to the North Pole.
MacDonald realized those aspirations perfectly and was the greatest Canadian statesman of the 19th Century. He was and is Mr. Canada.
MacDonald was the geatest PM we ever had , none can measure up to him since. He frank profusely, once pausing to vomit in mid debate and not missing a beat said, “The oppositions argument makes me just that sick.”
A wee Scot, and a giant of a man. He loved Canada so much he had to hit the Scotch like a patriotic hoser, beginning a prodigiouos tradition which has scarcely petered out in modern times.
I love that man.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.