The Road to Confederation: The Emergence of Canada, 1863-1867

by Donald Grant Creighton

Donald Creighton was for many years one of Canada's foremost historians, a firm believer that history was closer to art than it was to science. Marked by beautiful, carefully crafted prose, The Road to Confederation reflects a style that perhaps no contemporary historian would dare: romantic,
suspenseful, fearlessly narrative, and full of unapologetic opinions. If not politically correct and sanitized, it is a fascinating exploration of the personalities, the political logjams, even the debt problems that marked the period leading to Confederation.

The book was also, as Donald Wright's excellent introduction argues, haunted by doubt. Not only had Canada failed to live up to Creighton's vision, Creighton himself was writing from the perspective of a rapidly changing country. Quebec was moving towards a liberal, secular, and nationalist
identity; English Canada was embracing bilingualism and diversity; debates about nuclear weapons were raging; and living next to the United States was becoming increasingly uneasy. The road was becoming ever less straightforward. In many respects, The Road to Confederation reveals as much about the
1960s as it does the 1860s.

Can echoes of Creighton's vision be seen even now, as Canada reinserts Royal into its military's name and remains entranced by William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the future of the Royal Family?

Genres: History, Canada, Nonfiction

489 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Donald Grant Creighton studied at Victoria College, University of Toronto and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1927 he was hired as a lecturer in U of T's Department of History, becoming professor in 1945, chairman 1954-59 and professor emeritus in 1971. The first of his many books, THE COMMERCIAL EMPIRE OF THE ST. LAWRENCE (1937), established him as the foremost English Canadian historian of his generation.

Under the influence of Harold INNIS, Creighton adopted as a first principle the idea of the St Lawrence as the basis of a transcontinental economic and political system: the LAURENTIAN THESIS. He was also committed to history as a literary art, and his 2-volume biography of John A. MACDONALD won the Governor General's Award (1952, 1955). As a nationalist with a centralist bias, Creighton in later years spoke out against the threats of continentalism and regionalism.

Reviews

[Matthew Selby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creighton is one of the best historical writers I’ve ever read. His narrative style makes it engaging, immersive, and amusing, while also maintaining the nonfiction nature of the book.

[Aaron Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published in the 1960s, this book gives the reader what feels like an insider look at the birth of Canada. The Fathers of Confederation become characters as opposed to vague historical figures and clear protagonists and antagonists emerge in Creighton’s writing. Most impressively though, this book is filled with subtle, and not so subtle, commentary on Canada as a whole. The introduction by Donald Wright says that this book “reveals as much about the 1960s as it does the 1860s.” The Road to Confederation tells a story of great optimism with a tone of cautious pessimism.

I grew up in Nova Scotia and attended Sir John A. Macdonald high school and all through my school years I heard stories of the great Nova Scotians who helped build Canada. Names like Charles Tupper and Joseph Howe are known, at least in passing, by every bluenoser. For the last ten years I have lived in Charlottetown, which is , as my license plate tells me, the “Birthplace of Confederation.” Like anyone my age, I studied the confederation conferences in school and have distant memories of terms like reciprocity and Fenian raids; but as I have found out over the years, the gritty details of the birth of Canada are left out of the junior high textbooks. Most Canadians have only heard this sanitized version of history. Creighton gives the average reader, even one with no knowledge of our story, an unapologetically honest and unsanitized recap of those raucous four years of political headbutting that lead to Canada, the greatest nation in the world.

Some of the details Creighton reveals are mind-blowing. Here are a few examples, just to grab your attention: the original idea of Maritime union was hatched up by the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick because he thought the small provincial parliaments were embarrassments, the first conference was held in Charlottetown only because the PEI delegation refused to venture to the mainland, George Brown was essentially a raging bigot, PEI chose not to join confederation in 1867 for quite ridiculous reasons, all of the British North American colonies were wholehearted supporters of the South in the American Civil War, and Britain was eager to cast off its North American responsibilities. These are just a few of the many high points.

When you pick up this book you know how it is going to end, Canada comes into being on July 1, 1867, but that doesn’t diminish this book’s power. This is a real page-turner and is what could be easily called the original Canadian political thriller and is highlighted with numerous historical photographs and maps. A history professor I was speaking with about this book suggested that I also read 1867 by Christopher Moore; he said the 30 years between the two books provide a great contrast in the interpretation of our founding. All this being said, this was a fantastic read and I want to thank Oxford University Press for resurrecting this jem.

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew my understanding of the events leading to confederation was patchy but I had no idea how much I didn’t know. This book filled in all the blanks. I learned a lot, almost fell asleep a couple of times in the slower parts, but soldiered on and finished it. It’s well written, has a lot of interesting stories about the people involved and was well worth reading. On the negative side, it’s deplorable that a book like this contains no reference to the people who lived here many generations before the English or French ever decided to come over and claim it for themselves.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

the wild Amazone

A classic, must-read for anyone seriously interested in Canadian history and historiography.
David Garon

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It is a superb job of story-telling, compressing Canada's rather long record into one highly readable volume.
The Vancouver Sun

The essentials emerge with new clarity. This is a handbook to Canada which will serve well the general reader who doesn't know as much of the story as he will find here. And that would include at least 99 per cent of us all.
The Ottawa Journal

A beautifully written book
The Canadian Historical Review

A real page-turner... a fantastic read.
The Canadian Book Review

[Jacques Poitras · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gripping account of the negotiations that led to Confederation, with zestily drawn portraits of the colourful characters who made it happen. The portrayals of Arthur Hamilton Gordon, the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, and of George Brown, Sir John A.'s grudging coalition partner, are revealing and memorable. The story echoes down to our present day, shedding light on why the country is organized the way it is.