10Canada Becomes a NationWord文档格式.docx

10Canada Becomes a NationWord文档格式.docx

《10Canada Becomes a NationWord文档格式.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《10Canada Becomes a NationWord文档格式.docx（7页珍藏版）》请在冰点文库上搜索。

Britainrepealed（废除,撤销）theCornLawsandNavigationsActs,whichhadbeeneconomicallybeneficialtothecoloniesatthesamerateitappliedtoallothertradingcountries,asituationtowhichthecolonieshadneverbeenaccustomed.

From1861to1864,Americanswereinvolvedinamajorcivilwar.BritainhadtraditionaleconomictieswiththesouthernpartoftheUnitedStatesthatprovidedcottontoBritishmarkets.Inthemeantime,sincethewarwasessentiallybetweentheNorthandtheSouth,theNorthresentedBritain’sconnectionwiththeSouth.Inaddition,duringthelastyear（1864）oftheAmericanCivilWar,theAmericanGovernmentofthedominantandultimatelyvictoriousNorth,refusedtorenewaten-yearfreetradeagreementwithUnitedCanada,thelargeBritishcolonyinthecentralpartofBritishNorthAmerica.Thesearbitraryeventsbroughtconcernandevenfeartothesecolonies.Withthelossoftraditionaltradingarrangementsandtheendofthecivilwar,theNorthbeingvictorious,thecolonistsfearedthattheAmericansmightturnontheBritishcoloniesinretaliation（报复,报仇）forBritain’smoralsupportfortheSouth.

Theneedfornewmarkets,andasoliddefensesystemfrompotentialinvasionbytheUnitedStates,broughtanacuteawarenesstothesediversecoloniesthattheyshouldlooktoeachotherforresolutionstotheseproblems.Theyfeltuneasytryingtocopeagainsttheseadversities（逆境,苦难）ontheirown.SirJohnA.MacdonaldfromUnitedCanada,thedominantpersonalityatthistime,alsosawtheaccelerationofAmericansettlersmovingnorthandspreadingthroughouttheflatprairie（大草原）landstothewest.Thiswouldpotentially（潜在的）putawallbetweenthecoloniesintheEastandthelonelywesternBritishcolonyinwhatistodaypartofBritishColumbiaonthewestcoastofNorthAmerica.Macdonaldfeltthatthesituationwasurgent.

Inthesummerof1864,themaritimecoloniesofNovaScotia,PrinceEdwardIsland,andNewfoundlandscheduledameetingtodiscussthepossibilityofacustomsunionorfreetradeareatocompensateforthelatestsetbacks（挫折,失败）intraderelationswithBritainandtheUnitedStates.MacdonaldmanagedtogetpermissionforsomedelegatesfromUnitedCanadatoattendasobservers.Foranumberofyears,UnitedCanadawasexperiencingproblemsofpoliticaldeadlock（僵局）.CanadaWestwaspredominantly（主要地）English-speakingCanadaEastwaspredominantlyFrench-speaking.Acentralgovernment,setupin1841,requiredamajorityfrombothCanadaWestandCanadaEastforalllegislationtobecomelaw.Itwasverydifficulttopasssignificantlegislationwhentwoopposingviewswereconstantlybeingdebatedandlegislativebillswereconstantlybeingdefeated.TheCanadianssawanew,widerunion,apotentialnewnationalinstitutionorcentralgovernment,asapossiblesolutionforbreakingoutofthisconstantpoliticaldisorder.

TheCanadiandelegatessailedonboardacruiseshipdowntheSt.LawrenceRiver,intotheGulfofSt.Lawrence,toCharlottetownonPrinceEdwardIsland.ThisconventionexpandedtodiscussionsofthepossibilityofalltheBritishcoloniesunitingintoonenation.

AftermuchcomplicateddebateatanotherconventioninQuebecCitythatsameyear,thedelegatesubmittedadraftofanagreementfortheformationofthedominionofCanada.Thebulkoftheworkhadbeendonebyagroupofmenofseeminglyhighvirtue,whobecameknowinhistoryas“theFathersofConfederation（联邦）”.UnitedCanadawasdividedintotheprovincesofOntarioandQuebec.SomeallowancesweregiventoQuebecbecauseitwasapredominantlyFrench-speakingCatholicprovinceandhadspecialneeds,unlikeotherprovinces.ThecolonyofNovaScotiawasdividedintoNovaScotiaandNewBrunswick.Thesefourprovincesformedtheoriginalnewnation.Aflexibleapproach,inlateryears,persuadedothercoloniestojoin.

Afederalsystem,withpowersdistributedbetweenthecentralandprovincialgovernments,wascreated.Theprovinceswereassignedpowerstohavetheirowngovernmentstodealwithmorelocalorprovincialissues,thefederalsystemwouldpromoteharmonyamongprovinces,withdifferentperspectivesonnationhood.Thiswasacompromise,sothatthebiggerprovincesofOntarioandQuebecwouldn’tcompletelydominatethesmallerprovinces.ThecountrywastobecalledtheDominionofCanada,butwouldstillremainloyaltoBritainasamemberoftheBritishEmpire.

ThenewlegislationthatcreatedCanadawasaBritishactofParliamentcalled“TheBritishNorthAmericaActsof1867”.CanadaofficiallybecameanationonJuly1st,1867.Thiswouldbetheanniversaryoccasioneachyear,forjoyouscelebrationofanationalholidaycommemoration（纪念,庆祝）thebirthofCanada.

Thedevelopmentofthecountry,asweknowittoday,wasanevolutionary（进化的,演变的）processovermorethaneightdecades.ManitobabecameaprovinceaftersomecontroversialeventsinvolvingthefederalgovernmentandtheMetis,French-speakingdescendantsofFrenchfurtraderswhomarriedAmericanIndiangirls.Thisethnic（人种的,种族的）groupsettlednearFortGary,thecityofWinnipeg,Manitobawhatiscalledtoday.

JohnA.Macdonald,thenewandfirstPrimeMinisterofthenewnation,madeadealwiththewestern-mostcolonyinVancouverguaranteeingonthebuildingofarailroadfromtheeasttothewestifthatcolonywouldjoinCanadianConfederation.ThepropertyoftheMetis,towhichtheletterfeltlegallyentitled,wasinthepathofthenewrailway.Thefederalgovernmentessentiallytooktheland.TheMetiswerecompelledtomovefurtherwest,butnotwithoutafight.（TheMetisandthefederalgovernmentwereonaninevitable（无法避免的）collisioncourse.Twice,Metisrevoltsrestedthemight（权力,威力）ofthefederalgovernmentandrelationshipbetweenFrench-andEnglish-speakinginCanada）.ThefederalgovernmentwasabletodefeattheMetisinbothclashes.LouisRiel,theleaderoftheMetiswashangedfortreason（叛国,谋反）in1885forhisleadingroleinresistingthefederalgovernment.HebecameamartyrtoFrench-Canadians.Hisdeathonlyaddedfueltothegrowingdiscontent（不满意）betweenFrenchandEnglishCanada.

Throughoutthiswholeperiod,1869to1885,thefederal（orcentral）governmentignoredtheappealsoftheMetis.Itappearedthat,accordingtoMacdonaldandhisfollowers,thecreationofthenewnationwasmoreimportantthanrelievingtheplight（困境）ofarelativelysmallminoritygroup.TheMetisprobablydeservedmuchbetterofthefederalgovernment.DifferentversionsoftheseeventsarestilldebatedinCanadianclassroomstoday.

Macdonaldwasalsocriticizedforconcealingthefactthathetooksomemoneyillegallytocompletetherailway.In1873as“ThePacificScandal”becameknown,theconstructionoftherailwaysuspendedtemporarily.ThedeterminedMacdonaldandhisgovernment,obsessed（担心,困扰）bythepossibilityoftheAmericansmovinginandtakingoverthewest,boldlypushedrailwayconstructiontocompletion.

Manitobabecameaprovincein1870,BritishColumbiain1871,PrinceEdwardIslandin1873,AlbertaandSaskatchewanin1905.TheadmissionofNewfoundlandintoConfederationin1948completedtheCanadianConfederationoftenprovincesfromseatosea,astheyexisttoday.Therailway,theCanadianPacificRailway（CPR）wascompletedbeforetheagreeddeadline.

Canada’sbecominganationwasnotaneasyroad.Canada’sremaininganationhasperhapsbeenanevenharderroad.Thereweremanychallengesfacingitoverthefirstonehundredormoreyears.Themostseriouschallengehasbeen,andstillis,stayingtogetherasacountry.RelationsbetweenFrench-speakingandEnglish-speakingCanadahavebeendifficulttoimprove.Thispersistent（持续存在的）themeinCanadianhistorybeganwiththedefeatofNewFrancebyBritainduringtheSevenYearsWarfrom1756to1763（ortheFrench-IndianWar,asitwasknowninNorthAmerica）.Inthelasttwentyyears,referenda（普通投票）heldinQuebecforpossibleseparationfromCanada,werenarrowlydefeated.Thischallengestillliesahead.

Sofar,thecountryhasremainedstrong,andhastraditionallyplayedasignificantroleininternationalaffairs.Canadahasmuchpromiseforthe21stcentury.Itwillneedtofindcreativediplomaticstrategiestokeeptheinternalrumblings（摩擦声,隆隆声）beneaththesurfacefromexplodingintoself-destruction.Itwillneedtofindawaytofulfillthedreamsof“theFathersofConfederation”ofsomanyyearsago.AgoodguessisthattheoddsareinfavorofCanadaachievingthosedreamsandtrulybecomingthenationthatwasoriginallyintended.

加拿大建国

在1867年加拿大成为一个国家之前，组成现在的加拿大的北美地区，辽阔宽广，到处是分散的英国人和法国人的移民社区。

这片土地景色多变，很自然观地将其与美国的北方分辨开来。

这些社区之间很少有政治或经济上的联系。

传统上，这些英属的北美殖民地与英国和美国进行贸易，而相互之间却少有往来。

这些殖民地甚至还没有关税，在一定程度上限制贸易往来。

19世纪中期发生的几件重大事件，使情况有了变化。

英国撕毁了给好几代殖民地人带来经济利益的谷物法和航行法案，并开始对殖民地课以与其他所有贸易国家同样高的税率，这是殖民地从未遇到过的情况。

1861到1864年，美国陷入全面内战。

过去是美国南方为英国市场提供棉花，英国与之有着紧密的传统经济联系。

在此期间，由于这实际上是一场南北方之间的战争，北方当然不满英国与南方之间的这种传统关系。

此外，在美国内战的最后一年（1864年），占据优势并最终获胜的北方的美国政府，拒绝延续与联合加拿大——英属北美中部最大的英国殖民地——签订的十年自由贸易协议。

这些独断专横的事件带给这些殖民地的是担忧甚至是恐惧。

传统贸易协议的废除和以北方作为胜利者的内战的结束，使殖民者们害怕美国人可能会转而对付英属殖民地，以报复英国对南方的道义支持。

对新市场的需求，以及为了建立对付美