Reasons for Confederation

            The British North America Colonies were having problems in their economical structure, railway system, their government and their fear of the United States, the powerful neighbor from the south. As problems in the colonies rises, the only solution at the time was to form a confederation between all the colonies and joining them into one unified nation.
             The colonies had problems with their government that was created by having a double majority. The two majorities in Canada were the East and the West. Canada East was based on transportation, manufacturing, and business, while Canada West was agriculturally based. An East against West situation appeared and both sides would cancel each other out during votes. This resulted in a political deadlock in the Legislative assembly, no decisions can be made. John A. Macdonald of the West and George E. Cartier of the East brought together the Macnab-Morin Ministry in hopes that it will run the country better than the double majority method had. However, it was not long before another ministries took over and in the end, there were 12 ministries in fifteen years, 2 elections and 4 more ministries between the years 1861 and 1864. This eventually led to the Great Coalition. George Brown entered the Great Coalition with Macdonald and Cartier. Together, they formed a strong new government to make confederation possible in Canada.
             For a long-time, the British North America colonies received benefits from the mercantilist system. The mercantilist system helped the economic expansion of the colonies. The British's preference for Canadian flour in the 1840's led to many investments in mills. When Britain traded less and less with Canada because of the free trade, Canada's economy went into a great depression, Canadian goods and raw materials had to compete in the open market. With low profits and a shrinking market, many things such as railways and timber trades came to a stop.