Unit 2

Towards Confederation

Skill Builders Targets

Unit 2 Overview

At the end of Unit 2, you will be able to identify some of the major military, economic, and political turning points in Canadian history.

Between 1690 and 1763, Britain and France were almost always at war. Both countries were considered the superpowers of the world at that time. A superpower is a country that is more powerful than almost all other countries. These wars had a significant role in the foundation of Canada.

The next three chapters of the textbook focus on wars fought until Confederation was reached.

You will

  • watch the British and the French, along with the First Nations people, fight for control of North America. In the end, the British won the wars.

  • witness the struggle of the French and the British colonists living under British rule to co-exist without serious disagreement.

  • see the Thirteen Colonies win their freedom from Britain to become the United States of America, and you will understand how the colonies in early Canada grew and won responsible government.

  • see the birth of a new country by the joining of colonies into the Dominion of Canada.


The big question in Unit 2 is the following:

  • How were military, economic, and political factors in the 1700s and 1800s the foundations for Canadian Confederation?

At the end of Unit 2, you should be able to answer the following questions:

  1. What were the challenges of the events leading to Confederation?
      • What challenges among British, Canadian, and First Nations people did the wars produce?
      • How did military events and their consequences contribute to the foundation of Canada?

  2. What challenges of coexistence did these events provoke?
      • Why did peoples in British North America want government that was more democratic, and how did this produce challenges for them?
      • How did the War of 1812 and its political consequences affect the developing Canadian identity?

  3. How did the solutions to those challenges affect the future?
      • In what ways did Confederation affect the various groups involved?
      • To what extent was Confederation an attempt to solve existing problems and lay a foundation for a country?

You will be using the textbook, Voices and Visions: A Story of Canada.


In Unit 2, you will explore the following chapters:

  1. Chapter 5: War and Peace: pages 98 - 120
  2. Chapter 6: Becoming Canada: pages 122 - 144
  3. Chapter 7: Creating a New Canada: pages 146 - 163