The Separatist movement in Québec has managed to train an entire generation into thinking that Québec’s entry into Confederation was some sort of conspiratorial swindle, but the truth of the matter is that the very idea of Confederation originated in that province, and was largely promoted by French Canadian intellectuals seeking a strategy to defend and preserve their culture. The fact is that the principle threat to the language and distinct culture of French Canada was, in the 19th century, the possibility of the absorption of Canada by the United States. The first detailed and systematic proposal for a Canadian Confederation was this treatise by Taché, published in 1858. Taché was a doctor practicing in the lumber camps of the wilder parts of the Gaspé peninsula, where he became enamored with aboriginal culture, and collected folklore. His later career in journalism focused on the development of a strong and distinct French Canadian literature, preferably one that “ventured into the unknown.” As a matter of principle, he refused to wear any article of clothing not manufactured in Canada. He was, in effect, a romantic nationalist of the 19th century mode. Not altogether progressive, he preferred a timid reform of the archaic system of seigniorial land tenure, rather than the complete abolition that the public clamored for. This lost him support in his political career, though in other issues he remained highly popular.
Taché’s thesis was simple. The collection of British colonies that were scattered across the immense northern half of the continent were each, alone, vulnerable to be picked off and absorbed by the United States, which was quickly becoming an economic and military power. Britain was not likely, he reasoned, to make any great effort to defend them. If even a few of the maritime colonies were absorbed by the U.S., the others would soon follow, and the chances of French Canadian culture surviving unabsorbed under American domination were zilch. The only viable strategy was the creation of a federated union of all British North America’s colonies, whatever their mix of French, English, Gaelic, or Native languages, which could present a united front against U.S. “manifest destiny”. He systematically examined the political, economic, and social situation in each of the colonies, and attempted to demonstrate that each one stood to benefit from such a confederation. Confederation must be accompanied by a gargantuan effort to develop a unifying transportation infrastructure, and a large-scale pioneering of western and northern lands. The argument was backed up by his immense personal knowledge of statistics, public health, agriculture, and geography. Thus, Taché essentially mapped out the next century of Canada’s development as a nation. Des provinces de l’Amérique du Nord et d’une union fédérale was the most widely read and influential work leading up to Confederation, and was essentially the bible of the political activists who came to be known as the “fathers of Confederation”. It’s quite astonishing that this work has been forgotten.
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