Royal Proclamation of Canadian Confederation, 1867

What it is

This is a printed Royal Proclamation of 1867, headed BY THE QUEEN! A PROCLAMATION. It unites the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into one Dominion under the name of Canada. Dense small print lists the signatories below the main text. The image in this archive is a scan of the printed document, taken from Wikimedia Commons, so students are looking at a copy of the original paper.

Why it matters

The proclamation put the Confederation of 1867 into effect. It marks the formal creation of the Dominion of Canada, the country Macdonald led as its first prime minister. Because it was issued in the name of the Crown, it shows how the new country was tied to Britain while it gained its own government. The date and the list of provinces show exactly which colonies joined the union at the start.

Look closer

• What words in the heading and first lines show who had the authority to create the Dominion?
• Who is listed as a signatory, and why might a government want names printed on such a document?
• Which colonies are named here, and which later joined Canada, and what does that suggest about how the country grew?