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Primary sourceBook1865

The Union of the British Provinces: account of the 1864 conferences

Edward Whelan · 1865

An 1865 account by Edward Whelan, a delegate, of the Maritime and Canadian conferences of 1864 that led to Confederation, with speeches given by the delegates.

Records speeches by the delegates at the 1864 conferences, including Macdonald, giving a participant's view of the Confederation talks he led.

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The Union of the British Provinces: account of the 1864 conferencesPDF · 244 pages
Edward Whelan, The Union of the British Provinces, Charlottetown: G. T. Haszard, 1865. Scanned book, Internet Archive.

About this source

What it is

This is a printed book compiled in Charlottetown in 1865 by Edward Whelan, a Prince Edward Island delegate. It gives a brief account of the conferences held in the Maritime provinces and in Canada in 1864 on the proposed federation, and includes a report of speeches given by the delegates on public occasions. The index lists the banquet in Charlottetown and speeches by several figures, including John A. Macdonald.

Why it matters

Whelan was himself one of the delegates, so the book comes from a participant in the events. It records the speeches of the Maritime and Canadian delegates, showing how the leaders presented the plan to the public. It is a useful source on how the path to Confederation was described at the time.

Look closer

  • Whelan was a delegate who compiled this account. What might he have chosen to include or leave out?
  • The index names speeches by many delegates. Who receives the most space, and what does that suggest?
  • The title page gives a date that is hard to read in the scan. Why is it important to check dates in a source like this?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Sir John A. Macdonald and Samuel Leonard Tilley on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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