The Fathers of Confederation: A Chronicle of the Birth of the Dominion

The book traces the political and constitutional movement that produced the Canadian Dominion, beginning with post-revolutionary origins and surveying obstacles to union, intercolonial railway negotiations, and the bargaining among provinces. It details the principal conferences that framed union, the parliamentary debates and personal rivalries that shaped compromise, the drafting and passage of enabling legislation, and the formation and early work of the first federal ministry. The account closes by following national expansion and evaluating the achievements and labors of the statesmen who negotiated and implemented union.