- The Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences of 1864
- Early Advocates of Union in British North America
- Setting the Stage
- The Press
- Maritime Union
- The Charlottetown Conference
- The Quebec Conference
- The Constitutional Project: The Quebec Resolutions
- Economy and Public Finances
- Education, Religion, and Minority Rights
- Opposition to Confederation
Education, Religion, and Minority Rights
The protection of minority rights was particularly important for French Canadian delegates such as Hector-Louis LANGEVIN:
“For [Langevin], the objectives of confederation were clear and noble: to defend the general interests of a great country and powerful nation by means of a strong central power, which must protect the rights of the different ethnic groups. He paid close attention, therefore, to the particular interests of the distinct society that was Lower Canada and he took it upon himself to interpret to the political leaders the demands of the Catholic hierarchy.”
For more information about the debates on education, religion, and the rights of minorities that were part of the project to unify the British North American colonies, we invite you to consult the following list of biographies: