Episode 8 of Canada: A People's History (called The Great Enterprise)
will probably be the most watched episode of the entire series. It will become
so not because it is the best or the most exciting of the bunch, but because
it is simply a great introduction. For this reason alone a generation of
students are bound to learn about the causes of Confederation watching TV in
the classroom.
As controversy goes, there is almost none of it here.
The Great Enterprise focuses on the whos and whys of Confederation rather than
the hows. It begins with George Brown's conversion to the Confederation cause,
moves through the pressures presented by the American Civil War, touches on
the role of the Grand Trunk Railway and finishes with the celebration of
Confederation day in 1867.
Of the whos, none figure more prominently that the
Macdonald, Brown and Cartier. Brown's conversion to the cause is presented
as the turning point which made Confederation politically possible. Macdonald's
hard work drafting the resolutions at the Quebec Conference made it
legally possible. And Cartier's insistence that he was the embodiment of
French-speaking Canada made it culturally possible.
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Of the whys, on the other hand, nothing figures more
prominently than the America Civil war and its fallout. "This had a bigger
effect that I ever really imagined," admits writer/director Jim Williamson.
Despite having studied Canadian and Victorian history at the University of
Toronto, "I'd never completely grasped the impact of the American Civil war
on events at the time," he says.
In this context, explains Williamson, there was a
genuine fear that the bloody madness of the war would spill over into the
British North American colonies. Thus the timing of the Fenian attacks,
rather than their effectiveness, becomes a powerful incentive to talk about
Confederation. United colonies could offer a united defence against the
United States -- in the popular imagination if not in fact.
Like the episode which preceded it in the series,
The Great Enterprise takes a textbook-like approach which hints at
controversy -- only four French Canadians at the Quebec Conference, the
questionable role of Grand Trunk Railway -- but never grapples with it.
Once again, most of the potential minefields are pointed out but carefully avoided.
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Surprisingly, the two most interesting moments of the episode
are those which are rarely given more than a passing glance in traditional
treatments. The first is the emotionally powerful opening scene which deals
with the death of John A. Macdonald's first wife and her addiction to opium.
The second is a digression from the main storyline in the last half of the
first hour which examines who lived where in what was soon to become the new
Dominion.
All in all it is a great introduction for the
uninitiated and interesting television for the historically inclined.
© Brent Johner. Originally published on Canadian History
on About.com, March 2001. Reprint rights available.
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