John A. Macdonald
Significant Individual to Confederation
John A. Macdonald
John A. Macdonald was Canada's first prime minister. He put in many efforts into Confederation, creating Canada. He was in the Tories, present day Conservatives. He was born on 1815 and passed on 1891.
Background
He was born in Glasgow, Scotland. At 15 years of age, he moved to Kingston in Upper Canada, present-day Ontario. He then became a lawyer. He first married to Isabella Clark on 1843 and then to Susan Agnes Bernard on 1867. We can then assume that he truly wanted Canada, with relationships and working on all the Resolutions and ideas. At an early age, he was interested in public life.
Career in Politics
Macdonald was already a lawyer, and thus was familiar with politics and law. During the instability of the government, George Brown proposed constitutional change. During the time in 1865, he was generally regarded as "the Architect of Confederation". He had the leading thoughts for Confederation.
Accomplishments
John A. Macdonald was a Father of Confederation and saw that the provinces Manitoba, BC, and PEI joined confederation. He was also the main planner for Confederation and truly wanted it. He also served as Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General. In addition, he caused the development of Canada's first national park. He was the prime minister for 19 whole years and the Parliament made an unremarked day named "John A. Macdonald Day". Finally, possibly his greatest accomplishment next to Confederation was creating a railway which extended across an entire continent.
Hardships
His father was an unsuccessful merchant, causing his family to be poor and them moving to Kingston. One of his children had died during infancy. His final years in office were marked by ill health and eventually death. This is very interesting because he died during office, proving that although he made a great accomplishment, there's a lot of stress present.
History of Sir John A Macdonald