John A: Birth of a Country 

My Paragraph Summary 

This true story is about the forming of Canada in a span of around 10 years. It’s about how Canada became an independent country through confederation. Confederation (where the British colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united to formally create a separate country), took place in 1867.  The main people/characters are John A. Macdonald (Conservative Party Leader), Quebec Leader George-Étienne Cartier, and George Brown (Liberal Party Leader and owner of a Toronto newspaper). They (Macdonald + Cartier and Brown) are in a constant political battle as they continue to deal with problems regarding English/French separation and the locations of the provincial capital (moving between Toronto and Quebec City every few years). The main plot is the Liberals losing hope in their current government and striving to split Canada back into Upper and Lower. The Conservative Party, on the other hand, is looking for a better solution that would bring Canada together instead of splitting it up. John A. Was the original proposer of the idea of confederation. His Idea was for the British North American colonies to Confed and create one country called Canada. Not only are John and George against each other politically, they also dislike each other as people and are constantly at each other’s throats. Both had completely different visions for the future of their country and battled to govern the shape of Canada’s future.  Meanwhile, Macdonald is caring for his son and his sick wife, and Brown eventually marries Anne Nelson. John and George need to decide on whether they should set aside their differences and work together for Canada. George Brown and John A. Macdonald end up coming together and eventually bringing Canada into confederation. Between then and 1999, six more provinces and three territories joined Confederation. 

a. This is a paragraph I wrote in Mr. Iaccabuci’s S.S. 9 class when we were wrapping up the confederation unit. I wrote this near the end of October. The paragraph was supposed to be based off of a movie we watched in class in addition to what we’ve discussed in class. My goal was to thoroughly explain the history of Confederation. I wanted to make the 5 “W”s and the 1 “H” clear.

b. What makes me proud about this paragraph is how much detail I was able to fit into the paragraph. I’m also proud of the paragraph structure and how easy it is to understand despite the number of facts. It displays a clear understanding of almost everything I’ve learned in this unit in S.S. 9.

c. While writing this paragraph, I did come across some struggles. I had problems with mixing the movie with what we were told in class. I had to make sure that the pieces fit well together in the paragraph, and so that part of it was a bit of a struggle.

d. If I were to do it again in the future, I’d do more research on the topic before handing it in.