Dominion of Canada (The North American War)

Dominion of Canada (North American War)
Capital: Toronto

Major cities: Ottawa, Berlin, Winnipeg, Prince Albert

Provinces: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northern Territories (subdivided into Districts of Mackenzie and Keewatin)

Independence from Great Britain: July 1, 1867

Languages: English (official), French, various aboriginal and eastern European languages

Currency: Dollar

History
The separation of the Maritimes provinces from the other former colonies of British North America left the two Canadas (Upper Canada, now the Dominion of Quebec, and Lower Canada, now the Dominion of Canada) to decide their own futures after independence. From the back rooms of the Charlottetown Conference came the decision to create two independent Canadas, based on a recognition of the cultural differences between Lower Canada, a blend of American immigrants and descendents of British settlers, and Upper Canada, a mix of people of British and French extraction. Initial pressure from Lower Canada's American population to join one of the American states to the south was counterbalanced by the decidedly monarchist sentiments of the large and loyal population of British extraction. The historical core of the Dominion of Canada is Lower Canada, and the aim of Lower Canada after independence was to seek a happy medium between the desires of these two groups: a constitutional monarchy based on British traditions but with close cultural, economic, and political ties both to Great Britain and to the various American states.

Westward expansion from Lower Canada led to the 1869 uprising of the Metis of the Hudson Bay Company's former territory of Rupert's Land. Anger among Lower Canadians at the death of settler Thomas Scott led to a dramatic crackdown by the Lower Canadian government, the first military action by any former British North American colony since independence. The uprising was crushed and its leaders executed, imprisoned, or driven into exile, but in a placating gesture to the Metis Rupert's Land was added to the new Dominion of Canada as the province of Manitoba in 1870.

Seeking to enforce British North America's old sovereignty over the Prairies north of the 49th parallel, beginning in the 1870s the Canadian government sought to encourage westward expansion through construction of a railroad west from Ontario to the newly-created province of Saskatchewan as well as a vigourous advertisement campaign in overpopulated eastern Europe meant to encourage immigration to the fertile but harsh Prairies. To police these fragile territories (and to protect against American encroachment on land considered rightfully to belong to Canada), the Royal canadian Mounted Police was created, demarcating a border along the 49th parallel and constructing forts and police stations throughout the fledgling Prairie settlements. The Dominion's efforts were too slow, however, to prevent Alberta, with a sizeable, fiercely independent American settler community based in Calgary, to declare itself a republic. Disputes and negotiations with the Albertan government continued until 1905, when the Canadian government recognised Alberta's right to its own independence in exchange for the promise that the Republic would never join any American state, extending American territory north of the 49th parallel.