Sir+John+A.+Macdonald

Sir John A. Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on January 10th, 1815.[1] He immigrated to Kingston, Upper Canada in 1820, and attended school in rural Lennox.[2] In 1829 Macdonald ended his schooling; his parents could not afford to send him to university.[3] Macdonald would later say that if he had went to university he would have ended up in literature, not politics.[4]He opened his own law office in Kingston, and two years later was called to the Bar of UC.[5] He took part in an attack on a group of rebels at a tavern, and later went on to defend said rebels in court. [6] In 1843, he served as a city alderman. In 1844, he was elected the Conservative representative for Kingston in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.[7] He was appointed Receiver General in 1847.[8]He spent many years working in support of the Confederation movement, trying to unite the Maritime provinces. A conference was held on September 1st, 1864, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.[9] He was named the ‘Father of Confederation in 1867 when he drafted the British North American Act, which united Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia into the Dominion of Canada.[10] The BNA was signed on May 8th, 1867, and became effective on July 1st, 1867.[11] Macdonald won the first federal election and was appointed Prime Minister of Canada one month later.[12] In order to unite Canada, he began the Intercolonial Railway. It was to run from Halifax to the Pacific Coast, and pass through British Columbia and Manitoba, Canada’s two newest provinces.[13] He also created the North West Mounted Police in 1873.[14] The same year, he lost the election and became Leader of the Opposition until 1878, when he was re-elected.[15] He created Canada’s first national park, Banff, Alberta, but also faced scandal that year.[16] He was said to have handled the North-West Rebellion poorly, and outraged French Canadians with the execution of Louis Riel.[17] Despite all this, he won his fourth consecutive election in March 1891.[18] This term lasted for three months, until June 6th, 1891, when he died in office. [19] Sir John’s personal life was plagued with misfortune.[20] He met his first wife, who happened to be his cousin, while on a trip to visit family in Scotland.[21] Macdonald married Isabella Clark on September 1st, 1843.[22] Isabella was plagued with sickness through their whole marriage, and died in 1857, but not before bearing two sons, one of which died in infancy.[23] He remarried in February of 1867, to Susan Agnes Bernard.[24] She bore a daughter, Mary.[25] Mary was born with a brain condition which left her physically and mentally handicapped.[26] Susan died in 1921. [27] Macdonald took as much as he could in stride, once saying “When fortune empties her chamberpot on your head, smile - and say 'we are going to have a summer shower’”[28]. He occasionally turned to the bottle, once caught throwing up behind the platform during a political debate.[29] His opponent pointed to him and asked Canadians if that was what they wanted ruling their country; a drunk.[30] Macdonald simply returned to the podium, stating “I get sick ... not because of drink [but because] I am forced to listen to the ranting of my honourable opponent."[31] John A. Macdonald is the father of Confederation and the father of Canada. Without him, our nation would not be the same.



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