Nation Maker
Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times
Vol. Two: 1867 - 1891
Reviews of Nation Maker.
Prologue to Nation Maker. The prologue that summarizes Volume Two is available here.
Contents of Nation Maker.
Source Notes: for Nation Naker.
From Confederation to his death in 1891, Macdonald was guided by a single, principle: that Canada, even though in 1867 and still only a colony of Britain and utterly over-shadowed by its giant neighbour, would survive and mature into a distinct, independent, nation-state. He declared that he was determined that Canada would ‘harden from gristle to bone’, avoiding either annexation by the U.S. or the loss of effective independence through economic pressures, until it had evolved into a true nation-state..
This goal he achieved by daring ventures, such as building an inter-continental railway to give the largely empty country a spine, implementing a National Policy of high tariffs so Canadians would actually do business with each other, and creating the first distinctively Canadian institution-- the North-West Mounted Police, today the RCMP.
He made mistakes, such executing Louis Riel for his rebellion of in 1885. There was, though, far more to him than caricature Canadians have often told of him as just a clever, wily, political leader who drank too much. Although, astoundingly, no Canadians know it, Macdonald was the first national leader in the world to try to extend the vote to women. The religion he most admired because of its work with the poor, was the Salvation Army. He endured private disappointments, such as the grievous handicap of his daughter Mary, without ever slackening in his and Lady Macdonald’s care of her. Above all, he fought to almost to his last breath for his country, dying right after he’d won the 1891 election by opposing a cross-border free trade pact that no less than the U.S. President himself believed would lead inevitably to economic union, and on to political union.
Beyond the least doubt, he was by far, Canada’s wittiest prime minister: when a suffragete demanded to know why he but not she had the vote, Macdonald pondered and then answered, ‘Madame, I cannot conceive.’
The essence of this story can be found in the reproduction on the next page of the book’s prologue or introduction.
Those wanting to learn more about Macdonald can take either or both of two routes:
-- On September, 19, 2011, CBC-TV broadcast a two-hour drama documentary, John A; Birth of a Country, produced by Indian Grove Productions of Toronto. This excellent film, shows how the fierce political rivalry between Macdonald and George Brown, a Liberal, led to an alliance out of which came Confederation, (the photo below shows the actor Shawn Doyle as John A.) can be viewed on DVD. Requests for these should be made to the CBC.
