Page:Public School History of England and Canada (1892).djvu/268



11. Minor Events of Importance.—Before giving the terms of this Confederation Act, we must notice some things of less importance, which had taken place while Canada was working out her future form of government. In 1854 our Volunteer system was introduced. Before this the Militia had very little drill, and when danger threatened the country, its defence for a time, depended upon the few regular troops stationed in Canada. Now the young men were encouraged to volunteer and form companies and regiments under their own officers, so that, should an invasion be attempted, there would always be thousands of active men, with some knowledge of drill, ready to resist. In 1858 Bytown or Ottawa, on the Ottawa river, became the fixed place for Parliament to meet. This site was chosen by the Queen, and its choice gave rise to much dissatisfaction on the part of the larger cities. More important to the welfare of the country was the introduction in 1858 of decimal currency, whereby we began to reckon in dollars and cents instead of in pounds, shillings and pence; and the completion of a long bridge across the St. Lawrence at Montreal, which was opened by the Prince of Wales in the summer of 1860, under the name of the Victoria Bridge.

In 1861, a civil war began in the United States between the Northern and Southern States, and lasted for four years. It affected Canada in many ways. For a time it made good prices for nearly all the Canadian farmer had to sell, raised the wages of mechanics, and gave good profits to the merchants. On the other hand, there was a serious danger of a war between England and the North, arising out of the sympathy and secret help the people of England gave the South. Many Canadians crossed the frontier to fight in the armies of the North, and many Southerners took refuge in Canada, some of whom made raids across the border into the villages and towns of the North. These raids created a bad feeling towards Canada, so that when the war was over and the Reciprocity Treaty expired in 1866, the United States Government refused to renew it. Canada also suffered from the ill-will of the American Government in another way. On the 1st of June, a body of ruffians called Fenians, and belonging to a secret society having for its object the separation of Ireland from Great Britain, crossed the frontier at Black Rock, took possession of the ruins of old Fort Erie, and threatened the Niagara peninsula. A number of Volunteers from