Confederation League

The Confederation League was an organization of British Columbian political reformers founded in May 1868. Historian George Woodcock called the league "... the first body resembling a political party ever created in British Columbia". It was brought into being after the legislative assembly of British Columbia refused to vote in favour of prompt union with Canada in April 1868. Amor De Cosmos and his allies formed the League in order to campaign for union with Canada, and to push for the introduction of responsible government institutions to the colony. John Robson, a newspaper publisher and politician, also joined the league.

During the summer of 1868, the league sponsored a series of pro-Confederation speeches in towns around the colony. That September, the league held a conference at Yale, British Columbia, where 26 delegates gathered and passed motions in favour of joining Confederation. Their resolutions won wide support on the mainland, although on Vancouver Island reaction was decidedly mixed.

Sources

Ormsby, Margaret.  --  British Columbia : a history.  --  Rev. ed.  --  Macmillan of Canada, 1971.  --  566 p.

Shelton, George.  --  British Columbia and Confederation.  --  Victoria : Morriss Printing Co., 1967.  --  250 p.

Woodcock, George.  --  British Columbia : a history of the province.  --  Vancouver : Douglas & McIntyre, 1990.  --  288 p.