The British in North America and Australia.

Although the nineteenth century was mainly a time when more not fewer people were subjugated by the European power, significant steps towards independence were taken by both Canada and Australia. These provided a model and a target for the independence movements of the twentieth century.

Canada; In 1837, serious riots in Quebec and Ontario prompted the British Government to take action. Lord Durham was sent out to Canada to make recommendations. In his report, he suggested that the province of Canada should be united and given their independent within the British Empire.

This was successfully completed in 1867 with the passing of the British North America Act, making Canada (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) a dominion They were joined by Manitoba (1870), Prince Edward Island (1873) and British Columbia (1877). When the Canadian Pacific Railway was opened in 1885, it did more than anything to bind and unify Canada. Settlers flocked to the prairies of Alberta and Saskatchewan to rear cattle and grow corn. These too, became province in 1905.

Australia; Australia was first settled by transported convicts who were sent to the penal settlements there after 1770. But when Merino sheep were introduced into the continent in the early nineteenth century, a difference type of settler was attracted to the great outback of Australia. The Merino’s fine wool sold well to the British woolen industry and as a result huge sheep stations were established. The native population, the Aboriginals, were killed or driven off the land. 

In 1851, thousands of European flocked to Australia at the time of the Gold Rush. But by then, the Australia had already acquired a national identity. Pressure was put on the British Government to stop sending criminals to Australia.

In 1900, the development of Australia had reached the stage where the different state was vulnerable to foreign aggression. It made sense to unite them under a federal government, So, Australia joined Canada as a virtually independent nation within the British Empire.