Newfoundland | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1907–1949 | |||||||||||
| Motto: Quaerite prime regnum Dei (Latin) "Seek ye first the kingdom of God" | |||||||||||
| Anthem: "Ode to Newfoundland" | |||||||||||
 Map of the Dominion of Newfoundland (in dark green) in relation to theUnited Kingdom (in light green) | |||||||||||
| Status | British dominion
| ||||||||||
| Capital and largest city | St. John's | ||||||||||
| Official languages | English | ||||||||||
| Demonym | Newfoundlander | ||||||||||
| Government | Responsible government | ||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||
• 1907–1910 (first) | Edward VII | ||||||||||
• 1936–1949 (last) | George VI | ||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||
• 1907–1909 (first) | Sir William MacGregor | ||||||||||
• 1946–1949 (last) | Sir Gordon Macdonald | ||||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||||
• 1907–1910 (first) | Sir Robert Bond | ||||||||||
• 1932–1934 (last) | Frederick C. Alderdice | ||||||||||
| Legislature | General Assembly of Newfoundland | ||||||||||
| Legislative Council of Newfoundland | |||||||||||
| House of Assembly | |||||||||||
| Historical era | Early to mid-20th century | ||||||||||
• Semi-sovereigndominion | 26 September 1907 | ||||||||||
| 19 November 1926 | |||||||||||
| 16 February 1934 | |||||||||||
| 31 March 1949 | |||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||
• Total | 405,212 km2 (156,453 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| Currency | Newfoundland dollar | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | |||||||||||
*National holidays celebrated on 24 June,Discovery Day, and 26 September,Dominion Day. Patron saintJohn the Baptist. | |||||||||||
Newfoundland was aBritish Dominion in eastern North America, today the modernCanadian province ofNewfoundland and Labrador. It included theisland of Newfoundland, andLabrador on the continental mainland. Newfoundland was one of the original dominions under theBalfour Declaration of 1926, and accordingly enjoyed a constitutional status equivalent to the other dominions of the time. Its dominion status was confirmed by theStatute of Westminster, 1931, although the statute was not otherwise applicable to Newfoundland.
In 1934, Newfoundland became the only dominion to give up its self-governing status, which ended 79 years of self-government.[1] The abolition of self-government came about because of a crisis in Newfoundland's public finances in 1932. Newfoundland had accumulated a significant amount of debt by building arailway across the island, which was completed in the 1890s, and by raisingits own regiment during theFirst World War.[1] In November 1932, the government warned that Newfoundland would default on payments on the public debt.[1] The British government quickly established theNewfoundland Royal Commission to inquire into and report on the position.[1] The commission's report, published in October 1933, recommended that Newfoundland give up self-government temporarily and allow the United Kingdom to administer it by an appointed commission.[1]
TheNewfoundland parliament accepted the recommendations; it then presented a petition to the King to ask for the suspension of the constitution and the appointment of commissioners to administer the government until the country became self-supporting again.[2] To enable compliance with the request, theBritish Parliament passed theNewfoundland Act, 1933, and on 16 February 1934, the British government appointed six commissioners, three from Newfoundland and three from the United Kingdom, with the governor as chairman.[2] The system of a six-memberCommission of Government continued to govern Newfoundland until Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949 to become Canada's tenth province.[3]
The official name of the dominion was "Newfoundland" and not, as was sometimes reported, "Dominion of Newfoundland". The distinction is apparent in many statutes, most notably theStatute of Westminster that listed the full name of each realm, including the "Dominion of New Zealand", the "Dominion of Canada", and "Newfoundland".[4]
TheNewfoundland Red Ensign was used as thede facto national flag of the dominion[5] until the legislature adopted theUnion Flag on 15 May 1931.
The anthem of the dominion was the "Ode to Newfoundland", written by British colonial governorSir Cavendish Boyle in 1902 during his administration of Newfoundland (1901 to 1904).[6] It was adopted as the dominion's anthem on 20 May 1904, until confederation with Canada in 1949. In 1980, the province of Newfoundland re-adopted the song as a provincial anthem. The "Ode to Newfoundland" continues to be heard at public events in the province; however, only the first and last verses are traditionally sung.
Newfoundland was the oldest English colony in North America, being claimed byJohn Cabot forHenry VII, and again by SirHumphrey Gilbert in 1583. It gradually acquired European settlement; in 1825, it was formally recognised as aCrown colony by the British government. The British government granted representative government in 1832, andresponsible government in 1854.[7] In 1855,Philip Francis Little, a native ofPrince Edward Island, won a parliamentary majority overSir Hugh Hoyles and theConservatives. Little formed the first administration from 1855 to 1858.
Newfoundland sent two delegates to theQuebec Conference in 1864 which resulted inCanadian Confederation, but the option of joining was not popular in Newfoundland. In the 1869 general election, Newfoundlanders rejected confederation with Canada.Sir John Thompson,Prime Minister of Canada, came very close to negotiating Newfoundland's entry into Confederation in 1892.
Newfoundland remained a colony until the1907 Imperial Conference resolved to conferdominion status on all self-governing colonies in attendance.[8] The annual holiday ofDominion Day was celebrated each 26 September to commemorate the occasion.
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(September 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Newfoundland's own regiment, the1st Newfoundland Regiment, fought in theFirst World War. On 1 July 1916, the German Army wiped out most of that regiment atBeaumont Hamel on thefirst day on the Somme, inflicting 90 percent casualties.[9][page needed] Yet the regiment went on to serve with distinction in several subsequent battles, earning the prefix "Royal". Despite people's pride in the accomplishments of the regiment, Newfoundland's war debt and pension responsibility for the regiment and the cost of maintaining a trans-island railway led to increased and ultimately unsustainable government debt in the post-war era.[10]
After the war, Newfoundland along with the other dominions sent a separate delegation to theParis Peace Conference but, unlike the other dominions, Newfoundland neither signed theTreaty of Versailles in her own right nor sought separate membership in theLeague of Nations.
In the 1920s, political scandals wracked the dominion. In 1923, theattorney general arrested Newfoundland's prime minister,Sir Richard Squires, on charges of corruption. Despite his release soon after on bail, a commission of enquiry, headed by Thomas Hollis-Walker, reviewed the scandal. Soon after, the Squires government fell. Squires returned to power in 1928 because of the unpopularity of his successors, the pro-businessWalter Stanley Monroe and (briefly)Frederick C. Alderdice (Monroe's cousin), but found himself governing a country suffering from theGreat Depression.
TheJudicial Committee of the Privy Council resolved Newfoundland's long-standingLabrador boundary dispute with Canada to the satisfaction of Newfoundland and against Canada (and, in particular, contrary to the wishes ofQuebec, the province that bordered Labrador) with a ruling on 1 April 1927. Prior to 1867, the Quebec North Shore portion of the "Labrador coast" had shuttled back and forth between the colonies ofLower Canada and Newfoundland. Maps up to 1927 showed the coastal region as part of Newfoundland, with an undefined boundary. The Privy Council ruling established a boundary along thedrainage divide separating waters that flowed through the territory to the Labrador coast, although following two straight lines from theRomaine River along the52nd parallel, then south near57 degrees west longitude to theGulf of Saint Lawrence. Quebec has long rejected the outcome, and Quebec's provincially issued maps do not mark the boundary in the same way as boundaries withOntario andNew Brunswick.
Newfoundland only gradually implemented its status as a self-governing dominion. In 1921, it officially established the position ofHigh Commissioner to the United Kingdom (for whichSir Edgar Rennie Bowring had already assumed the role in 1918),[11] and it adopted a national flag and established an external affairs department in 1931.[12][13] Although the legislature of Newfoundland gave its assent to the passage of the Statute of Westminster, when the Statute was finalised the Newfoundland delegation requested that it not come into effect in Newfoundland until the legislature had consented to the application of the statute. The legislature of Newfoundland never gave its consent, so the statute was not in force in Newfoundland until it joined Canada.[14][15][16]
As a small country which relied primarily upon the export of fish, paper, and minerals, Newfoundland was hit hard by theGreat Depression. Economic frustration combined with anger over government corruption led to a general dissatisfaction with democratic government. On 5 April 1932, a crowd of 10,000 people marched on theColonial Building (seat of theHouse of Assembly) and forced Prime Minister Squires to flee. Squires lost an election held later in 1932. The next government, led once more by Alderdice, called upon the British government to take direct control until Newfoundland could become self-sustaining. The United Kingdom, concerned over Newfoundland's likelihood of defaulting on its war-debt payments, established theNewfoundland Royal Commission, headed by a Scottish peer,Lord Amulree. Its report, released in 1933, assessed Newfoundland's political culture as intrinsically corrupt and its economic prospects as bleak, and advocated the abolition of responsible government and its replacement by a Commission of the British Government. Acting on the report's recommendations, Alderdice's government voted itself out of existence in December 1933.[1]
In 1934, the British Parliament passed theNewfoundland Act, 1933 which suspended Newfoundland's Legislature and established theCommission of Government.[17] Letters patent passed under the act provided that Newfoundland was ruled by the governor, who reported to theColonial Secretary in London, and the commission, appointed by the British government.[18] Newfoundland remained a dominion in name only.[19] TheNewfoundland Supreme Court held that the surrender of responsible government and the establishment of the commission of government "... reduces the Island to the status of a pure Crown colony".[20]
The severe worldwideGreat Depression persisted until the Second World War broke out in 1939.
Given Newfoundland's strategic location in theBattle of the Atlantic, theAllies (especially the United States of America) built many military bases there. Large numbers of unskilled men gained the first paycheques they had seen in years by working on construction and in dockside crews. National income doubled as an economic boom took place in theAvalon Peninsula and to a lesser degree inGander,Botwood, andStephenville. TheUnited States became the main supplier, and American money and influence diffused rapidly from the military, naval, and air bases. Prosperity returned to the fishing industry by 1943. Government revenues, aided by inflation and new income, quadrupled, even though Newfoundland had tax rates much lower than those in Canada, Britain, or the United States. To the astonishment of all, Newfoundland started financing loans to London. Wartime prosperity ended the long depression and reopened the question of political status.
The American Bases Act became law in Newfoundland on 11 June 1941, with American personnel creating drastic social change on the island. This included significant intermarriage between Newfoundland women and American personnel.[21][page needed]
In October 1943, theweather station Kurt was erected in Labrador, markingNazi Germany's only armed operation on land in North America.
A new political party formed in Newfoundland to support closer ties with the US, theEconomic Union Party, which Karl McNeil Earle characterizes as "a short-lived but lively movement for economic union with the United States". Advocates of union with Canada denounced the Economic Union Party as republican, disloyal and anti-British. No American initiative for union was ever created.[22][page needed]
As soon as prosperity returned during the war, agitation began to end the commission.[23][page needed] Newfoundland, with a population of 313,000 (plus 5,200 in Labrador), seemed too small to be independent.[24][full citation needed] In 1945, London announced that aNewfoundland National Convention would be elected to advise on what constitutional choices should be voted on by referendum. Union with the United States was a possibility, but Britain rejected the option and offered instead two options: return to dominion status or continuation of the unpopular Commission.[25][page needed] Canada cooperated with Britain to ensure that the option of closer ties with America was not on the referendum.[26]
In 1946, an election took place to determine the membership of the Newfoundland National Convention, charged with deciding the future of Newfoundland. The Convention voted to hold a referendum to decide between continuing the Commission of Government or restoringresponsible government.Joey Smallwood was a well-known radio personality, writer, organizer, and nationalist who had long criticized British rule. He became the leader of the confederates and moved for the inclusion of a third option – that of confederation with Canada. The Convention defeated his motion, but he did not give up, instead gathering more than 5,000 petition signatures within afortnight, which he sent to London through the governor. Britain insisted that it would not give Newfoundland any further financial assistance, but added this third option of having Newfoundland join Canada to the ballot. After much debate, the first referendum took place on 3 June 1948, to decide between continuing with the Commission of Government, reverting to dominion status, or joiningCanadian Confederation.
Three parties participated in the referendum campaign: Smallwood'sConfederate Association campaigned for the confederation option while in the anti-confederation campaignPeter Cashin'sResponsible Government League andChesley Crosbie'sEconomic Union Party (both of which called for a vote for responsible government) took part. No party advocated petitioning Britain to continue the Commission of Government. Canada had issued an invitation to join it on generous financial terms. Smallwood was the leading proponent of confederation with Canada, insisting, "Today we are more disposed to feel that our very manhood, our very creation by God, entitles us to standards of life no lower than our brothers on the mainland."[27] Due to persistence, he succeeded in having the Canada option on the referendum.[28][page needed] His main opponents were Cashin and Crosbie. Cashin, a former finance minister, led the Responsible Government League, warning against cheap Canadian imports and the high Canadian income tax. Crosbie, a leader of the fishing industry, led the Party for Economic Union with the United States, seeking responsible government first, to be followed by closer ties with the United States, which could be a major source of capital.[29][full citation needed]
The result proved inconclusive, with 44.5 percent supporting the restoration of dominion status, 41.1 percent for confederation with Canada, and 14.3 percent for continuing the Commission of Government. Due to no option getting at least 50 percent of the vote, a second referendum with the top two options from the first referendum was scheduled to be held on 22 July. The second referendum, on 22 July 1948, asked Newfoundlanders to choose between confederation and dominion status, and produced a vote of 52 to 48 percent for confederation. Newfoundland joined Canada in the final hours of 31 March 1949.
... So Canada and Britain collaborated to ensure that the option of association with the United States was not among the choices offered to Newfoundlanders in 1948 ...
FormerBritish Empire and currentBritish Overseas Territories | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
.svg)
.svg)
