Intercolonial Railway

In September 1862 representatives of the British North American colonies gathered in Quebec City to discuss the establishment of a rail link among the colonies and the wider project of union.

During the American Civil War the intercolonial project became inseparable from that of national defence. Delegates at the 1864 confederation conferences in Charlottetown and Quebec City were acutely aware of the proposed railway’s dual commercial and strategic function, and some regarded the intercolonial railway as a stepping stone to British North American commercial and political union.