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The '''Fathers of  Confederation''' are the 36 people who attended at least one of the [[Charlottetown Conference|Charlottetown Conference of 1864]] (23 attendees), the [[Quebec Conference, 1864|Quebec Conference of 1864]] (33 attendees), and the [[London Conference of 1866]] (16 attendees), preceding [[Canadian Confederation]].  Only twelve people attended all three conferences.

==Table of participation==
The following table lists the participants in the Charlottetown, Quebec, and London Conferences and their attendance at each stage.<ref name=CanadianHistory>{{cite web|title=Fathers of Confederation|url=http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/eras/confederation/fathers.htm|publisher=CanadianHistory|year=2008|access-date=2010-06-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821093549/http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/eras/confederation/fathers.htm|archive-date=2010-08-21}}</ref><ref name=belanger>{{cite web|title=Studies on the Canadian Constitution and Canadian Federalism|url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/federal/fathers.htm|first=Claude|last=Bélanger|publisher=Department of History, Marianopolis College|year=2001|access-date=2010-06-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611165102/http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/federal/fathers.htm|archive-date=2010-06-11}}</ref>{{Clear}}
{{sticky header}}
{|class="wikitable sortable sticky-header" style=text-align:center;
|- style="background: #efefef;"
! Participant<ref name=belanger/> !!Portrait !! Province (Current) !! Charlottetown !! Quebec City !! London
|-
| Sir [[Adams George Archibald]] 
| [[File:Adams George Archibald.jpg|center|100px]]
| Nova Scotia
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| [[George Brown (Canadian politician)|George Brown
]]
| [[File:Brown-sm.jpg|center|100px]]
| Ontario
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| Sir [[Alexander Campbell (Canadian politician)|Alexander Campbell]]
| [[File:Sir Alexander Campbell.jpg|center|100px]]
| Ontario
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| Sir [[Frederick Carter]]
| [[File:FrederickCarter.jpg|center|100px]]
| Newfoundland
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| Sir [[George-Étienne Cartier]]
| [[File:George-Etienne Cartier.jpg|center|100px]]
| Quebec
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| [[Edward Barron Chandler]]
| [[File:Edward Barron Chandler.jpg|center|100px]]
| New Brunswick
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| [[Jean-Charles Chapais]]
| [[File:Jean-Charles Chapais.jpg|center|100px]]
| Quebec
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[James Cockburn (politician, born 1819)|James Cockburn]]
| [[File:James Cockburn.jpg|center|100px]]
| Ontario
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[George Coles (politician)|George Coles]]
| [[File:GeorgeColes.jpg|center|100px]]
| Prince Edward Island
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[Robert B. Dickey]]
| [[File:Robert B. Dickey.jpg|center|100px]]
| Nova Scotia
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[Charles Fisher (Canadian politician)|Charles Fisher]]
| [[File:CharlesFisher23.jpg|center|100px]]
| New Brunswick
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| Sir [[Alexander Tilloch Galt]]
| [[File:Sir Alexander Galt (cropped).jpg|center|100px]]
| Quebec
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| [[John Hamilton Gray (Prince Edward Island)|John Hamilton Gray]]
| [[File:John Hamilton Gray (1811-1887).jpg|center|100px]]
| Prince Edward Island
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[John Hamilton Gray (New Brunswick politician)|John Hamilton Gray]]
| [[File:John Hamilton Gray.jpg|center|100px]]
| New Brunswick
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[Thomas Heath Haviland]]
| [[File:Thomas Heath Haviland 2.jpg|center|100px]]
| Prince Edward Island
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[William Alexander Henry]]
| [[File:William Alexander Henry.jpg|center|100px]]
| Nova Scotia
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| Sir [[William Pearce Howland]]
| [[File:WilliamPearceHowland23.jpg|center|100px]]
| Ontario
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| [[John Mercer Johnson]]
| [[File:John Mercer Johnson.jpeg|center|100px]]
| New Brunswick
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| Sir [[Hector-Louis Langevin]]
| [[File:HectorLangevin23.jpg|center|100px]]
| Quebec
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| [[Andrew Archibald Macdonald]]
| [[File:Andrew Archibald Macdonald.jpg|center|100px]]
| Prince Edward Island
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| Sir [[John A. Macdonald]]
| [[File:Macdonald-sm.jpg|center|100px]]
| Ontario
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| [[Jonathan McCully]]
| [[File:Jonathan McCully.jpg|center|100px]]
| Nova Scotia
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| [[William McDougall (politician, born 1822)|William McDougall]]
| [[File:William McDougall.jpg|center|100px]]
| Ontario
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| [[Thomas D'Arcy McGee]]
| [[File:McGee-sm.jpg|center|100px]]
| Quebec
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[Peter Mitchell (politician)|Peter Mitchell]]
| [[File:Peter Mitchell.jpg|center|100px]]
| New Brunswick
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| Sir [[Oliver Mowat]]
| [[File:Oliver Mowat.jpg|center|100px]]
| Ontario
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[Edward Palmer (Canadian politician)|Edward Palmer]]
| [[File:Edward Palmer.jpg|center|100px]]
| Prince Edward Island
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[William Henry Pope (Canadian politician)|William Henry Pope]]
| [[File:William Henry Pope.jpg|center|100px]]
| Prince Edward Island
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[John William Ritchie]]
| [[File:John William Ritchie.jpg|center|100px]]
| Nova Scotia
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| Sir [[Ambrose Shea]]
| [[File:Ambrose Shea.jpg|center|100px]]
| Newfoundland
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[William H. Steeves]]
| [[File:William Henry Steeves.jpg|center|100px]]
| New Brunswick
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| Sir [[Étienne-Paschal Taché]]
| [[File:Étienne-Paschal Taché.jpg|center|100px]]
| Quebec
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| Sir [[Samuel Leonard Tilley]]
| [[File:Samuel Leonard Tilley.jpg|center|100px]]
| New Brunswick
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| Sir [[Charles Tupper]]
| [[File:CharlesTupper1870.jpg|center|100px]]
| Nova Scotia
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | Yes
|-
| [[Edward Whelan (Canadian politician)|Edward Whelan]]
| [[File:Edward Whelan2.jpg|center|100px]]
| Prince Edward Island
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
| align="center" | No
|-
| [[Robert Duncan Wilmot]]
| [[File:Robert Duncan Wilmot.jpg|center|100px]]
| New Brunswick
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | No
| align="center" | Yes
|}

==Group photographs and paintings==
{{Gallery|style=margin:auto
|width=450
|height=400
|File:Charlottetown Conference Delegates, September 1864.JPG|Delegates from the Legislatures of Canada, gathering  on the steps of Prince Edward Island's [[Government House (Prince Edward Island)|Government House]] for the [[Charlottetown Conference]] – Photo by George P. Roberts on September 11, 1864.
|File:QuebecConvention1864.jpg|Delegates of the Legislatures of Canada gathering  at the [[Quebec Conference, 1864|Quebec Conference]] – Photo by Jules I. Livernois on  October 27, 1864.
|File:Fathers of Confederation LAC c001855.jpg|An 1885 photo of [[Robert Harris (painter)|Robert Harris]]' painting, completed the previous year and titled, ''Conference at Quebec in 1864, to settle the basics of a union of the British North American Provinces'', also known as ''The Fathers of Confederation''. The original painting was destroyed in the 1916 Parliament buildings [[Centre Block]] fire. The scene is an amalgamation of the [[Charlottetown Conference|Charlottetown]] and [[Quebec Conference, 1864|Quebec City conference]] sites and attendees.
}}

==Other possible claimants to title==
Four other individuals have been labelled as Fathers of Confederation. [[Hewitt Bernard]], who was the recording secretary at the Charlottetown Conference, is considered by some to be a Father of Confederation.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yC4V3rWjYXcC&q=Hewitt%20Bernard%20Father%20of%20Confederation&pg=PA627|page=627|title=The conventional man|last=Harrison|first=Robert A|publisher=Canadian Legal History by University of Toronto Press|year=2003|isbn=0-8020-8842-2|access-date=2011-09-02|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328003746/https://books.google.com/books?id=yC4V3rWjYXcC&lpg=PA627&dq=Hewitt%20Bernard%20Father%20of%20Confederation&pg=PA627#v=onepage&q&f=true|archive-date=2018-03-28}}</ref> The leaders most responsible for bringing three specific provinces into Confederation after 1867 are also referred to as Fathers of Confederation.<ref name=CanadianHistory/>
* The [[provisional government]] established by [[Louis Riel]] ultimately negotiated the terms under which [[Manitoba]] entered Confederation in 1870.<ref>{{cite web | last =The Heritage Centre | title =Louis Riel The Provisional Government |url=http://www.shsb.mb.ca/Riel/eprovisoi.htm |access-date =23 September 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070810005131/http://www.shsb.mb.ca/Riel/eprovisoi.htm |archive-date = 10 August 2007}}</ref><ref name="o407">{{cite web | title=Louis Riel | website=The Canadian Encyclopedia | date=1944-06-06 | url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/louis-riel | access-date=2024-11-26}}</ref>
* The leadership of [[Amor De Cosmos]] was instrumental both in bringing democracy to [[British Columbia]] and in bringing the province into Confederation in 1871.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1sSWIvvW0mIC&q=Amor%20De%20Cosmos%20Father%20of%20Confederation&pg=PA44|page=44|title=Canada's Confederation|first=Stanford|last=Frances|publisher=S&S Learning Materials|year=2002|isbn=1-55035-708-5|access-date=2011-09-02|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328003746/https://books.google.com/books?id=1sSWIvvW0mIC&lpg=PA44&dq=Amor%20De%20Cosmos%20Father%20of%20Confederation&pg=PA44#v=onepage&q&f=true|archive-date=2018-03-28}}</ref>
* The province of [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] entered Confederation in 1949 under the leadership of [[Joey Smallwood]], who was then referred to as the "only living Father of Confederation".<ref>{{cite book|title=Joey Smallwood, Schemer and Dreamer|last=Argyle|first=Ray|publisher=[[Dundurn Press]]|year=2012|isbn=9781459703698}}<!--|access-date = 2014-09-10--></ref>

==See also==
{{portal|border=no|Canada|Politics}}
*[[Anti-Confederation Party]]
*[[List of national founders]]
*[[Persons of National Historic Significance]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Careless, J.M.C. "George Brown and Confederation", ''Manitoba Historical Society Transactions'', Series 3, Number 26, 1969-70 [http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/brownconfederation.shtml online]
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wlFJPQHUY5UC&q=Fathers%20of%20Confederation&pg=PP1|title=Canada's Prime Ministers, Governors General and Fathers of Confederation|first=Irma |last=Coucill|publisher=Pembroke Publishers|year=2005|isbn=1-55138-185-0}}

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==External links==
{{Commons category|Fathers of Confederation}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20191202003957/https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/confederation/023001-3010.22-e.html Fathers of Confederation] - Library and Archives Canada
*[https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1067#:~:text=A%20Father%20of%20Confederation%2C%20he,building%20of%20the%20Intercolonial%20Railway.Edward Barron Chandler] - Parks Canada

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[[Category:Fathers of Confederation| ]]
[[Category:Canadian Confederation]]
[[Category:Pre-Confederation Canada]]
[[Category:Post-Confederation Canada (1867–1914)]]