When Canada became an independent country, July 1, 1867, the minister of defense and the militia, Sir George-Etienne Cartier, in preparation for anticipated cross-border attacks by the American Fenians, recent immigrants from Ireland, fugitives of the famine full of hate for the oppressions of the English in their home country, managed the astounding feat, which would not be easily duplicated today, of raising an armed and trained militia of nearly 40,000 Canadians near border crossing points with the United States from New Brunswick to Southwestern Ontario. This deterred the Fenians, and at the Washington conference of 1871, our first and shamefully desecrated prime minister, John A. Macdonald, joined and was a key player with the British Empire delegation in working out a comprehensive settlement of all American grievances with Britain and gaining the clear recognition of both great powers of Canada’s independence.
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