The Reciprocity Treaty of 1854, was granted to the United States of America and British North America (BNA). The Reciprocity Treaty granted many advantages one of which was in the economical development between the United States of America and BNA, and had settled the current tensions which existed between both parties for that era. However, the Treaty did not eliminate the traditional Canadian attitudes towards Americans resulting in the abrupt ending of the agreement in 1866. Considering the events following the rebellions of 1837 to 1838, both the conservative British North American and British elites believed that the American political structure was a negative influence on the social and economic development. As a result they sought …show more content…
In 1854 BNA was now independent from British rule and were able to negotiate a treaty with the United States in which mutual agreement was formed for the Reciprocity Treaty; an act that guaranteed a relationship based on economic dependence and that in turn sealed them closer together than ever before. Although both governments respected the Treaty for its entire ten year term, tensions grew once again after the American government ended the Reciprocity Treaty after twelve years of it working successfully without next to no disputes. Notably, the outcome of the Civil War influenced these tensions at large. For instance, the Canadian population feared that the victorious North would try and take over BNA territory for military support. Also, there was a large threat towards the British provinces deriving from the Fenians. As a result, Canada sought confederation in 1867 with the goal of defending their nation from the intimidating United States. With success, Canada reached its goal by gaining territory from the east to the west