The story of Canada since 1867 is a successful one.  For a century and a half, people of different languages, cultures, and backgrounds, thrown together in the vast, northern reaches of a continent, built a free society where regional communities could grow and prosper, linked by the common thread of an emerging national identity. There were difficulties alone the way, but for the most part, Canada became an example to the world as a modern, workable nation state.

One in three Canadians was French. The population consisted also about 100.000 aboriginal. It was a rural country composed of small farms. Montreal was the largest city with a population of about 115.000. In the muddy streets of the new national capital Ottawa, pigs roamed.

The economy was based on the export of lumber, fish, and grain. Factories were small, except for those making farm implements for the agriculture in Canada. The economy prospered until the world-wide depression 1873-1896, who severely hurt the export economy.

Politically, the father of Confederation, John Macdonald (1815-1891) and his Conservative Party dominated the national politics until his death. The Liberals under Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919) were in power in 1896-1911. They were ousted in a campaign based on anti-Americanism. The confederation was independent in internal affairs, however the parliament in London had a lot to say over Canada with regard of foreign relations. The new nation was defined by its practically, realism and stoicism. It had no interest in theory or esthetics. Loyalty to family was much more important. Just like for the church, political party, and Queen Victoria.

Francophones had a district and traditionalistic culture, led by landholders and the priests. The Anglophones took pride in their Britishness and in their pride to be swallowed up by the United States. Baseball and lacrosse were favorite sports. The cultural facilities were limited. Only two libraries existed in the new country. Only half of the adults in Québec could read. Hard drinking in public was the norm.

On the eve of the great war in 1914, the population had reached 8,1 million people in Canada. The great national achievement was the building of transcontinental railways that opened the prairies to settlement. The reach new farmlands made Canada a major exporter of wheat.

Issues of nationalism versus loyalty to the British crown continued. Bitter disputes on language issues increased also, especially the role of the French language outside Québec. Ethno-religious tensions flared between the Francophones and the Anglophones, the Catholic Irish and the Protestant Irish, and between the Europeans and the Asians on the West Coast.