By the age of 19, Macdonald running his own legal office and would become a well-known defense lawyer who often fought for hopeless causes.
Took part in an attack on British loyalists by helping to defend against rebel attacks
Alcohol, not blood, ran through his veins for the majority of his life.
Known to have said, “[The public] would rather have a drunken John A. Macdonald than a sober George Brown.” Also, after throwing up during a debate his opponent sneered, “Is this the man you want running your country, a drunker?” Macdonald collected himself and replied, “I get sick sometimes not because of drink or any other cause, except that I am forced to listen to the ranting of my honourable opponent.”
His first wife, Isabella Clark, died young after a decade-long illness. His first son died at 13 months and his daughter with second wife Susan Agnes Bernard, was born with Hydrocephalus (a swelling of the brain), which left her intellectually disabled and unable to walk. Some historians attribute Macdonald’s alcoholism to his personal life.
He believed uniting Canada would better accommodate the racial, religious, and regional differences of British North America and was less concerned with independence and American expansionism fears.
Considered the chief architect of Confederation. He brought Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into the fold and they, along with Upper and Lower Canada, united in 1867 to form the Dominion of Canada. Appointed the first Prime Minister and knighted as a result.
Shutdown the Red River Rebellion and the North-West Rebellion, which led to the creation of Manitoba and the North West Mounted Police (later became the RCMP), as well as the subjugation of the Métis and the Plains peoples and the execution of Louis Riel.
To obtain Rupert’s Land, Britain had the Hudson’s Bay Company sell it to Canada for $1.5 million. The US had offered $10 million, but clearly someone was still salty over a certain revolution.
By creating the North West Mounted Police, Macdonald established the permanent enforcement of Canadian law in the west. In doing so he prevented our own version of “the Indian wars” that accompanied westward expansion in the US.
Macdonald was responsible for Aboriginal policy. His Indian Act of 1876 led to the development of the residential school system.
His government passed starvation policies to help clear First Nations from the Prairies in order to build the Trans-Canadian railroad, which led to thousands of deaths. (Food was withheld until Aboriginal people moved to reserves. Once they did, the food was rotten and those living there fell into a cycle of malnutrition, illness, and death. This lasted for decades).
Instrumental in the creation of the Trans-Canadian railroad. Referred to the Chinese as “a semi-barbaric, inferior race.” Passed the Chinese Immigration Act which restricted immigration from China and put a “head tax” on every Chinese immigrant that came to Canada.
Had his drinking under control by his 60th birthday; his last incident of public drunkenness occurred in 1878, 13 years before his death.
In 1883, introduced a bill into Parliament that would have allowed unmarried women and widows to vote.