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Pre-Confederation British North America

In a few short years, a handful of small and separate British colonies are transformed into a new nation that controls half the North American continent. The story of Confederation, its supporters and its bitter foes, is told against a backdrop of U.S. Civil War and Britain's growing determination to be rid of its expensive, ungrateful colonies. The dawn of the photographic era provides a vivid portrait of the diverse people who make up the new Dominion of Canada: the railway magnates, the unwed mothers of Montreal, the nuns who provide refuge for the destitute, the prosperous merchants of Halifax, the brave fugitives of the Underground Railroad, and the tide of Irish immigrants who flood into the cities.

Complete Credits for Episode 8

Producer/Director/Writer: Jim Williamson
Producers: Fiona McHugh, Johanne Ménard
Editor: Murray Green
Additional editing by: Ilona Crabbe
Cinematography: Michael Sweeney, CSC, and Maurice Chabot
Original music: Claude Desjardins and Eric Robertson

Featuring: Domini Blythe (Jane Slocombe), Patricia Hamilton (Amelia Harris), Barbara Barnes Hopkins (Harriet Tubman), Robert Haley (Robert Wyte), Claire Jullien (Mercy Coles)