John A. Macdonald

Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first and third Prime Minister of Canada. He was an important influence on the Canadian Confederation, July 1, 1867. Macdonald was in office from 1867 to 1873 and again from 1878 to 1891, making him the second longest-serving Prime Minister of Canada (after William Lyon Mackenzie King) and the only one to win six majority governments. One of the things Macdonald wanted to do was to build a transcontinental railway that would link Canada from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. That railway, called the Canadian Pacific Railway, was completed in 1885. He is also criticized for taxing every Chinese person trying to get in Canada, and for doing things that hurt indigenous people in Canada. Macdonald did not speak French as well as the Prime Ministers who came after him. He could speak Scottish Gaelic and a bit of Latin. Macdonald had four siblings. He was the third of five children. References Other websites "Macdonald-Biography-First Among Equals". Libraries and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2008-03-22. "Sir John A. Macdonald: Father of Confederation". City of Kingston. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2008-03-22. "John A. Macdonald's Kingston". Kingston Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2008-05-31. Retrieved 2008-03-22. The Canadian Museum of Civilization - Face-to-Face - The Canadian Personalities Hall John A. Macdonald: Architect of Modern Canada John A. Macdonald, Confederation and Canadian Federalism Archived 2008-12-01 at the Wayback Machine Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online "Sir John A. Macdonald, Freemason" Archived 2007-06-04 at the Wayback Machine Synopsis of federal political experience from the Library of Parliament Archived 2005-03-05 at the Wayback Machine Image of The Jamaica with Sir and Lady Macdonald aboard Archived 2008-03-23 at the Wayback Machine John Macdonald's Gravesite Correspondence of Sir John Macdonald; selections from the correspondence of the Right Honorable Sir John Alexander Macdonald, first Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada, made by his literary executor Sir Joseph Pope (1921) "Macdonald, Sir John Alexander". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2008-03-25. Retrieved 2008-03-22. Dictionary of Canadian Biography article by J. K. Johnson and P. B. Waite The John A. Macdonald Portal, edited by Alastair Sweeny Archived 2008-05-31 at the Wayback Machine