The Seventy-Two Resolutions from the 1864 Quebec Conference and Charlottetown Conference laid out the framework for uniting British colonies in North America into a federation. The Resolutions became the basis for the London Conference of 1866, which led to the formation of the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867. The term "dominion" was chosen to indicate Canada's status as a self-governing colony of the British Empire, the first time it was used about a country. With the coming into force of the British North America Act, 1867 (enacted by the British Parliament), Canada became a federated country in its own right. (According to J. McCullough, use of the phrase "Dominion of Canada ... was gradually phased out" during the "late 1940s, 50s, and early 60s" with the growth of "post-colonial Canadian nationalism".)