 at the time of the american civil war, canada did not yet exist as a federated nation. instead, the territory consisted of the united province of canada (parts of modern southern ontario and quebec) and the separate colonies of newfoundland, new brunswick, prince edward island, and nova scotia, as well as a crown territory administered by the hudson's bay company called rupert's land. britain and its colonies were officially neutral for the duration of the war. despite this, tensions between britain and the united states were high due to incidents on the seas, such as the trent affair and the confederate commissioning of the css alabama from britain. canadians were largely opposed to slavery, the preservation of which was one of the main goals of the confederate states of america, and canada had recently become the terminus of the underground railroad. close economic and cultural links across the long border also encouraged canadian sympathy towards the union. between 33,000 and 55,000 men from british north america enlisted in the war, almost all of them fighting for union forces. the conservative press in canada east supported the secession and ridiculed the yankees as lacking in morality.jones, preston. "civil war, culture war: french quebec and the american war between the states" (2001) french canadians in particular were very highly sympathetic to the confederacy in the southern u.s.jones, preston. "civil war, culture war: french quebec and the american war between the states" (2001) there was talk in london in 1861â62 of mediating the war or recognizing the confederacy. washington warned this meant war, and london feared canada would quickly be seized.bourne (1961) ==trent affair==  in november 1861 tensions escalated between washington and london when an american warship stopped the british mail ship  on the high seas and seized two confederate diplomats, james mason and john slidell. london demanded their return and an apology, and to signal its intention to defend its possessions sent 14,000 combat troops to canada, while the colonials planned to raise 40,000 militia. the crisis ended when president abraham lincoln released the diplomats; he did not issue an apology. the british decided that colonial union was now a high priority, as it would relieve london of the need to defend canada.morton (1964) 102-3 == grand trunk railway brigade == rising concerns over the security of railways in canada while the civil war raged in the united states led to the 1862 creation of the grand trunk railway brigade. this unit of canadian volunteer militia recruited amongst railway employees had infantry and artillery companies deployed along the railway lines in canada east and canada west. =
1860s_in_Canada American_Civil_War_by_location CanadaaUnited_States_relations Foreign_relations_during_the_American_Civil_War Military_history_of_Canada Military_history_of_Nova_Scotia Political_history_of_Canada