those of Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec) to form the Dominion of Canada. In 1873 Prince Edward Island joined the Confederation.
During the War of the Rebellion Nova Scotian ports were enlivened by the presence of blockade runners, and of traders who profited by the war to found enduring fortunes.
In 1870 a raid from Vermont was attempted against Eastern Canada by filibusters of the Fenian Brotherhood, whose revolutionary organisation had spread from Ireland to America and whose cry, "On to Canada!" had first been answered by a foray against the Niagara frontier in 1866. Many of the invaders had recently been in the ranks of the Union and Confederate forces in the Civil War, and still lusted for strife. The second raid, which threatened the south coast of Nova Scotia, was repelled, as was the first, by native volunteers aided by British regulars.
Railway expansion, industrial development, fisheries disputes, treaties and tariff legislation have constituted the main features of Provincial history during the last four decades.
In 1914 and 1915 Halifax, as the military and naval headquarters of British America, was again the base of war-like activities, and many German prisoners were interned on well-guarded islands of the Bay and Arm.
