Each individual, family, business, country and so on all had defining moments that have shaped them into their current appearances or outcome. For Canada, the following three defining moments have characterized Canada from a dependent British colony to an autonomous country. In addition, these three defining moments have further pushed Canada towards nationhood, which included the formation of its own identity and a sense of unity. The following events, with those being Confederation, World War II and the declaration of the Canadian national anthem were the three defining moments of Canadian history.
On July 1st of 1867, the passing of the British North America Act indicated that Canada had become a nation. Before Confederation, what we know as Canada today was merely a bunch of scattered British colonies. When the colonies united to form the Dominion of Canada, they were able to depend upon themselves for economic and security reasons. Because they traded goods amongst themselves without tariffs and depended on each other for protection, an initial sense of unity was formed within the new Dominion. This also led Canada to reduce its reliance on Britain and thus became more independent. Canada's main affairs may have been controlled by Britain at that time, but this event served as a prelude to Canada's growing nationhood and has spurred this young nation to take its first steps in building its own identity.
The second defining moment was World War II (1939-1945), in where Canada manifested that it was more or less an independent nation away from Britain. Firstly Canada had declared war on the Axis Powers on its own behalf, unlike World War I where Canada was automatically at war due to its colonial ties to Britain. During the war, Canadians of different backgrounds gained a sense of unity when they all took part in the total war effort. Their nationalistic feelings for their own country soared. When the war ended Canada