Mothers and others of Confederation

The Globe on the weekend had a nicely turned piece by Moira Dunn for the 145th anniversary of the Charlottetown conference on Confederation:

We need to turn the kaleidoscope we use to envision history. Let's not just consider Canada's birth solely through the 72 resolutions discussed and agreed to by the Fathers of Confederation, let's also consider the weather in 1864, the prices in the shops, the births and deaths, the kitchen garden vegetable crops, the fashions, the lateness of the Cunard mail ships – the social minutiae more likely discussed by the Mothers (and others) of Confederation.

Well, yes, those things can be wonderfully evocative. But, you know, I can't help thinking that as a political nation, politically constructed, still struggling with constitutional conundrums, it would not hurt to try giving some attention to the ideas in those 72 resolutions either. It's not as if we are too well versed in them.