This is kind of what I was getting at. I do have a whole book on the 1948 referendums called "Don't Tell the Newfoundlanders" but have yet to read it. But I know that there was much trickery to shoehorn Newfoundland into confederation.
Newfoundland and the US of course became strong friends during World War II, the war effort got them out of the depression. Considering Newfoundland, instead of pulling it together, Newfoundland actually voted itself out of existence in the 1930s to become a colony again basically.
Informal polls at the time from what I've read, there was an article in the Cape Breton Post about this, suggested that 70% of Newfoundlanders wanted join the US after World War II.
What was talked about at the time was "economic union", it's unclear exactly what this meant, but somewhere along the lines of what we call a customs union today, it should be noted that in the Dominion era of Newfoundland, they attempted twice to negotiate a free trade deal with the US.
Britain was afraid that responsible government, going back to dominion status may lead to a snowball effect that would have eventually led to Newfoundland probably becoming a US territory. Remember, it would be a full decade after this when Alaska and Hawaii would gain statehood.
Then there's Joey Smallwood, the main proponent of confederation in Newfoundland, and he would be Premier of Newfoundland when it became a province for 23 years thereafter. My parents suggest that there was a lot of skullduggery that he pulled.
Newfoundland as a province became the butt end of jokes in Canada, and it became an outpost. Read up on the whole Churchill Falls incident to see how Newfoundland was always conned. I'd say the average Canadian knows nothing about Newfoundland other than that St. John's is its capital.
This article in The Telegram, which is the "main" St John's newspaper talks about this:
https://www.thetelegram.com/opinion/letter-to-the-editor/letter-newfoundland-was-sold-down-the-churchill-river-263605/We see the effects of how Newfoundland was always used.....I was born and raised in the GTA, meaning that my parents had to move off the island because of bad economic conditions.
