 Gregory (2004) sees it as a development of the late 20th century, for in the 1940s it was not strong enough to stop confederation with Canada, and the people in the cities adopted a Canadian identity in the 1950s and 1960s.A Newfoundland identity was first articulated in the 1840s, embodied in a distinction between English-born and native-born Newfoundland residents.The relative absence of a strong sense of belonging to an independent country was the underlying reason for Joey Smallwood's referendum victory.