🇺🇸➡🇨🇦 When America Tried (and Failed) to Take Over Canada
Published 20 days ago • 4 min read
Hello, Reader..
This week, President Trump floated the idea of the United States annexing Canada as its 51st state. While this notion is raising eyebrows today, the concept of adding Canada as a state is not entirely new.
Did you know there were times when Canada almost became part of the United States? 🇨🇦➡🇺🇸
🇨🇦 Historical Perspective: Canada as a U.S. State 🇺🇸
🖼️ The Big Picture: The idea of Canada joining the United States isn't just modern speculation--it has deep historical roots. From the American Revolution to nineteenth-century expansionist debates, the United States has long had an interest in its northern neighbor.
⚖️ Why It Mattered: The United States has attempted to annex Canada through military force multiple times-- first during the American Revolution and again during the War of 1812. Most Canadians resisted these efforts. During the late nineteenth century, expansionists in the United States again saw Canada as a next logical addition to its Union, but political and cultural differences proved insurmountable.
🇨🇦 Canada to the United States Timeline 🇺🇸
1774: On October 22, 1774, the First Continental Congress wrote a letter to Québec and the Canadian Maritimes warning of the "critical and truly alarming state of American affairs." Congress encouraged Canadians to join them in the revolutionary cause and sent documents outlining "measures they recommend to your colony to be adopted with all the earnestness, that a well directed zeal for American liberty can prompt." [2]
1775: The Continental Army invaded Québec with the hope of making Canada the fourteenth state. The attempt failed.
1812: The United States Army invaded Canada again, hoping to bring the British territory into the Union. This attempted also failed.
American Civil War (1861-1865) Some in the United States discussed forcibly annexing Canada due to Great Britain's support for the Confederacy. These ramained speculative discussions.
1866: Massachusetts Congressman Nathaniel Prentice Banks introduced a bill that aimed to annex British North America, offering Canada and other territories statehood. This bill failed to gain traction.
Late 1860s-Early 1870s: Some in British Columbia advocated for joining the United States out of economic concerns and geographical proximity. These efforts did not succeed, and British Columbia became a Canadian province in 1871. [1]
📖 Go Deeper: The Canada Campaign, 1775 & 1812
The two most significant U.S. military campaigns to annex Canada occurred in 1775 and 1812.
💥 1775: The Invasion of Québec 💥
As part of the American Revolution, the Continental Army attempted to convince the people of Québec to join the rebellion. Led by Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold, the campaign ended in disaster when British forces and their Canadian allies defeated the Americans in the Battle of Québec on December 31, 1775. Contributing factors to the defeat were limited troops, illness, and disorganization. [3]
John Trumbull, The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Québec, December 31, 1775, 1786.
💥 1812: The War of 1812 Campaigns💥
The United States launched multiple invasions into Canada during the War for 1812. Many Americans believed Canadians would welcome their attempts to "liberate" them from British rule. Instead, British troops, local militias, and Indigenous allies repelled the Americans.
Key battles in this campaign included:
💥 Detroit (August 1812)--The United States surrendered Fort Detroit without a fight.
💥 Queenston Heights (October 1812)--British and Canadian forces, with Mohawk allies, repelled the American invasion.
💥 Chateauguay (October 1813)-- A similar force of Canadian soldiers and Indigenous warriors stopped a much larger American force.
By 1814, the war ended in a stalemate and reinforced Canada's separate identity. [4]
🎧 Tune In For More
To explore more about the early history of Canada and its connections with the early United States, check out these episodes of Ben Franklin’s World:
📌 Episode 041: Did Canada almost join the American Revolution? Discover whether Québec could have been the fourteenth state.
📌 Episode 051:Detroit as a Cosmopolitan Hub-- explore how Detroit functioned as a diverse trade centers with goods comparable to Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Charleston.
📌 Episode 085: Loyalists and the Canadian Maritimes--The War for American Independence was a brutal civil war. Investigate what happened to the Loyalists who fled to the Canadian Maritimes.
🧠 Share Your Thoughts!
What do you think?
If Canada had joined the United States in 1775 or after the War of 1812, how different would the United States and Canada be today?
📩 Hit Reply to share your thoughts or post a question.
