Lmst

It might surprise some people to know that the name Canada first appeared on European maps in the mid 1500s. It would be another 200 years before the United States of America was named and created. On this 1574 map, the cartographer, Paolo Forlani, showed Canada as a vaguely defined place on a vaguely defined continent.

#HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #histodons #cdaUS

A detail from a 1574 black and white map showing the word Canada.

The complete 1574 black and white map of the Americas. There is a red circle around the area where the word Canada appears.

It will be interesting to see how the government of Canada commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year. I fervently hope it does not issue another postage stamp featuring Benjamin Franklin, which is one of the things it did for the 200th anniversary in 1976. Franklin was no friend to Canada.
#HeDidNotConquer #histodons #Canada250 #Franklin #cdaUS

This is a black and white engraving of Benjamin Franklin. He is wearing a fur hat and has spectacles on. His expression is serious.

There is no factual basis for Trump’s frequent claim that many Canadians want to join the US. The most recent Focus Canada from Environics Research shows this clearly. I do not know whether Trump is lying or deluded. This is not the first time American political leaders have misread or misrepresented Canadian attitudes. When congress approved an invasion of Canada in 1775, delegates thought Canadians would welcome them with open arms.
#CanadaDay #cdaUS #HeDidNotConquer #histodons

This is a bar chart representing the results when Canadians were asked whether they wanted to unite with the US. In 2025, 83% were strongly opposed, 8% were somewhat opposed, and 7% either somewhat or strongly agreed.

#OTD (June 27) in 1775, the Continental Congress approved the invasion of Canada. It was the first attempt at regime change outside of their borders by the Americans, who hoped to unseat the British colonial governor and join Canada to the 13 Colonies. George Washington had been commander in chief for less than 2 weeks. They believed bad intelligence, assumed the Canadians shared their grievances, and thought it would be an easy conquest. It was not.
#HeDidNotConquer #histodons #Canada250 #cdaUS

My new book, He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin’s Failure to Annex Canada, is out for pre-orders. It felt like a niche topic when I began the research a few years ago. Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st state make the book relevant and illuminating for a wide audience. There are lessons in Franklin’s failure for Canada and the US that ring true today. You can pre-order from your favourite bookstore. Release date: September 30.
#histodons #Canada250 #cdaUS #Franklin #Rev250 #Dundurn

@jd Interesting article. But the struggle has been going on for more than 250 years. The English and French and their colonists fought each other for control of North America almost from the moment they set foot on the continent. I explored this early history in my piece for Canada’s History.

#HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #cdaUS #histodons

https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/politics-law/friend-or-foe

Journalists love a good quote, but that is no excuse for what is frequently being done to the Trump-Carney exchange about Canada becoming the 51st state.
Most versions I have seen, like this NYT article, note that Carney told Trump that Canada was not for sale and that Trump responded, “Never say never.” But they fail to include Carney’s response: “Never. Never. Never. Never.” It makes a difference.
#HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #histodons #Canada250

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/15/us/politics/trump-g7-tariffs-trade-israel-ukraine.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

#ScribesAndMakers 13Jun—Self-Promo day: Show us what you're proud of. Boost away!
I’m proud my book, He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin’s Failure to Annex Canada, is out this September.
It looked like a niche topic when I started research five years ago. That changed when Trump began threatening to make Canada the 51st state. Franklin failed 250 years ago. Will Trump?
Preorder on Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and indie bookstores in the US and Canada.
#HeDidNotConquer #histodons #cdaUS #franklin

This is the cover of a book, showing a portrait of Franklin on the right and the book title: He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin’s Failure to Annex Canada, on the right. Franklin has pursed lips. His hair is long. Behind the letters of the book title is an old map, dating from Franklin’s time.

#OTD in 1775, John Adams was having second thoughts about Congress’s decision June 1 not to invade Canada. “We have been puzzled to discover, what we ought to do, with the Canadians and Indians,” he wrote a friend. Reports suggested the Canadians were “not unfriendly” and the Indigenous peoples were neutral. “It Seems to be the general Conclusion that it is best to go, if We can be assured that the Canadians will be pleased with it, and join.”

#HeDidNotConquer #histodons #cdaUS #Canada250

Colour portrait of John Adams. He is wearing a dark suit, with a white shirt underneath. He is old, with grey hair on the sides. He is bald on top. He is staring directly at the viewer. His cheeks are rosy. His expression is serious.

In the letter, they swore, “we are your friends, not your enemies,” and promised not to do anything “but such as friendship and a regard for our mutual safety and interest may suggest.”
They repeated their invitation to Canadians to join their cause against the British government.
#histodons #Canada250 #HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #us250thanniversary #rev250

The June 1 resolution -- “That no expedition or incursion ought to be undertaken or made by any colony, or body of colonists, against or into Canada”
– was preceded by their May 29 letter to “the oppressed Inhabitants of Canada," written by Samuel Adams, John Jay and Silas Deane.
#histodons #Canada250 #HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #us250thanniversary #rev250

#OTD in 1775, delegates to the Continental Congress decided not to invade #Canada. Spoiler alert: They would change their minds within the month.
#histodons #Canada250 #HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #us250thanniversary #rev250

A black and white image from the Library of Congress of Samuel Adams dressed in a dark suit and pointing at a document on the table in front of him. Adams has grey hair. He is pointing with one hand and clutching a rolled up document in the other.

#OTD in 1775, Benedict Arnold wrote the Massachusetts Committee of Safety about the attack he led on Fort St. Jean (he called it St. John's) in Canada (Province of Quebec). He reported "there is not left a single batteau for the King's Troops, Canadians, or Indians to cross the Lake in, if they have any such intention."
His letter, and a rather vitriolic anonymous one about loyalists can be read here: https://archive.org/details/AmericanArchives-FourthSeriesVolume2peterForce/page/n321/mode/2up
#HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #cdaUS #histodons

@history-Smithsonianmag Good piece, from the American perspective, on the failed invasion of Canada 1775-76. Concludes that invasion “as a persuasive tactic” to get Canadians to join the American Revolution backfired. Residents of Canada put aside their differences to face the American threat. The same thing happened in the recent election campaign. Trump’s 51st state rhetoric helped the Liberals come from behind and win.
#histodons #HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #cdaUS

2/2/ Benedict Arnold led the cross-border raid, capturing an armed British vessel, five smaller boats, and some artillery, before fleeing south before British reinforcements could arrive. Flush with success, he and Ethan Allen, whose Green Mountain Boys captured the other two forts, separately asked the Continental Congress if they could lead a full-scale invasion of Canada.

#histodons #HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #cdaUS

#OTD in 1775: In a prelude to the full invasion of Canada in 1775, armed men from Connecticut and Massachusetts captured the British forts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point on Lake Champlain and crossed the border into the Province of Quebec to attack Fort St. Jean on the Richelieu River. 1/2

#histodons #HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #cdaUS

An old map of the Richelieu River where it meets the St. Lawrence River. The old British forts at St. Jean and Chambly are shown, as is the border between the Province of Quebec (Canada) and the Thirteen Colonies.

Trump’s threats to make #Canada the 51st state need to be seen in context. I wrote about how this school of thought dates back centuries.
Canada as a place first appeared on European maps in the mid-1500s, long before it was officially declared a country. The United States appeared on maps 200 years later. Residents of both places have a history that began long before 1776 or 1867.
#HeDidNotConquer #histodons #CdaPoli #cdaUS

https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/politics-law/friend-or-foe

I can’t get Randy Newman’s song Political Science out of my head these days. He wrote the satirical song about American foreign policy in 1972, but it could have been written today. Give it a listen and see if you agree.

#cdaUS #CDA #foreignpolicy

https://youtu.be/4QbUSjnhv6M?si=dgFLS1-Y-WhqNY9K

I’m really pleased the Washington Post used my opinion piece today. I look at the letter the Americans wrote Canadians when they invited Canada to become the 14th colony. In it, they boasted about the rights and values that made them great. Sadly, these are the same rights and values that the Trump administration is trampling on, eroding the foundations of the country.

#histodons #cdaUS #CDA #BenjaminFranklin

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/03/25/canada-benjamin-franklin-trump/

I was happy to hear former prime minister Jean Chrétien mention that Benjamin Franklin went to Montreal in 1776 and tried to enlist the French Canadians in the American Revolution. He was told “Non, merci,” Chrétien said. It’s an important part of our history and something I cover in my forthcoming book about Franklin’s many attempts to make Canada American. It didn’t start with Trump.

It’s around the 16-minute mark: https://youtu.be/tU8qNxempS0?si=4asXl1nNSppOh2hh

#HeDidNotConquer #BenFranklin #CdaUS

#CdaUS

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