#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
#HeDidNotConquer
@CitizenWald It’s interesting that the headline writer calls it a tie, when it was a loss for the American colonists. It’s true the British victory came at a high cost, but it was still their victory. I wonder how widespread the notion of it being a tie is in the US.
#histodons #HeDidNotConquer
@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
#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
#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.”
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
#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.
#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
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
The Quebec Act, British legislation which helped provoke the American Revolution, came into force #OTD 250 years ago. It angered residents of the 13 colonies because it allowed French Canadians to practice Catholicism and retain their own civil law, and because it constrained the 13 colonies to the eastern seaboard. They complained about these terms in the Declaration of Independence.
French Canadians refused to join the American Revolution 250 years ago, laying the foundations for Canada to become an independent country. In yesterday’s election, they weighed in at another crucial moment in Canada’s history, backing the party they felt best able to resist Trump’s push to turn Canada into the 51st state. The Liberals would not have won without their support.
#HeDidNotConquer #histodons #cdnpoli #250Canada
On election day in Canada, Trump has posted that Canada should become the 51st state. This is insulting, not to mention foreign interference in Canada’s election. His rationale is a mixture of magical thinking and outright lies.
#HeDidNotConquer #cdnpoli #CanadaElection #histodons
From Trump interview with Time on April 22:
QUESTION: You've talked about acquiring Greenland, taking control of the Panama Canal, making Canada the 51st state. Maybe you're trolling a little bit on that one. I don't know.
TRUMP: Actually, no, I’m not.
#HeDidNotConquer #histodons #250Canada #cdnpoli
https://time.com/7280114/donald-trump-2025-interview-transcript/
Trump may not be talking about it as much publicly, but he clearly has not given up on the idea of annexing Canada.
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
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