Those in the US who think Canadians are over-reacting to President Trump’s threat to make Canada the 51st state should consult a history book — preferably one that I didn’t have access to in my long-ago high school and college days. You see, some in the US (and its government) coveted Canada and its resources for over 100 years, and spilled blood in the cause.
When Canada celebrated the bicentennial of the War of 1812, one of its themes was the Canadian victory over the US. What victory? The historians I read in school called the war a draw, maybe even a US victory in the sense that it did not lose to the much greater British power.
But US forces did in fact invade Canada during that war. From the U.S. Constitution Museum:
“With only 16 warships, the United States could not directly challenge the Royal Navy, which had 500 ships in service in 1812. Instead, the new nation targeted Canada, hoping to use the conquest of British territory as a bargaining chip to win concessions on the maritime issues. Most Americans assumed that the conquest of Canada would be, in the words of former president Thomas Jefferson, “a mere matter of marching.” The United States enjoyed a huge population advantage over Canada—7.7 million to 500,000—and it was widely believed in America that U.S. troops would be welcomed as liberators. But events did not play out as Americans expected.”
Indeed. Canadians loyal to the Crown resisted fiercely, turning back the Americans. Canada was on its way to becoming a confederation on July 1, 1867.
Given that history, and Canadian natural resources the US government seems to desire for itself, and the fact the population of the US is almost 10 times that of Canada, it is small wonder that Canadians are angry.
It should not have come to this. The friendship of the US and Canada has been a model for other countries to follow. In a short time that friendship has been seriously weakened if not crippled.
Canada will never be part of the US, nor should it. Instead, it would be a compliment if Americans respected Canadian sovereignty and studied the history and status of a neighbor about whom most in the US know very little.