Thanks to Ben McNally Books for hosting the Toronto launch my book, published by @dundurnpress.bsky.social

#hedidnotconquer #cdahist #cdaus #canada #Canada250

“As this Colony is in some sort detached from the rest, we imagined ourselves in no danger of being involved in these alarming disputes that now prevail over this Continent; the contrary of which, however, I am now sorry to inform you of.”
#HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #cdaHist #Dundurn #Canada250

He warned Arnold that plunder or disrespecting the Catholic religion would bring “shame, disgrace, and ruin" to his men. Treating Canadians as friends would lead to “a lasting union and affection.” Arnold would later disregard Washington’s orders.
#HeDidNotConquer #cdahist #cdaUS #canada250

A map from the 1770s slowing the tip of Lake Champlain and the start of the Richelieu River to the north. The map has a line showing the border between the Province of Quebec, also known as Canada, and the Province of New York. The border runs along the 45th parallel. There is a red circle around the Isle of Noix, which is well to the north of the border. The map is coloured, with the waters of the lake and the river shown in green. The border is yellow on the Canadian side and red on the American side.

Today marks a key event in Canada-US relations that few Canadians and probably even fewer Americans have heard about. #OTD Sept. 4, 1775, troops from the 13 colonies invaded Canada, a British colony also called the Province of Quebec.

#HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #cdaHist #Canada250 #BenjaminFranklin

The unity of the confederacy eventually fractured during the American Revolution when some members sided with the Americans and others with the British. (Image is of Joseph Brant, a Mohawk military leader.)
#HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #cdapoli #cdaUS #AmerRev

It asked Britain for Canada, which it did not control, and a large area south of the Great Lakes occupied by British troops. Britain gave away that area but kept Canada.

This is a move straight out of the early American playbook.

#HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #cdnhist #Canada250

This is the elaborate cartouche on the 1777 map called "A Map of the Inhabited Parts of Canada." The cartouche has fir and pine trees at the top. At the bottom are two Europeans trading with a male indigenous person, who appears to be handing them a fur pelt.

“Now, Sir, is the time to carry Canada. It may be done with great ease and little cost, and I have no doubt but the Canadians would join us.” It was bad intelligence.

#HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #cdapoli #Canada250
#skystorians

This is a segment of a 1777 map showing the border between the colony of New York and the colony of Canada. Montreal is near the top of the map, Lake Champlain is near the bottom, almost directly south of Montreal. The map is coloured. The border is a red line that crosses through the very top of Lake Champlain.

#OTD Aug 14, 1775, American spy John Brown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, reported on his latest mission to Canada. The French Canadians longed for the American army to invade, Brown told his superiors....
#HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #cdapoli #Canada250
#skystorians

Photo of author Madelaine Drohan holding a copy of her new book, He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin's Failure to Annex Canada. There is a box full of author's copies of the book in front of her. She has short, gray hair and glasses and is smiling.

It's a wonderful feeling when 5 years of research and writing comes to fruition. The thought that immediately follows is that the work is not done because you now have to promote it. I am grateful for all the help I received along the way.

#HeDidNotConquer #Dundurn #cdaUS #cdnpoli #Canada250

It had not attacked the 13 Colonies. But the Americans believed unfounded rumours that a strike from the north was imminent and that invading their northern neighbour could be called self-defence.
#HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #cdaHist #cdaUS #NovaScotia #Washington #skystorians

He had no carriages for field artillery, less than a ton of gunpowder, and only 24 rounds of ammunition for each man. If the Canadians and their indigenous allies were not as friendly as the Americans assumed, his troops would be in trouble.
#HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #cdaUS #skystorians #cdnHist

This came after Congress had approved an invasion of Canada but before troops crossed the border. Delegates had persuaded themselves that most Canadians wanted to become Americans. Much like Trump today, they were wrong.

#HeDidNotConquer #skystorians #Canada250 #cdaUS #cdnpoli #Franklin #AmerRev

It surprised me to learn that Canada first appeared on European maps in the mid 1500s. It would be another 200 years before the United States of America was named. On this 1574 map by Paolo Forlani, Canada is a vaguely defined place on a vaguely defined continent.
#HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #Canada250

This is a black and white engraving of Benjamin Franklin. He is wearing a fur hat and spectacles. He is looking at the viewer through the corner of his eyes. His expression is serious.

Franklin was no friend to Canada. Throughout his long career he hatched one plan after another to make Canada American.
He failed, but not for lack of trying. I write about it in my forthcoming book, He Did Not Conquer.
#HeDidNotConquer #skystorians #Canada250 #Franklin #cdaUS

Sepia print of a young George Washington. He is in military dress and has dark hair. He is in a frame, with a snake on the top and two cannons at the bottom.

#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.
#HeDidNotConquer #skystorians #Canada250 #cdaUS

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.
#skystorians #Canada250 #cdaUS #Franklin #Rev250 #Dundurn

. . . 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

#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.
#HeDidNotConquer #histodons #cdaUS #Canada250

They promised not to do anything “but such as friendship and a regard for our mutual safety and interest may suggest,” and repeated their invitation to Canadians to join their fight against the British government.

#skystorians #Canada250 #HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #us250thanniversary #rev250

In the letter, written by Samuel Adams, John Jay and Silas Deane, they swore, “we are your friends, not your enemies.”

#skystorians #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”
– followed their May 29 letter to “the oppressed Inhabitants of Canada."

#skystorians #Canada250 #HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #us250thanniversary #rev250

Black and white image from the Library of Congress of Samuel Adams. He is dressed in a dark suit, with a white neck cloth and cuffs. Adams has longish grey hair and looks stern. He is pointing with his left hand at a document on the table in front of him. In his right hand he clutches a rolled up document.

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

#skystorians #Canada250 #HeDidNotConquer #cdaUS #us250thanniversary #rev250

Peter Force's American Archives - Fourth Series, Volume 2 (Vol. 2 of 9) : Peter Force : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Peter Force's Documentary History of the early days of the United States. The set is comprised of 6 volumes in the Fourth Series, and 3 volumes in the Fifth...

The American colonists feared the British intended to attack them from the north, with the aid of French Canadians and indigenous peoples. His letter, and a rather vitriolic anonymous one about loyalists can be read here: archive.org/details/Amer...
#HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #cdaUS #skystorians

We saw the same thing happen in the recent election campaign in Canada. Trump’s 51st state rhetoric helped the Liberals come from behind and win. A lesson not learned.

#skystorians #HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #cdaUS

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.
#skystorians #HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #cdaUS

1774 map of eastern North America showing the boundaries drawn by the Quebec Act. The Province of Quebec (Canada) extends well below the Great Lakes. The 13 colonies are mostly constrained to the eastern seaboard.

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, who later complained about it in the Declaration of Independence.
#HeDidNotConquer #Canada250 #QuebecAct #cdnpoli #cdaUS