Dan Snow (22:37)
Right? It's the American Revolution. The Canadians have said they do not wish to join in. They wish to remain part of the British Empire. That attempt to incorporate Canada within the U.S. at the very moment of its birth, that attempt has failed. There would be a second opportunity for Canada. I'm not sure opportunity is the right word. It wasn't long coming, and this it was less a friendly invitation to join them in a bout of joyful civic republicanism, and it was more a sort of robust suggestion at the tip of a bayonet. Because in those early months of the war, as the New Englanders had been slapping the British military around outside Boston, a force of patriots, of rebels had also pulled off a remarkable couple. They'd taken the supposedly impregnable, certainly very powerful fortress of Ticonderoga. And Ticonderoga is a gatekeeper. It sits athwart the traditional north south invasion route from New England into Canada. So from Quebec and Montreal down towards Albany, the capital of New York State, over the centuries, that is where armies had marched north and south. French, indigenous British armies, you name it. Now they had Ticonderoga. You know, what better way to strike at the British Empire than attack overland into Canada? The mighty Royal Navy couldn't really stop them, and the attack would put pressure on the British. They might agree to a negotiated peace. It might even convince the Canadians of the opportunities of joining the Revolution. They could be the 14th state. There were very few British troops in Canada. It was thinly protected. It would be easy. So really, the first great offensive military operation in the history of the American Republic, in the history of the US military, is an invasion of Canada. And there would be two thrusts. The main one would go straight north from Ticonderoga, right up that all invasion highway, Lake Champlain, to Montreal and beyond. And there'd be another strike. Now this is quite a hardcore one. Across wilderness from Boston up into what is now Maine, and then have traveling up a series of lakes and rivers to make their way to Quebec. And that involves savage portages, wild rapids, mountains, mosquito infested swamps, untracked, deeply hostile terrain. A good proportion of the men deserted, you'll be surprised to hear. And as I'm saying all these things, I'm wondering why I've signed up to take part in a reconstruction of that march this autumn, this fall, for the 250th still, I'm sure it'll be a great experience. Looking forward to that. Watch this space. The main thrust was quite successful. It captured Montreal, demonstrated that this largely French speaking militia, these farmers and townspeople that were turned out to protect the land in times of emergency, the militia, well, they weren't going to die for the British King. They made themselves scarce. The British commander had to escape from Montreal dressed as a common folk person. He went to Quebec, the walled city, and there he rallied forces for what was to be a small, but really an extraordinarily consequential clash. A thousand ragtag men here and there on either side, fighting basically for Canada, not that they knew, but a Canada that's now the second largest country on earth, rich in raw materials, all that stuff. That's what was at stake in this campaign, with such small numbers of men on either side. Remarkably, given what usually happened in 18th century warfare, these two American thrusts met up outside Quebec and they did launch an assault. And famously, it took place on New Year's Eve in a blizzard, a massive snowstorm. The Americans were utterly knackered. They were exhausted, diseased, malnourished. They lacked any specialist siege equipment. They didn't have the technical skills required for a siege on a city like Quebec. And they just threw themselves at the fortifications. They had little paper banners, they put little signs on their hats and they'd written liberty or death. And they hurled themselves into battle. And I think this was the moment when Trump's dream of Canadian statehood probably came as close as it's ever been. The Americans were inside Quebec, the lower town in particular. They were meters away from the walls, the most significant British stronghold in Canada, the loss of which would see the other little forts and garrisons cut off from British support across the Atlantic and forced to surrender. This was the battle for Canada. But as we all know in history, you know, a miss of a few meters or millimeters can be fatal, it can be determinative. And so it was for the brave Americans. They pushed their hopeless attack. Their commander, Richard Montgomery, was smashed at close range by grapeshot, killed instantly. Dozens of small balls busted out of a cannon as he was leading an assault, sword in hand, having personally hacked through a defensive stockade. Another leader, Bennett Arnold, attacking for a different direction, was wounded by a musket ball in the leg. Daniel Morgan took over. He climbed a scaling ladder up onto a barricade. He was set upon by British defenders, had to roll under a cannon to protect himself. He would end up being captured, though, and that American force was utterly defeated about Half killed or captured, this tiny force now attempted to besiege Quebec. The British apparently sent out sex workers who they knew smallpox. They sent them to the American camp. And so that beleaguered force then endured a smallpox epidemic through that tough winter. And in their hardship, while relations broke down with them and the Canadians, as you can imagine, because unsurprisingly, the language of self determination and the rights of free born Britons began to sound a bit hollow, began to pale to the French Canadians when this American invading army, desperate, starving it was forced to take food and equipment, even to raise emergency taxes, which basically meant just taking money from people. So some French settlers would taunt them, saying, where's your taxation without representation now? And they'd shout that at American troops as they came to commandeer food and fodder. As often we see through history, an occupying army is not a terrific diplomatic tool of persuasion. The Americans eventually gave up. They withdrew as British reinforcements flooded in the spring of the following year. But I always think that that battle, what a moment in world history. Imagine a United States of America that stretches from the Gulf of America, Mexico, all the way up to Hudson's Bay, all the way up to the Arctic Circle, Baffin island and beyond. And that's Trump's dream today. And that almost came to be that New year's Eve of 1775 during the American Revolution, there were more plans to invade north into Canada, but nothing came of those particular plans. And at the end of the war, famously, those 13 colonies did win their independence. The USA came into being. But, and this is the hot take, don't forget about this bit, guys, they did get a chunk of Canada because remember, Canada stretched down from Quebec and Ontario that we know, down all the way through the Midwest to the Gulf. And at the peace treaty in Paris, the British Prime Minister, Lord Shelburne, he coughed up not only the thirteen colonies, but a massive chunk of the Midwest, Basically all the land west, the Mississippi, just gave it all to the usa. It really is an extraordinary thing. In fact, the deal that the British ended up offering the Americans was far, far more generous than the deal that the French, who were the Americans allies, had been trying to get for the Americans. It was wild. But Shelburne and the British, possibly rightly, they decided that actually a rich and large United States would make a valuable trading partner for the British. They'd much rather have the Americans in charge of that territory than the French or the Spanish. They spoke English, same relig, lots of kinship, same values. So actually, the young United States of America was far bigger than anyone had really expected on the outbreak of the Revolution and with big chunks of what had been Canada now as part of the usa. So there's precedence here, folks, there's precedents. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, bits of Minnesota, they were now transferred from Canada to the us. Another thing that happened in the aftermath of that war is around 70,000 loyalists, people who regretted the Revolution. They left the United States of America and they emigrated to Canada. So that's a fresh bit of population for whom joining the US is now obviously against everything they believe in. They've just left behind their lives in the USA to remain part of the British Empire. So they're unlikely in the future to prove very enthusiastic about joining the usa. The next and probably last serious attempt to bring Canada as a whole into the loving arms of the American republic came during the War of 1812. And the year is important because Britain was really up against in 1812. It was distracted, it was busy. It's facing its greatest threat in Europe for centuries, Napoleon's France. It was all hands to the pumps. It had little time or resource for North America. Which made it all the more strange that Britain behaved like an arrogant bully with nothing to fear. Because Britain would routinely stop American ships on the high seas, they were forcibly recruited as sailors for the Royal Navy. They were dragged off their own ships, simply enrolled in the master books of British naval vessels. The British were also causing a bit of trouble. They were helping indigenous tribes on the western frontier of the United States. They were giving them arms and advice, about to hold back the tide of American settlers who were moving west over the Appalachians. So the Americans were angry about all these things. And in 1812, Britain was at a low ebb in the war against Napoleon. The Americans timed it quite well. They realised that now was a good time to strike. And the obvious place to strike was Canada, because again, the British navy dominant couldn't get in the way. Some Americans thought they would invade Canada to put a bit of pressure on the British. But a considerable number of Americans were still chasing that old dream annexation. Canada could become the 19th state at that point. On July 12, 1812, William Hull crossed the Detroit river at the head of an American army. And he was full of confidence and he arrived in Windsor, Ontario, and he issued a proclamation ordering all British subjects to surrender. The proclamation said that he'd arrived to free them from the tyranny of Great Britain and they would have liberty, security and wealth that his own country enjoyed. And if not, they would end up with war, slavery and destruction. So again, robust language use. Try and woo Canadians, try and bring them into the Republic's fold. Just after, a month later, however, he hopped back across the river, having lost his nerve. The British counterattack. They crossed the river in turn and they captured Chicago, they captured Detroit. Another American force invaded in October that year, this time a little bit further east. They crossed at Niagara. They were beaten at the Battle of Queenstown Heights, where I took my children earlier this year to their great interest and excitement. The following year, 1813, things look quite different. Successes in 1812 were not at first repeated. Things looked they could unravel completely for the British. In fact, in roughly what is now Ontario, the Americans built a very impressive fleet on Lake Ontario Freshwater navy and they dominated the lake, which was embarrassing for Britannia. They sacked York, which is now Toronto. And I think, please email me about this, but I think that was the last British colonial capital to fall to the enemy. Its legislature desecrated, royal standard, captured, all that sort of stuff. The last one until the collapse of Britain's empire in southeast Asia in 1942. Anyway, the Americans also, as well as that raid, they pushed up through Niagara and only a rather daring and surprise British night attack on one American force turned the tide. And then that helped persuade the all important indigenous peoples really, whose troops the British depended on. The British didn't have enough regular forces in the area, so they needed the indigenous peoples come to their help. Well, the indigenous people quite rightly wait to see who would win and then join in on the winning side. So they didn't suffer the reprisals. And with this victory they started helping the British again and that allowed the Brits to stay in the fight. That same year, 1813, the Americans launched two assaults on Quebec. Both of them were repelled. One of them 4,000 strong, they were defeated by a force of French Canadian militia, interestingly, and Mohawk indigenous allies. There were just 400 of them. And this American force of 4,000 were repelled by the 400 in a very, very strong defensive position. To be fair to them, the fighting did rumble on. The area around Niagara Falls saw yet more bloody, often quite inconclusive action. And those battlefields today are naturally the true reason for a tourist trip to that area. Much more exciting than the falls themselves. But each side cancel out the other's advantages. And the war ended with the border really in essence where it had been at the beginning. And that was the end of another attempt to add Canada to the United States of America. The States of the Americas would remain disunited that's also the last formal military annexation attempt. But there have been plenty of political efforts since then and you can find out more about them after this.
